The best low-power SFF lineup you've never heard of: Intel's Z3735F Atom system

[Kaido]

Wow, that's a pretty sweet little box for the price. I'm constantly impressed with the performance of Baytrail in these tiny SFF PC's. I'm really looking forward a to 4GB Cherry Trail SFF box as well.

My ONDA V975W tablet struggles a bit @ 2048 x 1536, the Z3735D just can't keep up at that resolution when multitasking.

I did make a YouTube video showing the performance on my Zotac Pico with Indie gaming @ 1080p - I have the box mounted to the back of my TV with velcro.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGAjP_h-PMk

Me too - they are great! I have some other stuff I'm playing with, like the HP Stream Mini, but I still feel like the Baytrail-T boxes are a really good value because they're tiny, turnkey, and fanless for $200 or less. Definitely looking forward to Cherrytrail - more RAM & better GPU, plus a 64-bit UEFI! And we'll see them with Windows, Linux, Android, and ChromeOS. I might hold off buying a replacement Chromebook & HTPC until those boxes drop, hopefully later this year.

Nice video! I'm surprised that the framerates are that high on some of the games! I followed Mini-ITX for a long time (and still have my G4 Cube, haha), so it's nice to see the technology progressing. I see the Baytrail-T stuff as kind of like a bridge into the mini-computer future...the next-gen 14nm gear is going to really open things up with the added RAM, improved graphics, etc. The NUC line is pretty great, and they have some neat options like the GTX760 model, but they need to get the heat & temperature down to reduce the fan noise in the performance line (with the graphics & the quad-core desktop CPU's - the laptop-CPU models are fine for noise & heat). Plus the competition from ARM is heating up quite a bit...check out the latest Android HDMI stick:

http://www.amazon.com/QuadCore-Ethernet-Bluetooth4-0-Android4-4-Player-V5/dp/B00RGMI3TU/

It has quad-core RK3288 chip with built-in Ethernet for $120 & comes with the Mali-T764 GPU. So the chips will just keep shrinking, the wireless will just keep getting better, and we'll see a lot more HDMI sticks from both Intel & ARM over the next few years that will be more & more capable.

 

[Kaido]

Egreat i6 status update:

1. Windows updates took a good 3 hours (yikes), but it fixed the VGA resolution problem - running at 1080p now yay!

2. Did a wifi speed test on Speedtest.net; the i6 got 23.77 down, 23.27 up and my iPhone 5S got 77.05 down and 22.49 up. So it's not the fastest Wifi in the world (same as the other Baytrail-T rigs), but it gets the job done.

3. Did a factory reset:

1) It booted up with 4 language choices (UK English, US English, and a couple of Chinese-looking ones)
2) Setup was quick; still showing "Windows 8.1 with Bing" (no funky Chinese-language glitches)
3) Showing the proper 19.3 gigs free now (not 17 like before)
4) Oddly enough, it's already activated; this is the first time I've seen the Bing version activate without connecting to the Internet.
5) Despite doing a full wipe, there's still a custom photo in the wallpaper options (OEMBackground.jpg), which I would assume uses the OEM branding procedure, which would explain why it was legitimately activated after first boot

I suspect that based off the OEM wallpaper & the activation status before connecting to the Internet that they went the proper route for licensing Windows, especially since they have that DOS program that verifies your key online (posted a page or two back), so that's really nice...it's not an unlicensed copy, it's not a Chinese copy, it's just a normal legit copy, yay!

So far my only two complaints are the sticker & ship time. The sticker is easy enough to deal with, just use a heatgun or hairdryer to make it peel off easier (so it doesn't shred on like mine did, ugh), or leave it on if it doesn't bother you. Ship time was just shy of a full month, but I knew that going in, so if you're not in any rush to get it, you can save yourself $40 over a MINIX or Zotac Pico & get a nice-looking design to boot (plus the best of both units...3 USB ports AND an external Wifi antenna). It does get fairly warm on the bottom, but it has standoffs, so not a super huge deal. I think overall my favorite is the MINIX...pricier & with one less USB port, but stays cool during intensive operation. Bottom line? The Egreat i6 is a great model if:

1. You want to save some money (cheapest US model is $179 vs. $139 for the Egreat)
2. You don't mind waiting on a long ship date (~30 days from China)
3. You want a nice-looking machine
4. You want VGA (legacy port for an older monitor or TV)
5. You want dual monitors
6. You want more than the standard 1 or 2 USB ports (it has 3 total)

$139 is flat-out ridiculous for a fully-functional Windows computer. This is definitely one of my favorite models so far, partly because it looks cool, partly because it's cheap, and partly because it has a ton of functionality built-in. A+

 

[Kaido]

I think I may have memory problems on the Egreat. I installed Chrome before doing a factory reset & had some crashes due to memory errors. Have had one or two system crashes post-reload as well. Running MemTest (live under Windows) right now...might just need to re-run Windows updates to get the latest patches, dunno yet.

Update: It's also asking for Windows Update for "ASIX AX88772C USB 2.0 to Fast Ethernet Adapter". The specs are advertised as "10/100M adaptive ethernet" so that's an interesting twist, especially since that chip is usually a USB adapter (I know because I have an actual USB ASIX Ethernet adapter).

 

[JWade]

I just got a zotac ci320, has the n2930, though not the Z3735F of this thread, got it from newegg when they had it on sale, nice little computer. using it for primarily Netflix, works great for that.

 

[piasabird]

It is not exactly ready for big business, but Microsoft says a Windows 10 version will run on the new Raspberry pi 2 b with the quad core 900 MHz with 1 gig of ram. It is about as powerful as a tablet or a phone.

 

[Kaido]

It is not exactly ready for big business, but Microsoft says a Windows 10 version will run on the new Raspberry pi 2 b with the quad core 900 MHz with 1 gig of ram. It is about as powerful as a tablet or a phone.

Might be handy as a thin client though. Windows 8 has been working out pretty well in kiosk mode using Assigned Access to run Metro's version of RDP fullscreen. Disable the lockscreen, enable auto-login, and it boots right to the session selector menu in about 15 seconds on my MINIX. Right now that costs me $280 ($180 MINIX + $100 Pro Pack upgrade), so it'd be nice if I could do it for cheaper :thumbsup:

 

[piasabird]

http://winsupersite.com/windows-10/microsoft-confirms-raspberry-pi-2-will-get-windows-10-free

If you are looking for a computer on the low end Maybe a cheaper computer might do the trick. The new Raspberry Pi 2b has a cost of just $35. It is actually quite an interesting computer with a ARM (Think Tablet) 900 MHz Quad core with 1 gig of Ram on the motherboard and runs off of a 8-32 Gb Micro SD card. Needs a mini-usb 5v power source. Has 4 USB2 1 each 10/100 Ethernet, Sound out jack and HDMI and can run off of a free Linux OS like Noobs.

Microsoft says a version of Windows 10 is being developed to run this type of device. There are a lot of kit things you can do with this little toy. Smaller than a bread box.

Internet of Things?
https://dev.windows.com/en-US/iot

Raspberry Pi 2b in action.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDA7MxFtoS0

 

[VirtualLarry]

I have a couple of MeegoPad T02 Compute Sticks with the Z3735F in it. I installed Linux Mint 17.2 64-bit MATE Edition on one of them, but I'm not getting HDMI audio output (video works fine).

Has anyone else here installed Linux Mint 17.2 64-bit MATE on a Z3735F mini-PC, and how did you get HDMI audio working?

 

[Kaido]

I have a couple of MeegoPad T02 Compute Sticks with the Z3735F in it. I installed Linux Mint 17.2 64-bit MATE Edition on one of them, but I'm not getting HDMI audio output (video works fine).

Has anyone else here installed Linux Mint 17.2 64-bit MATE on a Z3735F mini-PC, and how did you get HDMI audio working?

My stick is still on Windows, but there's some patch information for the previous-gen T01 stick here:

https://pkendall64.wordpress.com/2015/05/01/meegopad-t01-hdmi-audio-success/

 

[Kaido]

The Asus Atom X5 stick is on sale from the Microsoft Store for $69:

https://www.microsoftstore.com/stor...S10-Signature-Edition-PC/productID.5073962500