Mini

Like every other piece I have written, let me start this one with a question too. Or rather a thought. Have you ever wondered how our units of measurements are standard but out unit of acceptance fluctuates? What I mean to say is, for us, big keep getting bigger, thin keep getting thinner and small keeps getting smaller. This inherent nature of more/less takes our need to larger phones, with smallest bezels and thinnest possible dimensions.

The nerds in the crowd will point towards a certain something called “ease of mobility and maximum functionality.” And that is why we are talking about the smallest, mobile-est,somewhat functional and most of all, a cute little PC that is now available in the Indian marketplace.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, heres the new LIVA Q Mini PC. With Liva, the abbreviation PC now stands for “Pocket Computer”, quite literally.

Sitting at just 70mm x 700mm x 31.4 mm, and weighing in at 260 gms, this is the smallest and the lightest computer available. Its powered by Intel Apollo Lake processor manufactured by Goldmont. This is the same company that manufactures low power SOCs like Atom & Celeron. The literature on this processor reads something like this; this SoC offers 30% more boost than the Braswell, and can be used for power-efficient, low-end devices, like Cloudbooks, Kindles, 2-in-1 Netbooks, CCTV Camera platforms and in-car/aircraft infotainment systems.

The company has launched two variant priced version of this PC, the one without an operating system will cost at MRP, INR 13500/- and the other with a Windows 10 installed variant will cost MRP, INR 15500/- only. So now when your school going child asks for a computer, don’t dare cheap out and surf the OLXs and Quickrs, buy them this PC instead.

The LIVA Q Mini PC comes with a 4 GB RAM and 32 GB internal space (teehee!!!) but fret not, its expandable to 128 GB via MicroSD Card. Talking about what is there on this little box, there is a Power button, two USB ports, one HDMI port and one RK45 LAN connector. The top section of the device houses a cooling fan almost as bog as the device itself and the motherboard beneath it. Efficiency is goos in terms of design. You also get Bluetooth 4.1 connective capacity.

The company says it is capable of supporting 4K playback, but I honestly don’t get this obsession of 4K HDR thing. In my opinion if 4K is my deciding criterion, I probably would not be looking at a mini PC in the first place. And even if I am bound by space and mobile constraints, I would rather spend some more money and get the Apple Mini.

Now for those of you who have never heard of LIVA, here is information that will help get you on speed . LIVA Q is manufactured by a Taiwanese company, called the, Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) and they have been actively manufacturing computer peripherals since 1987. LIVA Q is actually, their second mini PC. The first being the LIVA HDR MINI PC. The LIVA Q has been upgraded and interns of hardware and build. Its smaller and packs all things better than the predecessor. However, the LIVA MINI HDR had three USB port and a VGA port in addition to the HDMI. Getting rid of the VGA makes sense, but reducing the number of USB ports on the latest model doesn’t justify.

All in all, this Mini PC trend has just started in the Indian market and it will still take time for carve a niche in the consumer space. Till then this Mini PC is a nifty little gadget, that is not as costly and can definitely be considered as an addition on your geek bench. I think, this device is custom made for any POP- UP businesses, be it restaurants, food trucks or stall space type shops.

[“Source-cartoq”]