14 DAY TRIAL // PCs come in many shapes and sizes but Zotac seems to have a special talent when it comes to making them really small, as is show by its Mini PC series which has just seen the rise of its latest member, a model based on a dual-core processor and equipped with an integrated Blu-ray drive.
There are many so-called 'mini' devices, each one set apart from its peers through the fact that they are more compact than the rest.
Zotac's Mini PCs can be seen as one of the best representatives of this type of computing product, as they are, one might say, incredibly small while still featuring full-PC capabilities.
The newest models to be released make up the ZBOX Blu-ray series (ID33 and ID34) and are built around the Intel Atom D525 dual-core central processing unit, whose core clock is of 1.8 GHz.
This chip is backed up by up to 2GB of RAM, a hard disk drive and the next-generation NVIDIA ION graphics processor with 16 unified shaders and 512MB of DDR3.
The machine even integrates USB 3.0 connectivity and, quite importantly, a slot-load 4x Blu-ray burner that can, of course, also write DVDs (8x) and CDs (24x).
Other specifications include 802.11n WiFi and a Mini-PCI Express expansion slot.
"The ZOTAC ZBOX Blu-ray series is more than just a system for playing games and watching movies. The ZOTAC ZBOX Blu-ray series is the ultimate multimedia hub for all your entertainment needs and replaces the function of multiple electronics devices,” said Carsten Berger, marketing director, ZOTAC International.
“With the ZOTAC ZBOX Blu-ray series, we are bringing the ability to view Blu-ray movies, streaming Internet video, downloaded videos, store and access your music collection, listen to Internet radio, browse the web, play games and even manage your social networking profiles into a single device," he added.
Unfortunately, an exact availability date was not given, nor was there any mention of pricing.