Skip to main content

A desktop PC for ants? Zotac’s latest Zbox is smaller than an iPhone 6 Plus

Macau-based computer hardware manufacturer Zotac has been designing tiny, inexpensive PCs for years now. This time, the company’s engineers have really outdone themselves. After going with a bizarre (yet awesome) Star Wars-ish theme in recent PCs, Zotac invested resources and energy in coming up with a tiny PC that’s among the smallest we’ve ever seen.

The result of the company’s efforts is called the Zbox PI320 pico, and it’s so petite that you could literally hook it up to a display, plug in peripherals, and forget it’s there. It measures 4.6 x 2.6 x 0.8-inches, so it can fit right into your shirt or pants pockets.

Recommended Videos

To get a better grasp on those numbers, the iPhone 6 Plus measures 6.22 x 3.06 x 0.28-inches. How often are the devices that we’re supposed to carry around less compact than a contraption made specifically for desktop use?

Food for thought, and while you ponder an answer, here are some other fun facts about the Zotac Zbox pico. Unlike most mini PCs, this box comes with Windows 8.1 with Bing pre-installed, so it’s work-ready out of the box.

Decently punchy for a PC of this size, it packs a quad-core Intel Atom Z3735F processor clocked at 1.33GHz, Intel HD graphics, 2GB of RAM, and a 32GB SSD. Passively cooled, and VESA mountable to third-party monitors, this PC amazingly makes the most of its cramped footprint by including a slew of ports and connectivity options.

Three USB 2.0 connectors, a microSD card slot, Ethernet, and an HDMI port are somehow squeezed on the outside of Zotac’s newest mini-desktop. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 also offered as well.

Listed at various online retailers like CompSource and MacMall, the Zbox PI320 is “temporarily out of stock”, but it should become widely available soon. It can be had for as little as $200.

Minuscule, relatively powerful, and affordable? What more could you want?

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Adrian Diaconescu
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Adrian is a mobile aficionado since the days of the Nokia 3310, and a PC enthusiast since Windows 98. Later, he discovered…
Save $349 on a 12-month Starlink subscription, but only if you’re in these states
A Starlink dish next to an RV.

If you're willing to sign up for 12 months' worth of Starlink, this new deal could be a great option for you. Elon Musk's satellite internet provider just announced a deal that gets you the Starlink hardware for free as long as you commit to a 12-month residential service plan.

Normally, if you sign up for Starlink, you'll be faced with a monthly plan, but also the price of the dish and the router. In the U.S., that price normally sits at $349, which can be considered a hefty upfront commitment. The new promotion brings the price of the hardware down to $0, although you'll still need to sign up for 12 months of the Residential plan. This could either mean Residential Lite, priced at $80, which offers "unlimited deprioritized data," or the Residential plan, which costs $120 per month and removes the "deprioritized" factor.

Read more
I’m intrigued by Apple’s weird keyboard idea that could change how you use your MacBook
Apple MacBook Air 13 M4 top down view showing keyboard and touchpad.

Ever since I tried my first mechanical keyboard many moons ago, I’ve been totally sold on clicky switches and chunky keycaps. I use a mechanical keyboard for both my Mac and my PC, and typing on Apple’s Magic Keyboard, as good as it is, just feels weird to me these days.

That means that when I saw that Apple has been granted a patent for a weird new keyboard concept, my ears immediately pricked up.

Read more
This Lenovo ThinkPad is usually $1,739 — today it’s under $1,000
The Lenovo ThinkPad E16 Gen 2 laptop on a gray background.

If you're browsing laptop deals for a reliable device at a nice price, you can't go wrong with Lenovo's ThinkPad laptops. Here's an offer to consider: the Lenovo ThinkPad E16 Gen 2 with a 43% discount on its estimated value of $1,739, so you'll only have to pay $980. We're not sure how much time is remaining on this chance to buy this laptop for under $1,000 though, so we highly recommend hurrying with your purchase if you don't want to miss the $759 in savings.

Why you should buy the Lenovo ThinkPad E16 Gen 2 laptop

Read more