Intel are starting to make waves in the tablet space, with x86 processors appearing more frequently. Now, it’s starting to move into mini PCs. The combination of cheaper Intel chipsets and Windows licences has bred devices like the MeegoPad T01. The MeegoPad T01 is a Intel Bay Trail-powered Atom PC with the familiar “Android Stick” form factor. Armed with a quadcore 1.33 GHz processor, this tiny stick is capable of running both Android 4.4 and Windows 8 in a dual OS configuration!
MeegoPad T01 Specifications
- Chipset: Intel Atom Z3735F “Bay Trail” quad core processor @ 1.33 GHz (Bust freq: 1.83 GHz) with Intel HD graphics Gen 7 (2W TDP)
- RAM: 2 GB DDR3L-1333 (64-bit up to 10.6 GB/s)
- Storage: 16 or 32 GB eMMC + micro SD slot up to 64GB
- Video & Audio Output: HDMI 1.4
- Connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 (Realtek RTL8723BS)
- USB: 2x micro USB ports, 1x USB 2.0 port
- Other Features: Power button
- OS: Windows 8/Android 4.4 (Dual Boot)
MeegoPad T01 Impressions
This is a very exciting product as it combines cheap hardware and the allows you to run Windows which eliminates many of the limitations with Android-based devices such as getting the right drivers for peripherals. Additionally, getting Netflix and other streaming apps working should be much easier, as often embedded platforms don’t always support the required DRM. It’s also capable of loading Android 4.4.2.
Whilst the Atom Z3735F isn’t necessarily the fastest chip around, it should be ideal for handling XBMC/Kodi, media playback, web browsing and even some light gaming. You can see CPUBoss’ benchmarks here.
The inclusion of a power button is a small thing but something that I find very exciting as I don’t always like having my media players running all the time so this addition is incredibly welcome and strangely rare in the Mini PC world.
I personally want to get my hands on a MeegoPad T01 as I love the idea of having a tiny Windows media center that I can take around with me.
MeegoPad T01 Video
MeegoPad T01 Images
To get more information on the MeegoPad T01, please follow the link to the product page.
Do you like the look of the MeegoPad T01? Is this something you’d want to use as your HTPC? Let us know in the comments below.
Hi, somebody have received and tested meegopad T01 ? Does it true that it come with Windows pre-installed and with an official license ?
some users say it heats up a lot when performing heavy tasks like gaming? at least in the beta product.. is it the case for you?
Mines on its way so I’ll be testing temperatures in my review
This device is at the moment super popular in China. Meegopad seems hardly able to keep up with the demand. Currently most international China sellers don’t have this product in stock.
So is this like Apple Mac mini but smaller and less powerful?
I just connect this to HDMI port of my monitor? What about mouse and keyboard? I have Apple’s Magic Trackpad and wireless keyboard. Will they work?
Pretty much – its a tiny PC running full Windows. Mouse and keyboard should be connected without issue assuming they work on Windows 8 – just check compatibility.
what is this something like chromecast?
Kind of. It’s got the same form factor as the Chromecast but its essentially a PC – capable of running full Windows. So you can browse the web, install XBMC/Kodi, play games, watch movies, etc like on a desktop. The only limitation would be that the processor is not super fast so new games won’t run but should handle old stuff without issue.
How does one run windows with this device ? Do you still need a PC or does it have windows preinstalled. could you plug this into a monitor?
It’s got an Intel processor inside so it is a PC. The product page suggests that it has Windows preinstalled so you’d just plug it into a monitor.