[Update: Egreat I6 unboxing]
Last month we talked about Egreat and their 2015 roadmap, which includes products with various chipsets, from the Allwinner A80 used by Egreat U10 to Mstar MSO9180 used by Egreat A9.
The new “I” series looks very impressive, Egreat chose to use some very attractive cases (unlike some of the other manufacturers that announced BayTrail Mini PC’s).
They are also offering a very good variety of cases and even took some steps to ensure that the customers will be able to play as many video formats as possible by partnering with Vidon.me .
Vidon XBMC software will work on Windows 8.1 and will allow hardware decoding and full BluRay menus.
The “I” series can use either Windows 8.1 or Android 4.4 and will be reasonably priced around $100.
If you choose Windows, though, you will have to activate it yourself, which will cost you a little more, but you will end-up with a full Windows box and you would be able to run most programs and even some games just like you would on your desktop computer, all this with less than 15 Watts power consumption.
Pair this with the fact that these Mini PCs are fanless, and you’ve got a very attractive bedroom PC.
Here’s a side by side comparison between the Egreat “I” series products that are soon to be available.
| Egreat I2 | Egreat I4 | Egreat I6 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case | plastic | metal | aluminum |
| Chipset | Intel Z3735F ATOM x86 | Intel Z3735F ATOM x86 | Intel Z3735F ATOM x86 |
| GPU | Intel HD graphics | Intel HD graphics | Intel HD graphics |
| RAM | 2GB | 2GB | 2GB |
| Storage | 32GB | 32GB | 32GB |
| Wi-Fi | Dual band, AP6330, 802.11 a/b/g/n, 2.4Ghz/5Ghz 300M | Dual band, AP6330, 802.11 a/b/g/n, 2.4Ghz/5Ghz 300M | Dual band, AP6330, 802.11 a/b/g/n, 2.4Ghz/5Ghz 300M |
| Wi-Fi antenna | Internal, 3dB | External, 3dB | External, 3dB |
| LAN/Ethernet | 10/100 | 10/100 | 10/100 |
| Bluetooth | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| HDMI | 1.4a, 1080P@60Hz | 1.4a, 1080P@60Hz | 1.4a, 1080P@60Hz |
| USB 2.0 ports | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| Micro-USB ports | 1 | – | – |
| SD card | yes, up to 128GB | yes, up to 128GB | yes, up to 128GB |
| VGA output | no | no | yes |
| Headphones jack with Mic-in | yes | yes | yes |
| Power button | – | – | yes |
| Size (mm) | 98 x 98 x 24 | n/k | 104 x 102 x 32 |
And here are some pictures with the Egreat Wintel models.
| Egreat I2 | |
|---|---|
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The Egreat I2 Mini PC use a quite good-looking plastic case |
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It has only two USB 2.0 ports and you can expand it’s internal storage with up to 128GB by using an SD card. |
| Egreat I4 | |
|---|---|
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The Egreat I4 Mini PC has a metal case, features an external wi-fi antenna |
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On it’s side it has two USB 2.0 ports |
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Two more USB 2.0 ports on the back, useful when you want to connect a keyboard, a mouse and some other devices altogether (HDD, USB stick, maybe airmouse USB dongle). |
| Egreat I6 | |
|---|---|
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The Egreat I6 Mini PC uses one of Egreat’s most popular cases, full aluminum, good heat dissipation and a stylish power button |
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On it’s side it has three USB 2.0 ports |
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The VGA port on the back could easily help you revive an old monitor and transform it into a full-featured Windows 8.1 PC. |
But Egreat does not stop here.
They featured at CES 2015 another Wintel Mini PC called Egreat I5 – which got some attention both because of the name and the hardware itself.
And they will launch 5 (five) other Wintel boxes by the end of 2015: Egreat i7/i8/i9/i10/i11 – these will use a larger case and they will have internal 3.5” or 2.5” tray so you can mount an HDD internally (SATA).