Lenovo Q180: The ‘World’s Smallest Desktop PC’

Tech By on Nov 23, 2011

According to Lenovo, their new Q180 is the world’s smallest desktop PC. At about the size of a DVD case, the Q180 presents a barely there chassis of only 155 x 192 x 22mm. Inside features a 2.13GHz Atom processor with up to 4GB of RAM and your choice of a 500GB HDD or 128GB SSD. For those who seek more options, Lenovo let’s you choose from a Radeon HD 6450A 512MB discrete graphics card, Blu-ray drive, and 750GB hard disk space. And this little guy even has an impressive 7.1 surround sound output. Price at $349, the Q180 packs quite a bit in its tiny frame. Compared to something like that Mac Mini, it seems like a great deal. Ships in early December, just in time for the fa-la-holidays.

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VIA: $89 Processor & Motherboard for Custom HTPCs

Tech By on Nov 15, 2011

If you’re like most “techies”, you’ve got big dreams when it comes to HTPCs but a not so big budget. If you’re workin’ with a small budget (that’s what she said), then check out VIA’s VE-900 processor and motherboard combo. It houses VIA’s 1.4GHz dual-core Nano X2 CPU on a compact mini-ITX motherboard. Working with VIA’s VX900 dedicated media accelerator, this unit easily handles video up to 1080p. The board has a single PCI slot, capacity of 8GB DDR3 RAM, two SATA pin headers and four USB 2.0 ports. The rear panel has HDMI and VGA video outs, three analog audio jacks (pause to catch my breath), Gigabit LAN, four more USB 2.0 ports and other standard features. The $89 price tag, however, won’t get you digital audio outs or USB 3.0. Bummer.

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