Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) today announced two new additions to its min -PC lineup. The LIVA Z3 Plus and Z3E Plus cater to the needs of home and professional users.
Both the LIVA Z3 Plus and Z3E Plus employ Intel's 10th Generation Comet Lake-U CPUs that come with a small 15W thermal footprint. There are four processor options for your choosing. The Core i7-10710U is a hexa-core chip, while the Core i7-10510U and Core i5-10210U are quad-core parts. The Core i3-10110U is the only dual-core option among the four 14nm processors.
At 4.6 x 5.0 inches (117 x 128mm), neither mini PC will take up a lot of valuable space on your desk. The Z3 Plus, the shorter of the two, stands at 1.4 inches (35mm). Meanwhile, the Z3E Plus is 2.1 inches (52.9mm) tall. You can choose between a silver or black chassis.
The devices come with two SO-DIMM DDR4 RAM slots, allowing you to use up to 32GB of DDR4-2400 or DDR4-2666 memory. The Z3 Plus and Z3E Plus provide a single M.2 slot for a SATA or PCIe SSD with a length up to 80mm (3.1 inches). The Z3E Plus' additional height opens the door for a 2.5-inch SSD or hard drive. Should you need it, the Z3 Plus and Z3E Plus are also said to play nicely with Intel Optane drives.
The mini PCs come with an empty M.2 2230 slot that's designed for wireless cards. ECS offers the option to include an Intel Wireless-AC 9560 adapter that offers 802.11ax networking and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity at an extra cost.
In terms of ports, each tiny system employs three USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports, one USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C port and one 3.5mm combo audio jack up front. ECS incorporated four digital microphones in the front panel for voice recognition
At the rear, there are two Gigabit Ethernet ports and the DC-in connector. The Z3 Plus and Z3E Plus supplies one HDMI 2.0 port and a Mini DisplayPort output. However, the Z3E Plus model offers an optional HDMI-in connection via an embedded capture card.
There's a Kensington lock on the side of the Z3 Plus and Z3E Plus. In the latter's case, there are also two RS232 COM ports.
The Z3 Plus is available on Newegg for $564.99, while the Z3E Plus isn't in stock yet.
