SolidRun CuBox-i Mini PC Runs Linux and Android Starting at $45
When the Raspberry Pi first hit the scene, the appeal and demand couldn't be avoided. But that being said, I personally didn't forsee the absolute explosion of mini-PCs that would follow. Simply put, if you are in the market to build a quaint little PC, you sure do have a great selection to peruse, with SolidRun adding more quality offerings to the pile.
The company's CuBox-i mini-PCs come in a 2x2x2" form-factor and can be had in four different flavors, starting at $45. Each use Freescale's i.MX6 SOCs, with a single-core kicking-off the low-end, and a quad-core, the high-end.
As you might expect, the specs can vary wildly from top-to-bottom here, with the bottom two models offering 10/100Mbit/s Ethernet, but the top two bumping that up to Gigabit. Likewise, from low-to-high, these PCs ramp from 512MB of RAM up to 2GB. The top two models sport 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth, but both are optional on the two lower models. Likewise, the top models include an eSATA port, but all of them include a microSD slot.
Other I/O features include 2x USB 2.0, HDMI 1.4, Optical audio, and infrared receiver; and an infrared transmittor and microUSB on the top two models.
These mini-PCs support both Linux and Android, and if you happen to want a version of Android preconfigured, you can order that to come on an SD card.
As mentioned above, pricing starts at $45, which is for the single-core model. The dual-core models are priced at $70 and $95, while the quad-core is priced at $120. It's important to note that these are pre-order prices, so getting in early will save you a bit of cash.
