I recently spent some time with the ASUS VivoMouse and thought it a lovely little device, but the new VivoPC is something else to behold. What you have inside that mini exterior is plenty of functionality and you can customise it to suit your desires.
The ASUS VivoPc is slim and looks fantastic. It’s square mini design is very easy on the eye and the size means you can slot this baby in anywhere. Oh yes, you can whip this up into a media centre frenzy, or simply pop it into your minimalist office. The choice is entirely yours.
And, of course, it wouldn’t be an ASUS product if there weren’t some little gems hidden about the VivoPC. You get high-speed 802.11ac Wi-Fi HD streaming (remember what I said about an entertainment hub?) and there are even integrated SonicMaster speakers that will deliver superb audio if you don’t happen to have any cool speakers of your own. I can see you staring at the tiny device and wondering where those speakers are hidden…
Ok, they are easy to find, but still, clever no? I’ll move on. The top of the ASUS VivoPC slides off so that you can quickly access the interior with the hard drive bay and memory slots placed for maximum ease of use. You can now load it with your own Intel processor of choice – I am going to assume Haswell here – and your choice of hard drive – this mini PC will take either HDD or SSD.
Connectivity is not a problem with two USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, VGA, Ethernet, three audio jacks, and one SPDIF out. It’s a tidy 190x190x56.2mm in size and a shiny silver for that gleaming, glistening, gorgeous look that every lounge or office needs.
This is a stroke of genius in my opinion, especially in a world that is starting to shift from the bulk of the desktop to the lightweight of the tablet for all things – work and play. Here is a neat and chic device, albeit not for the gamer, that can handle word processing and still be easily shifted to fit the needs of the user. I await the release of the price and availability with no small amount of excitement.
Tamsin