Compulab fit-PC3 stuffs AMD Fusion into tiny, full PC
updated 01:55 pm EST, Sat November 26, 2011
Compulab comes from nowhere with Fusion mini PC
A surprise entry into the mini desktop market may have upset the traditional definition of a nettop. Compulab's fit-PC3 is both thin (one inch) and small (6.3 inches long) but manages to fit AMD's lower-powered Fusion-based processors, giving them enough performance to handle 1080p video, as much as a 2560x1600 DisplayPort monitor, and even 3D video over HDMI in its most advanced configuration. Although its size pushes it into using a 2.5-inch notebook drive for storage, it has both mini PCI Express micro SATA to provide room for specialized upgrades.
Connections outside of the video output bring Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, two USB 3.0 ports and six USB 2.0 ports. Room exists to load the fit-PC3 with as much as 8GB of RAM.
The design is intended as much for custom installs in embedded situations as it is a regular home PC. A barebones kit costs $328 with a 1.2GHz single-core processor and leaves owners to fit in a hard drive, RAM, and Wi-Fi. The lowest-cost complete system costs $488 and moves to a dual-core 1GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Linux Mint installed as the OS. Windows 7 Professional hikes the price to $656. [via iTech News Net]
