Compulab have revealed their second incarnation of the MintBox according to FanlessTech. The MintBox 2 will run Linux Mint out of the box and comes equipped with passively cooled Intel Core i5 processors. The previous generation ran AMD E-Series Zacate APUs so this is a dramatic improvement on the CPU front – up to four times more CPU performance is promised. There will probably be the provision of dual core hyper threaded Core i5 mobile processors, most likely based on the Ivy Bridge Mobile chips but possibly Haswell.
Apparently the MintBox 2 is going to ship with at least 4GB of dual channel memory though you will undoubtedly be able to add more if you so wish as mobile Core i5 processors can take a lot more than 4GB. The DDR3 is probably provided by SODIMM to keep the size down. There is a 500GB mechanical hard drive for storage, likely to be 2.5 inch form factor, and the device uses a pair of Gigabit ethernet connectors. With dimensions of 190 by 160 by 40mm this device is really small. Linux Mint 15 Olivia is expected to come pre-installed and maybe in a 64 bit variety depending on RAM allocation. Pricing starts from USD$599 and will arrive within the next month or
Image courtesy of Compulab
