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MagyarZotac releases new Zbox M and smartphone-sized Zbox P mini-PCs
There is something inherently cool about miniature computing, and this is an area which Zotac have been particularly active in over the last few years. Zotac’s Zbox series of mini-PCs range from low powered computer-stick devices with Intel Atom processors, all the way up to an Intel i7-7700 with XMX GTX 1080 Graphics card. Today Zotac has released two new models in their mid-range M-series and ultra-compact P-series.
The MI553 is the larger model, available in both a 'standard' and 'plus' variant, and it is equipped with a notebook class i5-7300HQ. Both have the same physical dimensions at 185 x 185 x 72 mm (7.3 x 7.3 x 2.8 inches), but the standard model is a barebones system, while the Plus comes with a 120 GB m.2 SSD and 4 GB DDR4 RAM. Key features include Thunderbolt 3, two storage expansion slots (m.2 and 2.5-inch), USB-C, 1000 Mbps LAN, and 802.11ac. The MI553 supports 4K output via HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.2, so with a large 2.5-inch hard drive installed it would do nicely as a media center PC. The Thunderbolt 3 port does support eGPU enclosures, although using an external graphics card with a compact desktop is an unusual use case.
The PI225 claims the honor of being the world’s smallest mini-PC since its form-factor excludes it from being considered a compute stick. There is a Celeron N3350 ‘Apollo Lake’ at its heart, 4 GB DDR3 RAM, and 32 GB eMMC storage with Windows 10 Home pre-installed. Cooling is handled passively, and all physical connectivity is provided by 2 x USB-C which handle regular USB tasks in addition to the video output. The PI225 could be mistaken for a smartphone at a glance, measuring 95 x 63 x 8 mm (3.8 x 2.5 x 0.3 inches).
| Zotac MI553 | Zotac MI553 Plus | Zotac PI225 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | i5-7300HQ 2.5/3.5 GHz 4C/4T | i5-7300HQ 2.5/3.5 GHz 4C/4T | Celeron N3350 1.1/2.4 GHz 2C/2T |
| RAM | 2 x SODIMM DDR4-2133/2400 slots | 1 x 4 GB DDR4 (total 2 SODIMM) | 4 GB LPDDR3 |
| Storage | 1 x M.2 Slot, 1 x 2.5-inch slot | 1 x 120 GB M.2, 1 x 2.5-inch slot | 32 GB eMMC + microSD slot |
| Operating System | None | None | Windows 10 Home 64-bit |
| Ports | Front: SD card reader / USB3.1 combo | Front: SD card reader / USB3.1 combo 1 x USB-C Rear: WiFi Antenna 1 x Thunderbolt 3 4 x USB3 1 x RJ45 1000 Mbps LAN | 2 x USB-C (inc. video) 1 x microSD Seperate power connector |
| Dimensions | 185 x 185 x 72 mm (7.3 x 7.3 x 2.8 inches) | 185 x 185 x 72 mm (7.3 x 7.3 x 2.8 inches) | 95 x 63 x 8 mm (3.8 x 2.5 x 0.3 inches) |
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