Liliputing has just reported that a $89 dual core Cortex A9 mini PC may be available soon from a South African company/individual. The SoC would be clocked at 1.6Ghz, come with 1GB RAM, 4GB flash, and destroy all other low cost mini PC in terms of performance.
Here are the announced specifications:
- Operation System – Android 4.0.4 ICS
- SoC – Dual ARM Cortex-A9 processor up to 1.6GHZ with Mali-400MP4 Quad-core GPU
- RAM – 1GB DDR3
- Storage – 4GB Nand Flash , microSD card slot (up to 32 GB)
- Connectivity – Built-in WiFi 802.11b/g/n
- USB – 1 x USB 2.0 Host, 1 X micro usb host
- Video out – HDMI
- Video Codecs – Mpeg1/2/4.H.264,VC-1,Divx,Xvid,RM8/9/10,VP6
- Video Containers – MKV,TS,TP,M2TS,RM/RMVB,BD-ISO,AVI,MPG,VOB,DAT,ASF,TRP,FLV etc full formats
- Audio Codec – DTS,AC3,LPCM,FLAC,HE-AAC
- Audio Formats – MP3,OGG,WMA,WMAPRO
- Power – 90-230V, 50/60Hz input, max. power: 30W, Output: 5V/2A
- Dimensions – 10.1 x 3.8 x 1.3cm
- Weight – 38g
The device will be sold with a USB Cable and a user manual in English. It’s slightly larger than the MK802.
You may have noticed the question mark in the title of this post, that’s because I’m going to play guessing games and probably embarrass myself in the process (Confirmed by Brad Linder, see comments section). Based on the CPU specs (Dual cortex A9, Quad Core Mali-400 and 1.6 GHz), I believe the SoC is the new Rockchip RK3066 used in Cube U30GT Android tablet. I’m very doubtful it will be clocked at 1.6 GHz however for 2 reasons:
- Some people (Equiso) tried (low cost) Cortex A9 processors in a mini PC and would have had to limit the frequency to 600 Mhz to avoid overheating (in a smaller casing that one used used for this product), which is why they switched to a Cortex A5 solution. The Cotton Candy can operate fine with the Exynos 4212 dual core Cortex A9 @ 1.2 GHz, but cheaper SoCs tend to dissipate more heat and could be problematic in a small package.
- Reno Bote, the person promoting the device, shot a video (below) showing the Antutu score of the device (5566) which is lower to Antutu scores I’ve seen for the Cube U30GT tablet (Around 7600), and would put the operating frequency around 1 to 1.2 GHz.
As you can see in the picture above, there are plenty of ventilation holes in the casing, and hopefully they have designed this mini-pc so that there are no heat dissipation issues.
The device is not publicly available yet, and Reno Bote is looking for wholesalers to distribute this product. I’m still a little doubtful about this product, since I can’t find reference to dual core Cortex A9 mini PC anywhere (except for Renesas EV2 @ 533 Mhz), but in case you are interested, you can contact him via his YouTube channel or directly by email (ecotech.rsa at gmail.com)
[Update: The device is now available on Aliexpress. THe only problem is that you need to buy 2 for now ($199 inc. shipping)]
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
Support CNX Software! Donate via cryptocurrencies, become a Patron on Patreon, or purchase goods on Amazon or Aliexpress
