So…I spent a few months trying to build a small PC for my wife’s parents. It was an interesting task trying to find the best prices and the right parts to put together a really nice system for them. However, it turned out to be more difficult than I anticipated. We tried local stores for parts and complete systems. But we could not find exactly what I wanted at a good price. It didn’t help that I’m an American – we tend to get overcharged in China.
Online was not much better. The prices were better, but getting exactly what I ordered was problematic. The Hard Drive was IDE and not SATA. The case had no power supply. The CPU never shipped. In the end, we ended up with case, motherboard and memory. Then I gave up.
Months before moving here, I had built a mini multimedia PC and brought it here. Windows 7 64bit Ultimate, 8GB RAM, 1.5TB HD, with English and Chinese. It was exactly what I was trying to build for my in laws. Most of the time it just sat around and look for ET using Seti@home.
So…I gave it to them. With a nice 23″ monitor and speakers, they have a great system that will last them for a good long time. Plus, it still looks for ET when its on.
A few weeks ago I got a notice from Seti@home that they had a beta version of their software for Android systems! So I downloaded Boinc software to all our Android phones and tablets and pointed it to their beta site.
But I was still without a multimedia PC and a full-time E.T. hunter.
Then I remembered that XMBC had just released a version of their software for Android a few months ago. Now all I needed was an Android PC and I’d be back in business! And…they make ’em!
The 9v batter is for scale. The Measy remote was as big as the box.
As you can see in the photo, its a VERY small unit – about the size of 2 9v batteries. The keyboard/Mouse was much bigger than the PC!
Its an MK908 with a quad-code A9 processor with 2GB of RAM. It has an HDMI Port, three USB Ports (one for power and the other two for peripherals) and a MicroSD card slot for additional memory. This one can also handle added and external USB 2.0 Hard Drive. It’s got Wifi, BlueTooth and Ethernet (not sure how that last one works since there is no Ethernet port or adapter)
It runs what appears to be stock Android 4.2.2 and came with some additional software like PPTV and eHomeMediaCenter.
I also picked up a wireless keyboard/trackpad combo to control it from afar.
So I downloaded Boinc and got it looking for aliens through Seti@Home and also downloaded XBMC for my media center software (the same I used on my Windows PC). It’s looking for E.T. now and the plan it to free up one of my USB Hard Drives to hold movies for XBMC.
It runs a bit hot with Boinc running 100% on all 4 cores, so I’ve had to back it down to 70% – at least until I find a heat sink or fan that will work.
All this for around 500¥, or 85$. Damn sight cheaper than a whole new windows PC and it does everything I want!