14 DAY TRIAL // Miniature computer builder Stealth has announced a new small form factor mini PC that comes with built-in PCI card expansion slot capability. Powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, the Stealth offering is one of the most powerful miniature computers in the world.
The Stealth Computer LPC-450 has just grown a little bigger in order to make room for a regular PCI card to extend the computer's functionality. The whole computing system is enclosed in an anodized aluminum casing that gives its well-known ruggedness. The mini-PC can be used in both office environments as well as in field operations that take place in harsh, industrial environments.
The Mini PC can be powered from a 12 V direct current source, which makes it the ideal companion inside a car, for instance, given the fact that it can be powered from the battery via a regular lighter plug. The computer is coming in a standard configuration that includes an Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 CPU running at 1.83GHz, Ethernet, USB (x3), FireWire, PS/2 mouse and keyboard connectors, a 160GB hard drive (or an SSD, if you choose) as well as an optional DVD burner that can also act as a boot device.
"Customers can simply add specialized I/O, video, data acquisition and communications cards, something that cannot be achieved without resorting to larger clunky desk top computers," remarks Stealth's President & CEO, Ed Boutilier. The presence of a solid-state drive as storage media adds up to the computer's ruggedness and makes it suitable for use in vibrating environments or production halls. The computer can run Microsoft's Windows Vista and XP operating system, as well as the vast majority of Linux flavors.
The addition of a PCI expansion slot allows the user to extend the computer's functionality by adding extra hardware such as eSATA adapters for increased external storage, dedicated soundcards for high-definition audio experience or other industrial equipment that connects via a regular PCI expansion card.