Monday, March 26, 2018

MintBox Mini 2, big power in a tiny box


When it comes to computers in general, there are more powerful machines than the MintBox Mini 2.

What is so impressive then about this linux based pc? The amount of power available in such a small size.

For a machine at best twice the size of your mouse, it hosts some impressive hardware.

In a space roughly twice the size of a raspberry pi, this machine comes with a quad-core Apollo-Lake Intel Celeron J3455 processor with embedded Intel HD Graphics 500, 4 gb of ram, available up to 8 gigs if you get the pro version.

Here is an "exploded" image to show you the construction:

As the Linux Mint team states "Based on the Compulab Fitlet2, the new Mini is just as small as the original MintBox Mini and the MintBox Mini Pro but with much better specifications, better performance and a few more features.

The top heatsink is slightly taller than before for the all-metal black housing to provide better passive cooling for the upgraded specs. The small size of the unit is still very impressive." -https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3528

Here it is next to a cup of coffee:


If you like the novelty of a ultra small pc, or if desk space is at a premium, this machine is an excellent buy. For $299 you can pick one of these up, but with double the hard drive space and double the ram, I would spend the extra 46 dollars and get the pro model.

There is quite a bit more information available at Linux Mint's blog, https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3528.