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.
