Updated: AOpen MiniPC – Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

Price, Availability, and Alternatives

Here's where I get to the only real problems with the MiniPC. I've looked around online, and it's most readily available as a barebones system, at least when checking all of the major search engines. A system like this pretty much demands a pre-configured unit if people are going to take it seriously, or else it will only appeal to a very small segment of the population. Right now, you're looking at $330 for a small case, and you still need to add the CPU, RAM, HDD... you might even need to find an optical drive as well, depending on where you purchase the case. Once you've bought all of those components, you'll be spending around $700 minimum, plus another $100 for Windows XP Home. As configured, our MiniPC would probably sell for closer to $900. Sure, it's more powerful than the old Mac Mini, but with Apple moving to Intel processors, we should hopefully see a Core Duo powered unit that can run OS X as well as Vista in the not-too-distant future. (We're still waiting on Vista, while the Core Duo Mac Mini is now available for $800.)

A bit more searching (and some help from AOpen) did turn up a few locations that allow you to get the MiniPC pre-built, but prices were even higher. If money is no concern, VoodooPC makes their Idol systems using this chassis, and while the price "starts at $900" you're really looking at closer to $1200 with an OS installed and shipping. The only other partner that we could find with configurable MiniPC systems is Jetta (a company I personally am not familiar with). Prices are a bit better there, though you miss out on the paint jobs that VoodooPC offers. You can even get a Mac Mini competitor for $650, although that uses a slower 1.4 GHz Celeron M chip. That's at least reasonably priced, but we're still looking for more choices.

We've mentioned that the expansion options on such a system are very limited. You can add a few devices via USB, but internally, the only changes that can be made involve ditching the current hardware and replacing it with some upgraded component. Larger hard drives are available, and you can also get faster CPUs and a larger DIMM. Since there's only a single DDR2 SO-DIMM slot, we would recommend going straight to a 1GB DIMM. That should be enough for most office tasks. 512MB is enough RAM to keep Windows more or less content, but 1GB helps ensure that you won't need to crack open the case and upgrade the RAM any time soon.

Here's the real problem, though: you have a small box with a decent amount of computing power, and it's nice and portable if you need that. However, there's another type of computer that is similarly equipped that will get the job done equally well in most cases. We're talking about laptops, of course, and you can get a complete laptop with an OS, display, and keyboard all in one device for less than the cost of the MiniPC. The laptop might be larger and a bit slower - especially with all the budget 256MB RAM models - but unless you're really just looking for a very small computer, it's difficult to see the point in purchasing the MiniPC over a similarly priced laptop. $1000 will get you a pretty well-equipped laptop from any of the major OEMs, including truly mobile support courtesy of the battery pack, and an integrated LCD, keyboard, and trackpad.

One last item to mention is that the MP915 reviewed here is the older model, and AOpen should be releasing a Core Duo and Viiv compliant MP945 version in the next few weeks. Whether or not that model addresses any of our concerns remains to be seen. Price will likely be a bit higher as well, though really only the CPU cost should be significantly different. If you're sure that you don't want a dual core CPU, the MP915 will work well, and you might even see them discounted once the new version is released. For most people, we would say that the MP945 has all the good points of the MP915 and adds a bit more power, making it the preferred choice. Viiv support may indicate that it will also have better A/V connectivity, though TV tuners aren't actually required for Viiv, unfortunately.