The MeLE Star Cloud PCG60 Plus is a new Windows PC powered by the quadcore Intel X5-Z8300 Cherry Trail SoC and features a VGA port. How good is it? Read my MeLE Star Cloud PCG60 Plus review to find out.
I want to say thanks to MeLE for sending me a sample to review.
Check Price at AliExpressMeLE Star Cloud PCG60 Plus Technical Specifications
[aps_product_specs id=”6582″]
What’s In The Box?
Inside the box, you get:
- MeLE Star Cloud PCG60 Plus Mini PC
- 1x Power Adapter
- 4x Plug Adapters (US/UK/EU/AU)
- 1x Instruction Manual
MeLE Star Cloud PCG60 Plus Review: Design
The MeLE PCG60 Plus is a stocky device. It’s taller than most Windows mini PCs but this allows it to have a more compact footprint than it’s competitors.
It’s case is metal and uses a stylish grey and black color scheme that blends in with your other electronic equipment.
The unit is also incredibly solid. I’ve never felt a mini PC that’s so heavy. It feels really substantial and won’t move an inch – even when all your cables are plugged into it.
In terms of ports, the right side houses a micro SD card slot (with an blank installed to keep dust out – a nice touch).
The remainder of the ports are located on the rear of the device. You’ve got a USB 2.0 port, VGA port, power button, 3.5mm headphone jack, Kensington lock port, 2 USB 3.0 ports, Ethernet, HDMI output and DC in.
I really like the MeLE Star Clou PCG60 Plus’ design but I wish it at least had one front facing USB port to make it easy to plug in a HDD. A USB extender would be a handy addition.
MeLE Star Cloud PCG60 Plus Review: Using It
The unit boots up by holding down the power button for a second. A cold boot takes around 30 seconds with a keyboard and mouse connected, it takes around 30 seconds to boot. Resuming from standby is pretty much instant.
The MeLE Star Cloud PCG60 Plus ships with the latest version of Windows 10. It’s activated out of the box and is completely stock. The single C:\ drive has 17.3GB out of 28GB free out of the box.
Performance was identical to other Intel X5-Z8300 devices, with the unit handling Microsoft’s OS well. Mulltitasking performance was great. I was able to open a few browser windows and watch a video without the unit missing a beat.
There’s also the option to use both the VGA and HDMI ports for a dual monitor setup for power users. It’s not a common feature on these mini PCs so it’s great to see and adds legitimacy for using the device as a traditional PC.
MeLE Star Cloud PCG60 Plus Review: Media Playback
I installed the latest version of Kodi (Kodi 16.1 at the time of writing) to test out media playback.
| Codec | Video Performance (Kodi 16.1) |
|---|---|
| 1080p 3D SBS H.264 | OK |
| 1080p 3D ABL H.264 | OK |
| 1080p24 H.264 | OK |
| 1080p High Bitrate H.264 | OK |
| 1080p60 H.264 | OK |
| 720p50 H.264 | OK |
| 1080i25 H.264 | OK |
| 4K 30FPS H.264 | OK |
| 4K 60FPS H.264 | Audio Lags Behind Video |
| 1080p24 HEVC | OK |
| 4K 30FPS 8-bit HEVC | OK |
| 1080p 10-bit HEVC | Decoding Issues |
| 1080p30 VP8 | OK |
| 720p Hi10p | OK |
| 1080p Hi10p | OK (Software Decoding) |
| 1080p MPEG2 | OK |
| 1080p VC1 | OK |
| Unencrypted Bluray ISO (Sintel) | OK |
Media playback on the MeLE Star Cloud PCG60 Plus was solid as we’ve seen with other Cherry Trail PCs. The most common codecs played back well and even some of the more demanding codecs were able to be decoded via software (i.e. 1080p Hi10p).
Deinterlacing performance was good and automatic framerate switching is supported for correct playback of videos once enabled in Kodi’s settings.
5.1 Audio Passthrough
Dolby Digital 5.1 passthrough via HDMI worked fine via Kodi 16.1
Netflix
Netflix plays back in HD via the native Windows 10 app.
External Storage Support
Playing back movies from my 2.5″ USB-powered HDD and USB flash drive worked perfectly.
MeLE Star Cloud PCG60 Plus Review: Gaming Performance
To test gaming performance, I installed 2 games,1 2D and 1 3D title:
Gaming performance on the MeLE PCG61 was great, handling both Jetpack Joyride and Beach Buggy Racing well, even on maximum settings.
Gaming Controllers and Bluetooth
My Gamesir G3 was able to be hooked up wireless via USB to play Beach Buggy Racing.
Connecting up my Bluetooth keyboard also worked flawlessly.
MeLE Star Cloud PCG60 Plus Review: Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Score |
| 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited | 17952 |
| 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme | 12781 |
| 3DMark Cloud Gate | 1535 |
| GeekBench 3 Single Core | 774 |
| GeekBench 3 Multi Core | 2150 |
MeLE Star Cloud PCG60 Plus Review: Thermal Performance
The MeLE Star Cloud PCG60 Plus’s thermal performance was excellent. Despite stress testing it for over 30 minutes using using HeavyLoad, the unit didn’t throttle according to HWiNFO. This isn’t particularly surprising given MeLE traditionally have excellent heat dissipation in their designs.
MeLE Star Cloud PCG60 Plus Review: Power Consumption
| Off | Standby | Idle | 1080p24 Video | Under Load |
| 0W | 0.2W | 6.5W | 8.2W | 12.7W |
Verdict
The MeLE Star Cloud PCG60 Plus is another excellent Windows 10 PC from MeLE. It looks great, is incredibly well-built and has the performance to match.
Though it’s a little pricier than some of the competition, the MeLE Star Cloud PCG60 Plus really does show you that you get what you pay for.
Getting One
You can get the MeLE Star Cloud PCG60 Plus from MeLE’s official store on AliExpress for around $200. There’s currently a sale on for 25% off, bringing it down to only $150 which is great given the quality of the unit.
Check Price at AliExpress
