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Review: Liva Mini PC

Review LIVE mini pcThe evolution process has taken Personal Computers from the traditional desktops to laptops to tablets and smartphones. Although these devices have essentially got smaller in size, it also means the kind of workload you can do on a desktop cannot be replicated, say by a smartphone. Small does come with its limitations. However imagine a device that’s small, portable and convenient and yet gives you the functionality of a full blown desktop? A mini-PC, hardly a new term, in fact originated in the 1960s, is the answer to organisations’ question of affordable and portable computing devices.

ECS’ Liva Mini PC is an affordable build-it-yourself device that doesn’t consume much power and can be connected even to a 50-inch smart TV, if required. Claiming to be the world’s smallest Windows-based computing device, the company has derived its name from a combination of the words – ‘living’ and ‘life’.

The kit comes with everything such as an ECS BAT-Mini motherboard, 2GB DDR3L memory, eMMC storage 32GB, WiFi / Bluetooth combo card, antenna, power adapter, Liva case and a manual and driver DVD. Except the operating system you get pretty much all you need for a basic desktop setup.

Getting the device up and running is quite simple and clearly directed in the manual. With the WiFi connectivity and wireless keyboard and mouse, the Mini-PC functions just like any other desktop would. It handled video streaming with ease and has the capacity to connect to dual monitors. The device handled multitasking decently with a number of applications running simultaneously such as Chrome, YouTube, Word and social media sites. One of the features that makes this device stand out is its low power consumption, pegged at less than 25W. This is possible because the device integrates a low voltage Double Data Rate III Synchronous DRAM. Usually installed for a Notebook PC, this helps in 8 percent power saving than the regular DRAM. The Mini PC is also unnaturally stealthy in its operations and one doesn’t hear the usual fan-noise that is associated with PCs. The fan-less thermal design enables better acoustic performance as well. But for even enhanced audio, the user can easily connect wireless Bluetooth speakers to the device without hampering its performance. The 32GB version is available for $180 while the 64GB one can be bought for $220. The size and price of the device makes it a good option for organisations not willing to invest in a large amount and yet attain similar performance that of a regular PC.

What ECS could have considered while designing the device might have been more number of USB ports. The LIVA Mini PC is a good choice for basic tasks such as surfing the web and watching videos and drafting letters and emails, it may not suffice if one intends to use heavy editing software or for serious gaming. Of course including the operating system in the package would have been better for the users, but for the price, it is quite a decent buy and certainly worth the money.

 

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