When Linux Mint 15 Olivia was released, CompuLab changed their homepage on http://www.fit-pc.com to include this banner:
We’ve always had a fantastic relationship with the staff at CompuLab and we’re working hard on the new MintBox, but this was a surprise and I wanted to thank them for doing this. There’s a lot of respect and admiration going both ways and we’re very proud of what we’re doing together.
Talking about which, I can already share some exciting news about the MintBox 2..
- Both CompuLab and Linux Mint reduced their margins (in our case we went from 10% to 5%)
- CompuLab is working to enable European customers to order via Amazon.de (which means no more duty/customs tax and shipping costs included in the price)
- The MintBox 2 will be based on the Intel i5 and feature more than 4 times the performance of the MintBox Pro, for roughly the same price
Here’s a quick comparison of the MintBox basic, the MintBox pro and the MintBox 2:
| MintBox Basic | MintBox Pro | MintBox 2 | |
| CPU | AMD T40 | AMD T56 | Intel i5 |
| RAM | 4GB | 8GB | 4GB |
| HDD | 250GB | 250GB | 500GB |
| Ethernet | Gigabit | Gigabit | Dual Gigabit |
| Warranty | 1 year | 1 year | 5 years |
| Geekbench score | 1077* | 1615** | 7541 |
| Price | $476*** + shipping, VAT, duty | $549 + shipping, VAT, duty | $599**** |
* Tested with 8GB RAM (the score on the official MintBox Basic should be slightly lower)
** Tested with 4GB RAM (the score on the official MintBox Pro should be slightly higher)
*** Original price (the MintBox Basic is now on sale at $379)
**** Amazon price (including shipping and fees).
The i5 CPU is a great compromise between performance and price, giving us 4 times the performance of the MintBox pro at roughly the same price. The i7 processor, in comparison, would have pushed the cost above $800 and only gave an additional 5% performance gain (8GB RAM + i7 CPU scored 7919 with the same benchmark).
The MintBox 2 will also feature dual Gigabit Ethernet, an upgraded 500GB HDD and a 5 years warranty.
