Zotac International announced on Thursday that four of its ZBOX "Plus" models will sport Windows 8.1 with Bing right out of the box. This is a version of Windows that Microsoft recently released to OEMs to help them sell low cost solutions. The difference with this version is that the default search engine is set to Bing, which OEMs cannot alter.
Typically, Zotac devices don't ship with an operating system. Instead, customers can buy a "barebones" version that doesn't have a hard drive or RAM, or a "Plus" version that includes RAM and a hard drive that's ready for users to install whatever operating system they choose.
"Users requested we include Microsoft Windows with the ZBOX mini-PCs so the system is ready to use right off the shelf," Tony Wong, CEO of ZOTAC International, said. "We've been listening and thanks to Microsoft's introduction of Windows 8.1 with Bing, we're able to give buyers the full Windows experience in a mini-PC form factor at an excellent value."
Units that have Windows 8.1 with Bing installed include the Zbox CI320 Nano, the ZBOX CA320 Nano, the Zbox BI320, and the Zbox ID18. All four of these "Plus" models include 2 GB of DDR3 memory and a 64 GB SSD.
According to a list of specifications, the ZBOX CI320 nano includes an Intel Celeron N2930 quad-core processor (1.83 GHz, 2.16 GHz), a 3-in-1 card reader, Wireless AC and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, Gigabit Ethernet, four USB 3.0 ports on the back, two USB 2.0 ports on the front and more. The other "nano" model, the Zbox CA320, features an AMD A6-1450 APU (1.0 GHz, 1.4 GHz), AMD Radeon HD 8250 graphics, two USB 3.0 ports on the back and five USB 2.0 ports total.
As for the non-nano models, the Zbox BI320 includes an Intel Celeron 2957U dual-core processor (1.4 GHz), a 6-in-1 card reader, DVI and HDMI output, four USB 3.0 ports on the back and two USB 2.0 ports on the front top. The Zbox ID18 includes the Intel Celeron 1037U dual-core processor (1.8 GHz), two USB 3.0 ports on the back and four USB 2.0 ports on the back and front. This model supports DirectX 10.1, whereas the other three support DirectX 11.
Follow Kevin Parrish @exfileme. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.
