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This PC-On-A-Stick Costs $74 USD

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Looking for a USB-shaped PC? One has already hit the market while a beefier, more costly offering is on the way.

CNXSoft has stumbled across a USB-shaped mini-PC featuring Android 4.0 and an AllWinner A10 SoC clocked at 1.5 GHz. The device, called the Rikomagic MK802, also includes a mini-HDMI jack to output 1080p video to an HDTV, a microSD slot for adding up to 32 GB of storage, a microUSB port for power and a USB 2.0 Host port.

"Connect a wireless mouse and keyboard to the device, the power supply, and an HDMI cable to your TV, and you’ve got yourself a cheap PC running Android 4.0. Since this is based on AllWinner A10, you could also insert a microSD card with Ubuntu, Debian or your other favorite Linux distribution and have yourself a Linux PC," CNXSoft reports.

The actual size of the mini-Pc is 8.8 x 3.5 x 1.2 centimeters, and it weighs 200g. Other specs include a Mali 400 GPU, 512 MB of RAM, 4 GB of internal storage, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi connectivity, and support for wireless peripherals. The power input is 5V/2A.

The device can be purchased on Aliexpress for 74 USD which includes shipping.

The mini PC arrives before FXI Tech's Cotton Candy which is expected to ship sometime this month. This USB stick-shaped mini PC is a bit pricier, as it includes an actual HDMI connector so that users can plug it directly into an HDTV without the need for a cable. The device will also feature a Samsung Exynos 4210 dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 SoC clocked at 1.2 GHz, a quad-core 200 MHz Mali 400MP GPU, and 1 GB of RAM.

"The Cotton Candy is a USB stick sized compute device allows users a single, secure point of access to all personal cloud services and apps through their favorite operating system, while delivering a consistent experience on any screen," reads the product description. "The device will serve as a companion to smartphones, tablets, and notebook PC and Macs, as well add smart capabilities to existing displays, TVs, set top boxes and other media that supports USB mass storage."

Additional tech specs include a microSD card slot for adding up to 64 GB of storage, a micro USB port for connecting peripherals, a USB 2.0 male form factor for power and connection to devices that supports USB mass storage, 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR connectivity. The PC-on-a-stick can run Android 4.0 or the latest Ubuntu, and will support Windows 8 when it arrives later this year. Users can even plug this device into their current PC and boot up into the installed OS.

Cotton Candy will be priced under $200 when it finally arrives on the market. Earlier this week the company said that development units have been delayed due to hardware modifications and extended software testing. "Scandanavian pre-orders start shipping this month, with the balance of the pre-orders shipping throughout the Summer," FXI said in a blog. "At this time, pre-orders are closed as we have gone beyond our expected volume of orders."

50 Comments Comment from the forums
  • guardianangel42
    Of all the products I've ever read about on Tom's and elsewhere, this is one that I would absolutely NEED to see a benchmark for.
    Reply
  • technicalbass
    It's really quite incredible how far we have come in terms of scaling pc components further and further down in size. That amount of processing power was just starting to immerge on a consumer level in full size desktops just over 10 years ago. Now all of that in a device the size of your finger? Intense!
    Reply
  • lahawzel
    Let's hope availability of this is better than what Raspberry Pi managed. Some people were in queue for months.
    Reply
  • husker
    Keyboards, video displays, and power supplies (in some fashion) have been around for decades - long before the PC. Who would have thought 50 years ago that these would be the bulky items and the the computer itself would shrink in size to next to nothing.
    Reply
  • crewton
    That is amazing.
    Reply
  • GI_JONES
    The question we all want answered.... Can it play Crysis?
    Reply
  • razor512
    seems pretty good, hopefully it does not have the driver issues of the raspberry pi where the hardware acceleration is crippled and there is not enough RAM to run many applications that would otherwise run great on the low power device.

    A good use of a device like this will be as a media center system, especially if there is hardware acceleration for multiple formats. (probably make a custom case for it that can fit the drive and controller board from a 2.5 inch external hard drive, and the PC on a stick system's internals and turn it into a decent media center system)
    Reply
  • memadmax
    I wish... M$ would frickin shrink their OS to do crap like this....
    Reply
  • Shaun o
    This is only the first run of these devices, but if they take off in a big way we can expect they will just get better as the years go by. Crysis anyone !
    Reply
  • ddan49
    BF3 benchmarks or nothing. I wanna see how this compares to the Rasberry Pi, too.
    Reply