This original post was written in 2012 (updated 2021 and 2013) title is “The smallest PC that can connect to your TV” – so its kinda obsolete now, since most tv’s now come as smart tvs with inbuilt wifi connectivity and ability to install apps so you got pretty much anything that can be streamed from the internet on your tv.
However small little mini pcs still have their unique uses and so this post is still relevant today for people who still have a non-wifi TV. I have added a couple more alternatives to our favourite raspberry pi below to keep this updated with 2020 -2021.
Mini Raspberry Pi Computer
Giving more competition to the Apple Mac and the Blackberry who are into small gadgets nowdays, a hand-held computer called the Raspberry Pi went on sale for just £22 today and was sold out within hours.
It has neither keyboard nor monitor and is pretty much a bare bones mini PC
The bare bones Raspberry Pi computer ships totally naked without any clothes( box) and costs £22. It is aimed at encouraging children to learn how to programme and code
While the Raspberry PI has always been the most popular mini PC amongst geeks and techy people apart from ASUS mini pcs , there are many more readymade options available in the market for mini pcs, that just offer plug an play making it easy for anyone to attach a mini pc to their monitor or TV.
Mini PC to Connect to TV or Computer Monitor
Asus Chromebit
The ASUS Chromebit CS10 measures 12cm long and is the world’s smallest Chrome OS device. It can connect to your TV or monitor and work just fine over your wifi connection. It plugs into the HDMI port of your monitor or TV. It can connect to networks via 802.11 wireless a/b/g/n/ac.
You will just need to connect via a wireless keyboard and mouse to operate it as a computer.
Here are the features of the Chromebit CS10
- A candy-bar-sized computer – the world’s smallest Chrome OS device which fits in your pocket
- Make your TV smarter — enjoy a large full-screen Chrome OS experience in your living room
- Ideal for surfing the web, keeping up with friends and family on social media, and HD entertainment
- Easy-to-manage, cost-effective, and highly-scalable solution for signage, kiosks, and other business applications
- Bundled extension cable or bendable Flex Connect HDMI connector for easy connections to hard-to-reach HDMI ports
- Runs the latest Chrome OS, and features automatic updates and anti-virus software for a smart and secure digital environment
- Dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi, with 100GB of Google Drive space free for 2 years.
- 2015 Good Design and 2016 CES Innovation Award-winning design available in stylish colors
Is Chromebit cs10 available in Australia ?
https://www.asus.com/au/Mini-PCs/Chromebit-CS10/
Yes it is! its not available in the brick and mortar stores yet and it is a new product, however available via US and online shops.
Price Comparison
@Fishpond.com.au $256
@kogan.com.au $225
@ebay.com.au $76
@amazon.com USD $170 +$15 shipping
@staples.com US website USD$94.99
The Asus Vivostick TS10 is also available for AUD $219 to $229
https://www.ple.com.au/Ready-To-Go-PLE-Mini-PCs
Asus Mini PC PN-50
Its built-in graphic card can support up to four 4k displays or even an 8K display at 60hz.
Dimensions of this PC are 1.9 x 4.52 x 4.52 inches and it is powered by AMD Ryzen 4000 series processor
- Support up to 4 displays simultaneously with 4K resolution
- Dual USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port for data transfer, battery charging and DisplayPort functionality
- Support INTEL® WI-FI 6 (GIG+) + BT 5.0
- Configurable Ports support DP1.4/VGA/LAN/COM options
- Infrared (IR) receiver for remote control of applicationsMicrosoft Cortana support with dual-array front microphones
- Dual-storage design with up to a 2.5-inch HDD up to 1 TB and an M.2 SSD up to 512 GB
More Alternatives to Raspberry PI (banana PI M3)
There are other fruits like orange and mango in contention too, but today we will focus on the banana.
Specked out with 2GB of RAM, Gigabit Ethernet, a SATA port, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, the Banana Pi M3 challenges the Raspberry Pi 3.
Its Cortex A7 packs in a whopping eight cores and the PowerVR GPU is a capable video processor. You can run Android, as well as Linux on this baby. Its got Octa-core processing and a beefy GPU and this Banana stands out as one of the most appealing mini pc boards available.
May more version available now BPI-M5, BPI-F2P, BPI-F2S and more
Cost: $80
http://www.banana-pi.org/m3.html
Rock64 Media Board
Pros
The Rock64 Media Board comes loaded with a 1.5GHz Rockchip RK3328 64-bit quad-core A53 processor and a Mali-450 MP2 GPU. It ships in three configurations offering 1GB ($25), 2GB ($35), and 4GB ($45) of 1600MHz LPDDR3 RAM.
There’s a bootable eMMC socket alongside the more typical MicroSD, so it’s possible to add 16GB ($14), 32GB ($19), or 64GB ($31) directly to the board
Cons
Unfortunately the Rock64 doesn’t include wireless functionality, so you’ll have to add a USB dongle. There’s also no DSI (display) and CSI (camera) interfaces
$24.95 – Check Current price at Amazon
More mini-pc options – Intel NUC 9 Extreme Kit , MSI – Cubi 5
Get more of you gadget news at @http://www.gadgetaustralia.com/