14 DAY TRIAL // As IT gets more advanced, machinery gets more and more compact, and this, naturally, goes for PCs, as proven by the mini computer that Zotac added to its ZBOX series.
The ZBOX nano-VD01 was revealed back in June, during the 2011 edition of the Computex trade show.
Surprisingly enough, however, the item didn't actually come out afterwards, as the company revealed an AMD Fusion-based ZBOX instead.
Now, the VIA-powered item is finally entering availability, in Japan at least, according to this particular report.
Cosmetically, it looks almost identical to the AMD-based one, the only difference being in the color of the circle on the top.
Where the Fusion one had the common AMD green, this one uses a fairly bright shade of orange, the warmest color of the visible spectrum.
The heart of the item is the VIA Nano X2 U4025 dual core central processing unit, whose frequency is of 1.2 GHz (TDP is 18W).
This processor is backed up by an SO-DIMM ram module up to 4 GB of DDR3 RAM (random access memory) and paired with the VIA VX900H chipset.
A 2.5-inch drive bay makes it certain that users will be able to put in a hard disk drive or solid state drive.
Furthermore, the back is full of connectors, and this extends beyond the standard USB 2.0 and Ethernet that all PCs have.
Zotac threw in a pair of USB 3.0 connectors, eSATA, a WiFi antenna (802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi), HDMI and a DisplayPort output.
Other specifications include Bluetooth 3.0, a VESA mounting plate (bundled), an external IR receiver and a remote control.
Unfortunately, Zotac has not actually issued its official press release yet, but the price has already been uncovered for when retail presence emerges (later this month, September 2011). Users should get a hold of roughly 10,000 Yen (S$162/US$130) if they want it.