Now there is a more affordable version. Minimachines.net has stumbled upon a new SKU, the ZBOX Nano ID67, powered by a cheaper and cooler Haswell chip, the Core i3-4010U. This is a 15W dual-core clocked at 1700MHz and it is somewhat faster than the somewhat higher clocked Ivy-based Core i3-3217U, which was used in plenty of cheap ultrathin notebooks and some netbooks. The Core i3-4010U features HD Graphics 4400, so the GPU is a bit faster, too.
So far the Core i3-4010U was only available in Intel NUC and Gigabyte Brix barebones, which are rather compact, but also quite pricey – and they can’t handle 2.5-inch drives, as the small form factor necessitates the use of mSATA storage.
As usual, Zotac is offering the ID as a full system, with the Plus moniker, or are barebones model. The Plus features 4GB of RAM and a 500MB hard drive, but if you want a hybrid drive or an SSD, the barebone is clearly a better choice.
There is still no official price. It was listed on a US site for $324. Prices of Zotac’s other Haswell ZBOX models range from €380 to €570+, so we suspect the latest SKU will be quite a bit cheaper. Intel’s and Gigabyte’s NUC sized barebones cost almost €300 and we suspect Zotac’s new ZBOX will end up cheaper, making an interesting option for people who want Intel’s latest 22nm ULV silicon in a small form factor.
