Zotac’s newest small form factor PC looks like R2D2’s head covered in black spray paint

By Konrad Krawczyk May 28, 2014

zotacs newest small form factor pc looks like r2d2s head covered in black spray paint ac22497443 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

One of the newest small form factor PCs from Zotac, a German-based computer and component manufacturer, packs in some decent hardware into a dwarfish frame. It also reminds us of a certain movie character; R2D2, the lovable beeping droid from the Star Wars franchise.

The Zotac Zbox OI520 comes in both a standard, and a “Plus” model as well. Both include Intel Core i5-42ooU processors clocked at 1.6 GHz, Intel HD Graphics 4400 GPUs, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0. Connectivity options include four USB 3.0 ports, and a trio of USB 2.0 connections. An Ethernet port is also present, along with HDMI and DisplayPort. All of the ports are located around back, save for a single side-mounted USB 2.0 connection.

So what’s the difference between the standard Zbox OI520 and the Plus version? Simple: the latter ships with 4GB of RAM, and a 500 GB 5,400 rpm hard drive. The non-Plus model doesn’t include a hard drive, or any RAM at all. Neither models ships with a pre-installed OS either, so be prepared to bring your own copy of Windows.

As we mentioned, the Zbox OI520 is a small form factor rig, and the official dimensions indicate that it’s absolutely tiny. The spherical system measures 6.34 x 6.06 x 6.06-inches. Weight isn’t provided, but with those numbers, we imagine that this Zbox is pretty light, especially considering that there’s no room for a large graphics card, or a bulky CPU cooler.

We’re seriously starting to wonder whether Zotac has a thing for making gear that looks like R2D2. After all, the company revealed this Zbox rig in February, which looks like R2 after a nasty encounter with the trash compactor from the first film.

Not that we’re complaining. We can only hope that Zotac keeps making these Star Wars droid-esque systems. Though we’re not exactly holding out hope for a CP30-inspired system, one can dream, right?

Pricing and availability for the Zotac Zbox OI520 is currently unavailable.

What do you think? Sound off in the comments below.

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Konrad Krawczyk

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Konrad covers desktops, laptops, tablets, sports tech and subjects in between for Digital Trends. Prior to joining DT, he…

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