Zotac revealed on Wednesday a version of its Zbox Nano mini-PC packing AMD's "Brazos 2.0" E2-1800 dual-core APU clocked at 1.7 GHz. This chip refreshes the Zotac device with AMD Radeon HD 7340 graphics which delivers DirectX 11 gaming and HD video playback while boosting computational and graphical processing capabilities for lightning-fast system responsiveness.
"The Zotac Zbox Nano series proves itself as a user favorite with full-scale PC usage in all rooms and locations," the company said. "The pocket-sized form factor comes extremely versatile given its new dual-core 1.7 GHz AMD Brazos 2.0 E2-1800 APU. The Brazos 2.0 platform significantly improves performance-per-wattage, incorporates native USB 3.0, native SD reader and SATA 6 GB/s support, while simultaneously reducing idle power usage. The Zbox Nano AD12 delivers more performance and provides additional connectivity while maintaining the same compact footprint."
The new Zotac Zbox Nano AD12 arrives in two favors: standard vanilla AD12 and extra beefy AD12 Plus. The overall specs include the AMD SoC, two USB 3.0 ports on the back, two USB 2.0 ports on the front, two USB 2.0 ports on the back, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n connectivity, Bluetooth 3.0, one eSATA port, a bundled MCE-compatible remote with integrated and USB IR receivers, and a bundled VESA75/100 mount.
"High-amperage USB 2.0 ports come new in the Zbox Nano AD12, capable of replenishing the batteries of devices requiring more power for quicker charging. A pair of front-mounted USB 2.0 ports provides easy expandability to portable devices with the Zbox Nano AD12 while supplying up to 1.5-amps of high-amperage power for easy plug-and-play charge and syncing with the latest smartphones and tablets."
As for other features, both offer a 7-in-1 card reader (SD/SDHC/SDXC/MMC/MS/MS Pro/xD), DisplayPort and HDMI video output, a shared video memory architecture, and a combo analog stereo / mini-Optical S/PDIF/HDMI audio (bitstream). Both are Windows 7 with Aero user interface and DirectCompute compatible, but they don't actually come with an OS pre-installed.
The only difference between both models is that the AD12 Plus includes 2 GB of DDR3 memory and the standard "barebones" AD12 version has an empty 204-pin DDR3 SO-DIMM slot (supports up to 8 GB). The AD12 Plus also has a pre-installed 320 GB 5400RPM HDD whereas the standard AD12 doesn't, merely providing an empty slot for one 2.5-inch SATA 3-compatible HDD.
Currently pricing and availability for both are unknown (out of stock), so stay tuned.
