MintBox Mini Pro

The MintBox Mini just got better!

MintBox Mini Pro

The new model is called “MintBox Mini Pro”, it’s just as small as the original MintBox Mini but with much better specifications.

Here’s a quick comparison between the two models:

MintBox Mini MintBox Mini Pro
SSD mSATA 64GB 120GB
RAM 4GB 8GB
Chipset A4-Micro 6400T A10-Micro 6700T
Graphics Dual HDMI – Radeon R3 Dual HDMI – Radeon R6
Ethernet Gbe Dual Gbe
Wifi 802.11n dongle Dual-band 802.11ac mini-PCIe
Bluetooth None 4.0
Price $295 $395

This new unit also features better passive cooling thanks to an all-metal black housing. It has an extra USB port (for a total of 2 USB 3.0 and 4 USB 2.0 ports) and we also spotted powered eSATA and a microSIM slot.

Production started and Compulab started to take orders.

For more information on the MintBox Mini Pro:

http://www.fit-pc.com/web/products/mintbox/mintbox-mini-pro
http://www.fit-pc.com/web/products/mintbox/mintbox-specifications
http://www.fit-pc.com/web/purchasing/order-mintbox

We should be receiving ours very soon. Stay tuned for a preview ๐Ÿ™‚

63 comments

  1. do you really mean “microSIM”? the image indicates a microSD slot.

    Edit by Clem: Hi Stefan. Both the original and the pro MintBox Mini have a microSD slot. But in the specs for the Pro model you can also see “1x micro SIM slot (6 pins)”. I need to confirm with CompuLab whether this is compatible with Linux and wether it can be used to bring 3G/4G connectivity.

  2. Buenas! Soy de Argentina y quiero saber si podrรฉ conseguirlo en mi paรญs o me lo podrรกn enviar comprando con tarjeta. Gracias, saludos!

    Edit by Clem: Hola Hernan. Se puede comprar en todo el mundo pero puede costar mas para envio. Pide a CompuLab directamente por eso (Sorry, my Spanish isn’t great. You can buy it from anywhere in the World, but shipping costs may vary. Best thing is to mention your country and ask CompuLab about shipping and taxes directly).

  3. Can you run games like league of legends on it?

    Edit by Clem: Hi Marius. If there’s a game you want to check, I’m sure I could get geekbench scores from CompuLab or even test that game or similar ones in Steam when we receive the unit and write a preview. That said, even if it manages to run some of the games smoothly, this is not a gamer’s machine. The selling points of the Mintbox are its form factor (it’s close to the size of a tennis ball), silence, low power consumption and cuteness. When it comes to gaming, power is much more important than form-factor. If you’re ok with buying something big and mass-produced, you’ll find you can run your games much faster and for much cheaper if you spend the money on components (GPU/RAM/CPU) and go cheap on the form-factor. If you both high performance and silence/form-factor, you’re looking at a higher budget. CompuLab is also on this segment with the Airtop: http://airtop-pc.com/

  4. Wow! Nice upgrade, and decent price for what you get! I may have to check my budget and see if I can grab one of these little beasties!

  5. Why does it have a 3.5mm jack on it? Apple says those are obsolete now ;p

    Edit by Clem: Ahah, if Apple says so, it must be true ๐Ÿ™‚

  6. Hi.
    As always I am excited with another Mintbox update.
    Then I again realize that they are not shipping to Turkey.
    ๐Ÿ™

    Edit by Clem: Are you sure? Turkey is in the list on the order page.

  7. Hi.
    Which CPU does it use?
    Can I have two wired NIC?
    How much to send it to Brazil?
    How many is the minimal order?

    Edit by Clem: Hello Arlie. Afaik the shipping is worldwide, the fees should be calculated by CompuLab. There is no minimal order. Yes, you can have two NIC (I played with that with a Mintbox Pro which had 2 NICS at the back and 4 at the front, not everybody needs to join multiple networks, but it sure makes things easy if you want to also use it as a network appliance). The APU sports an AMD quad-core, here are its specifications: http://products.amd.com/en-us/search/APU/AMD-A-Series-Processors/AMD-A10-Series-APU-for-Laptops/A10-Micro-6700T-with-Radeon%E2%84%A2-R6-Graphics/18

  8. It is on the list but it is imposible to place the order. My attempts on 2014 and on 2015 were failures. I hope they can have alook on it and they have a ready customer here to support Linux Mint on all possible platforms and ways.
    Cheers.

    Edit by Clem: Hi Cevaz, it might have been an issue with the website in the past. I’m under the impression that they ship worldwide. Don’t hesitate to contact CompuLab directly so that they can confirm.

  9. Wow, pretty nice specs this time. ๐Ÿ™‚ Can you ask about the uptime of the MintBox Mini Pro on fit-Uptime? That would be interesting to know. ๐Ÿ˜€

    Maybe running Big Buck Bunny or Sintel in a loop.

    Edit by Clem: Hi Kneekoo, I think you found one of the few gadgets we don’t have here. Here’s what I know though.. CompuLab describes the TDP as being unlocked. In the original Mintbox Mini it was set at 4.5W but you could modify it in the BIOS, with various degrees of success. If I remember right I was successful at setting it to 10W to gain extra power. The specifications on CompuLab mention a maximum of 10.5W for both units. Long story short, I don’t really know ๐Ÿ™‚ You might have gotten in touch with Irad Stavi from CompuLab in the past? He’ll be answering questions here and on Facebook tomorrow. This is a bit technical for me, but I’m sure he’ll be able to help.

  10. Why do you guys choose to use an industrial oriented PC? Are you guys targeting industrial use? Seems like a lot of people would pass on this due to the high price likely slow relative performance. I doubt a heavy duty box at this level is important to many people unless your previous sales numbers show otherwise.

    Edit by Clem: Hi Jon, it’s not about sales. Although we do get a little (our margin is 5% on the MintBox), our business model isn’t based on partnerships. The reason we partner with Compulab is because we really enjoy what they do. We want to love the MintBox more than we want to sell it, if that makes sense. If the goal was money, we’d partner with a company which mass-produces low quality budget laptops instead. That’s what most people buy.

  11. Is it possible for the HDMI ports to listen to CEC commands? It would be great to have this drive a media center.

    Edit by Clem: Hi Ben. I have no idea, CompuLab might know. All I can say is that according to the specs, these two HDMI ports are HDMI 1.4a.

  12. Nice.
    At first glance, I didnt realize how small it is.
    You might consider a picture with something along-side of it to offer some perspective. Something like a tennis ball maybe?
    Or just add dims to the image.

    Edit by Clem: That’s what we did with the original MintBox (you can see pictures of it at http://segfault.linuxmint.com/2015/05/mintbox-mini-preview/, next to a laptop, a mouse and a tennis ball). We’ll probably do the same with this one when we preview it.

  13. Great specs!
    I am worried for the display:
    Does it mean it cannot drive a 2560x1440x60Hz monitor?

    Edit by Clem: It can, but at reduced resolution. It can connect two monitors, each to a max resolution of 1920×1200.

  14. I would have loved a MintBox Mini Pro, but how to buy one in Norway ?

    Have to order it from another country, and usually the cost of getting it delivered makes it waaay more expensive….

    Edit by Clem: It should be available worldwide. Also, if you’re in Europe, the shipping cost and taxes might get reduced if/once CompuLab starts shipping units through Amazon.

  15. Interesting. Would it be possible with such product to :
    1) use a GSM network card plugged on a mini-PCIe slot instead of a wifi card in order to have GSM Internet connectivity ?

    2) is is possible to control with simple commands some user LEDs, ideally on front panel, allowing the device to communicate some informations to end-users without a screen?

    With those 2 possibilities I see many applications as e-health monitoring device. It does not need high-end CPUs or great GPU, basic graphics are enough, but it must be able to communicate well and autonomously with the external world.

    Edit by Clem: Hi. Yes to the first question. I was wondering about exactly that yesterday, so I asked CompuLab. I’ll quote them here: “We have one miniPCIe in MintBox Mini Pro. It is populated with a WiFi card. For 3g/4g, take out the WiFi, put a miniPCI modem, put your SIM in the socket, replace the WiFi antenna with 3g/4g antenna”. I’m not sure about the second question, you would need to ask CompuLab directly. I know they provide face modules for the Mintbox (usually to give it more connectivity), maybe it’s programmable. I’m sorry, I really don’t know. Hopefully Irad can answer this.

    Second edit by Clem: Sorry, I just realized Irad had already answered the first question ๐Ÿ™‚

  16. Clem,
    I might wait until your team get your hands on it and give their feedback/review.

    I use Google Chrome on Linux Mint, and videos in Google Chrome play in VP9 (webm) rather than H265(mp4) – from what I can find, there is no accelerated hardware support for VP9 in Radeon graphic cards, hope I’m wrong though.

    [URL]http://www.overclock.net/t/1581894/a10-micro-6700t-problems-with-vp9-enabled-videos[/URL]

  17. I’d like to see a desktop computer (Mintbox or other) built into a standard keyboard. Remember the Apple 2 and Comodore 64? Add an extra 5 mm of depth and there should be lots of room for a circuit board, hard disk drive and even am optical drive, and there’d be lots of space along the back edge dor sockets.

  18. Very nice piece of kit. The (only) 1920×1200 resolution is a dealbreaker though. I’m running 2560×1440 from an atom cherrytrail fanless mini-pc that was half the cost. A DisplayLink docking station adds another 1080p monitor, LAN, and the other 10 USB ports I need ๐Ÿ™‚ Love the OS – writing this on my Mint laptop as Mint tablet updates. Looking forward to that 2k support without having to buy the $600 i7.

    Edit by Clem: A DP would be nice, maybe in the next version ๐Ÿ™‚ You got me curious about the resolution. I’m in 2560×1440 over HDMI here and looking at the specs of the MintBox Mini Pro, its HDMI 1.4a shouldn’t be an issue. I wonder if the APU really is a bottleneck for this. I’ll make sure to test this when it arrives.

  19. You should make a different format with a flat screen and keyboard for those that need something portable.

  20. Hello,
    Nice box but what do you mean by Dual Gbe” for Mintbox Mini Pro on top chart? I hope it will be 2 GigabitEthernet interfaces but at:
    http://www.fit-pc.com/web/products/mintbox/mintbox-specifications/
    Say:
    1x GbE LAN port (RJ-45)
    LAN1: Intel I211 GbE controller

    Thanks

    Edit by Clem: Hello Antonio. I think it’s a typo on the specs page. In my discussions with CompuLab it was definitely mentioned Dual-Gigabit Ethernet. It’s also mentioned at http://www.fit-pc.com/web/products/mintbox/mintbox-mini-pro/.

  21. Nice little boxes – should we expect LMDE2 and upcoming LDME3 to run on them? Hope so.

    Edit by Clem: It should run fine, but I can’t confirm 100% until we test it.

  22. I’ve been using the original MintBox Mini since it was released. I upgraded the RAM to 8GB and purchased the passive heatsink and the VESA mounting plate at reduced prices from Amazon. The MintBox is mounted with the VESA plate to the back of my ViewSonic monitor so it’s sort of like an iMac now and is easy to transport as one unit.

    This system has been rock solid and CompuLab readily responds if you need tech help. Even the VESA plate is well made and nicely finished, arriving complete with mounting screws. The heatsink is well made and keeps the operating temperature 15-20 degrees (Fahrenheit) cooler in the summer.

    It’s currently running MATE 17.3 and I am happy with it’s performance as a general purpose daily driver for web browsing and multi-media. I agree with the comment that this is no gaming machine but I knew this before I purchased it. It falls down in video performance watching videos in HD on YouTube but will play 1080p media files smoothly.

    I will probably stay with 17.3 because I want to avoid systemd as long as possible. I use MATE because it’s fast and only has a few minor glitches and it’s a good fit for the performance level of the MintBox.

    Anyone considering this new model need not worry about quality and support since these little boxes are bulletproof and very well made.

  23. @Detritus Effluvium
    Thanks for the feedback. Glad to hear MintBox Mini works well for you.
    Users that found the performance of MintBox Mini marginal for their needs may be more satisfied with the Pro.

  24. You probably could buy a laptop for that price – but it wouldn’t be SILENT. In the end it’s “horses for courses” and it depends upon the value you place on silence. I have a CompuLab “Barebones” IPC2 i5 to which I added 16GB of ram and a couple of SSD’s. It is rock solid and has remained silent over the last couple of years. My Samsung SF310 i5 laptop on the other hand provides a constant background fan noise that I find wearing. When I have both running at the same time and then switch off the Samsung the silence is fantastic. With the Samsung I also have the “joy” of, from time to time, opening it up to clean the air vents/fan area and replacing a “worn out” fan. With the IPC2 I have to do …. nothing; I have to listen to … silence; it just works – without fans – and I can work without any wearing background noise. The IPC2 also has great practical design features and solid build quality. These factors may not be of importance to your needs, but for me they are worth a bit of a premium.

  25. Nothing is perfect
    I’ve been using Mate for years and won’t switch.
    Do I have to wipe out Cinnamon and install Mate?

    Edit by Clem: Yes, you can install any OS on it, including Mint 18 MATE Edition.

  26. I’m looking for a passive-cooled unit to use as HTPC. I mainly watch 1080p videos with Kodi, use spotify and use it as a NAS (with an external USB drive). Would this unit be good for my use case?

    Thanks!

  27. For a boat based Computer, I was hard pressed to find what I wanted (Low watts and good spec) I found the Compulab fitlet bare bone T and it is a good fit. So far so good 12v sys on a sailing boat with Mint 17.3, and open CPN. and a 27″ Monitor. Wow how great is that. I will say really great!!

    One note on mounting (on boat or? I drilled 4 holes between the fins “outside corners”) to secure it to a bulkhead “wall” note for the casting plug guys mount holes would be great from the factory.

    I am hoping that Compulab comes with an 4G cell card in the future!

    lastly I have to say:

    thanks to the Mint team, as well as Compulab for Great products and great software both are A+++++

  28. @Marcello
    1080p playback performance depend on hardware, player, codec and media.
    Kodi on MintBox Mini Pro plays very well H.264 and older (but not H.265).
    For NAS you can even use the native powered-eSATA of MintBox Mini Pro (or USB3).
    Overall, I think I can recommend MintBox Mini Pro for your use-case.

    Edit by Clem: Hi Irad. About H.265, I don’t know Kodi very well, but playback is definitely available in Xplayer and Totem.

  29. I’ve been enjoying the earlier MintBox Mini, with added heatsink, and am tempted to upgrade once the Pro is back in stock. Silence and low power are nice, but the main thing is that I expect it to be more reliable, long-term than computers with moving parts. I would also buy a netbook version if available.

    I love Linux Mint. I still run some legacy software in XP using VirtualBox, but haven’t used Windows 7 in months, even though it’s available (dual-boot) on two of my computers. I’m sending an overdue contribution to support your great work.

  30. @LizziAS
    This SoC has a GCN 1.1 GPU. It’s support by the amdgpu stack is still experimental.

    @46/Clem
    The CPU is much too weak to handle H.265@1080p in software, and the UVD version included does not support H.265 in hardware. So H.265 playback is probably feasible only for lower resolution material.

    Edit by Clem: Thanks. You’re probably right and I guess that’s what Irad meant. I’ll give it a try all the same to confirm.

  31. Hi the small Box is ~340,- Euros in the german Amazon. A little bit high, but in fact a good choice. I just switched to a NUC6i3 including 8GB and a 120GB SSD for in total 370,- Euros.
    Those small boxes are a very nice if you operate a storage/NAS server (eg.Synology/QNAP). For Mint “newbies” i alway recommend a used Lenovo T61/400/430 or if very cheap the T410/T420. The t400 usually starts at 150,- in a very good condition. We have a company in germany selling them when theyre are out of leasing contracts.

  32. Bonjour. C’est tres interessant, mais est-ce qu’on peut brancher un clavier? Desole pour la question, mais j’avais jamais entendu parler par rapport ร  ces ordinateurs. est-ce que c’est possible d’installer LMDE2? Merci

    Edit by Clem: Oui, bien sur. Il y’a 6 ports USB au total, donc on peut brancher pas mal de choses et bien evidemment un clavier. En ce qui concerne LMDE 2, c’est possible aussi. J’aborderai sans doute la question des drivers AMD lors de la preview.

  33. No green shell this time? Black looks better, but I was just curious. ^_^

    Edit by Clem: Black is the new black ๐Ÿ™‚

  34. As far as the screen resolution support I can’t say anything specific about the Mintbox but I am running AMD graphics on a laptop that specifies similar resolutions as a max, but will actually render to higher resolutions under Linux (not Windows).

  35. @Aaron Bishop
    The reason for the black housing is not (just) aesthetics, it involves coating that reduces the touch temperature (actually not the surface temperature, but the rate of heat-flow when touching).

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