14 DAY TRIAL // Small form factor personal computers were well represented at CES 2013, so the fact that Xi3 Company has one in the pipeline isn't as hard to believe as it would otherwise have been.
The name of the IT player's system is Z3RO Pro Computer, and the reason it qualifies as a mini PC is the size of 1.875 x 4.875 x 3.625 inches. That's about the same as 47 x 124 x 92 millimeters.
Obviously, that small case, as small as a normal paperback book, won't allow for very powerful hardware.
Still, Xi3 promises that, when the Z3RO Pro Computer goes up for sale in the second quarter (April-June 2013), it will have a dual-core, 64-bit dual-core x86 central processing unit, running at 1.65 GHz and featuring 2 MB of L2 cache, plus an integrated graphics chip with 80 shaders.
The hardware that will accompany said CPU will consist of 4 GB of DDR3 random access memory (RAM) and a solid state drive of 16 GB to 1 TB.
Obviously, the storage drive will determine how much higher than $399 / 299-399 Euro the price climbs.
Other specs mentioned in the Xi3 press release include four eSATA ports, a Gigabit Ethernet connector, and two display ports: HDMI/DisplayPort v1.2 and a mini-Displayport 1.2 output.
"The Z3RO Pro Computer is the ideal size for the ultimate in small form factor x86-based general computing," said Jason A. Sullivan , founder, President and CEO.
"In this post-PC era, it's clear that there's no reason to buy a tower or mini-tower computer ever again. Not only does the Z3RO Pro Computer help round out the Xi3 product line, it also marks the end of desktop computing as we've known it."
Z3RO Pro Computer is intended for general use in homes and offices, but it can become a good home theater and digital signage solution as well.
Its total power draw is of 14 watts and the default operating system is OpenSuSE Linux v11.2, but. Windows (up to Windows 8) and other UNIX and Linux OS'es are supported too, though.