World’s Smallest USB Mini-PC From Intel Can Run Windows 8.1 or Android, Linux

by Radu Tyrsina

CEO & Founder

Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time). For most of the kids of his age, the Internet was an amazing...

Posted at: October 21 2014

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Intel is silently launching a thumb drive-sized PC that can run Windows 8.1. While miniPCs with Windows aren’t as popular as the MacMini, this has real chances of success, because is just as small as a regular USB.

Can you believe it that with this USB that you see in the above screenshot, you can run Windows 8.1 on any monitor and television set? Available for a price of $110, Intel’s Bay Trail-powered HDMI stick can run Windows 8.1, but also any other Linux distribution or Android, if windows 8.1 isn’t something you’d prefer.

READ MORE: HP Launches First 64-Bit Windows 8.1 Tablets, Intel Bay Trail Powered [MWC 2014]

Called Meegopad Windows HDMI TV, this should be treated as an HDMI stick and not a USB one. Or, to put it in other words, it’s a mini PC in the shape of a thumb drive the size of a USB stick. Here are the specs that it comes with:

• quad-core 1.83 GHz Intel Atom Z3735F processor with 2 MB cache
• 16 GB or 32 GB eMMC storage space
• 1-2 GB of DDR3 RAM
• microSD card slot
• two micro USB 2.0 ports, Bluetooth 4.0, and Wi-Fi (802.11n)

Believe it or not, there actually is a power button located on the outer shell. If you want 2 GB instead of 1 GB RAM, you will have to pay $15 more. The 2GB configuration is also slightly more powerful as it features a 32-bit Atom Z3735G processor.

Still, pretty much anybody with a legal copy of Windows 8.1 can make the same with a bootable USB, but I guess that this product is being offered for less tech savvy persons. What’s your take on this?

READ ALSO: How to Uninstall Windows 10 From Windows 8, 8.1