Knack-in-a-box

In an age where smaller and thinner is better, something’s gotta stand out. I just know something’s gotta give.

Big kudos to our friends over at Zotac, who were able to quench this longing of mine. They were zany enough to cough up some really tiny monsters that give great performance — the Zbox ID80 and Zbox Nano XS AD11 mini-PCs. We promise to squeeze everything here, but rest assured, it’s all juicy.

Now the thing is, neither comes with a pre-installed OS. But don’t worry; take your pick: if you want it as a media player — in HD, no less — just hook up to the Zotac website to find and download links to the free XMBC Live Media Center or OpenELEC operating systems. And if you want to use it as a PC, simply get hold of a Windows 7 CD; the Zbox ID80 also supports XP and Vista. Be reminded though that you can only install this stuff through an external optical drive. Either way, it’ll work well for you. Oh, and don’t forget to keep a keyboard and mouse ready.

The Zbox ID80 — “big brother”, as I like to call it, at 7.4”x7.4”x1.73” — has an Intel Atom dual-core 2.13GHz processor, Nvidia GeForce graphics, up to 4GB of DDR3 memory and a generous 320GB of HD space. The little Zbox Nano XS AD11 — the smallest PC in the world at 4.1”x4.1”x1.6” — on the other hand, has the same memory space, but with AMD dual-core 1.65GHz processor, AMD Radeon graphics and 64GB of SSD. Of course, both have WiFi capabilities, as well as a 6-in-1 memory card reader and USB slots. Additionally, the Zbox ID80 is customisable: simply turn some screws, so you can slot in some more HD space and DDR3 memory.

You can mount either machine onto the back of your monitor, thus saving precious CPU space; presto — you suddenly have an all-in-one. I was all smiles on doing this.

Overall, either is a great deal. It’s cool to have stuff like these Zotac babies to use and brag about. Indeed, the best things do come in small packages.

alvin@khaleejtimes.com

THE LAUNCHPAD

PANASONIC DMC-SZ5 — A compact digicam with WiFi and a 10x optical zoom. Need a connection? Simply hook it up to your smartphone!

SONY XPERIA ION — How many are there in the Xperia line so far? I’ve lost count. This time, it offers everything in HD with a 12MP camera, all in a 4.6” ‘razor-sharp’ screen — the largest in Sony’s smartphone range.