First Linux Mint PCs go on sale
Summary: The popular Linux Mint desktop distribution has just released its first official PCs.
The Mint Linux mintBox PCs are ideal for both hobbyist and business use.
I love the Linux Mint desktop distribution. Lots of people love Mint. Mint's my current favorite Linux desktop distribution. But, like most distributions, to run it, I had to install it myself. Now, Mint, in conjunction with CompuLab, is selling its first Mint-branded PCs.
True, you could buy a PC or laptop from ZaReason and a handful of other Linux PC vendors with Mint Linux, but the two mini-PCs that Mint and CompuLab are offering are the first to have Mint's official blessing.
Setting up Mint 13: 2012's Best Linux desktop
These PCs, the fit-PC3 basic and pro models are now available with Linux Mint branding under the name "mintBox." According to Clement "Clem" Lefebvre, Mint's founder, "The mintBox is amongst the toughest computers on the market. It features a die-cast solid-metal case which acts as a giant passive heatsink. Although the metal makes the mintBox heavier than other devices its size, it makes it feel really unique, robust and well engineered. More importantly, it cools down its components without needing any fans. Other than the noise coming from its internal 250GB hard-drive, the mintBox is completely silent."
The mintBox comes with four USB ports: Two in the front, and two in the back. Two of these support USB 3.0. It also has a pair of external serial AT Attachment (eSATA) ports; two mini-Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) sockets, plus a mSATA port, and a good old RS-232 port. This tiny computer, smaller than a Mac Mini, also comes with Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Gigabit Ethernet. Both models also come with an HDMI port and a DVI adapter.
As you might guess from that construction and all those ports, the mintBox started life as an industrial computer. And, indeed, CompuLab is an embedded and industrial computer specialist.
The mintBox Basic, which list for $476 plus shipping, duty, and value added tax (VAT) comes with a 250GB hard drive. For a processor, it uses an AMD APU G-T40N. This is a 1GHz dual core, which includes an integrated ATI Radeon HD 6290 for graphics. This is an Intel-compatible embedded system unit. This system comes with 4GBs of RAM.
The higher end mintBox Pro retails for $549 plus shipping, duty, and VAT. It is identical to the Basic except it uses the higher-speed AMD APU G-T56N. This is a 1.65GHz dual core CPU and comes with an ATI Radeon HD 6320 for graphics. It also comes with 8GBs RAM and a ribbed metal case for better heat dissipation.
Lefebvre also claims that one of the highlights of both models are how "easy it is to open it. Both the RAM and the HDD are accessible from underneath the box. Use a standard screwdriver to open the bay and you can upgrade your RAM or switch the HDD for a SSD drive without any hassle." This makes both ideal for people who like to upgrade their systems.
The mintBox, according to Lefebvre, with its Kensington lock and 4 small dents underneath it for the mintBox to be mounted on a VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) mount bracket and their low-power consumption "(respectively idle and full load: 8-17W for the basic model, 9-24W for the pro model) make the mintBox an attractive device for companies, hotels and cybercafés where it can be placed or mounted on walls securely and significantly reduce noise levels and electricity bills." In other words, the mintBox is meant both for serious computer hobbyists and for serious business use.
The system has been tested with both Linux Mint 12 and the latest Linux Mint 13. According to a note by Lefebvre, it appears that the mintBox will be shipping with "Mint 13 OEM 64-bit, the big question is whether it's Cinnamon [Mint's own GNOME 2.x style desktop based on GNOME 3.x) or MATE [A Gnome 2.x fork] by default and with or without ATI drivers. Both editions work out of the box on the hardware without drivers, except the sound output via HDMI."
Audio via HDMI requires an AMD/ATI driver, fglrx. If not supplied in the system this can be installed via Mint's Software Manager. I imagine this driver will be pre-installed as CompuLab and Mint ramp up production.
Both mintBox versions are available for purchase today. US and Canadian orders are shipped from CompuLab's US office in Florida. Expected delivery time from "in-stock" is two weeks. In the rest of the world, the units are shipped from CompuLab's Israeli offices. 10% of each sale goes towards Linux Mint.
Related Stories:
2012's Best Linux desktop: Linux Mint 13
Fedora 17 & GNOME 3.4: Return to a useful Linux desktop (Review)
Ubuntu 12.04 vs. Windows 8: Five points of comparison
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Talkback
Congratulations to Mint
Well, tell me when they start showing up in Wal-Mart or Best Buy . . .
Yea
They won't
re: comments
Personally, I buy parts from TigerDirect and NewEgg and built it myself.
But I'm not talking about me. I'm talking about most people. People like my mother and father.
"These are, essentially, fat thin clients. They will be put in industrial and retail spaces, not the home office."
Well, why use Mint then? It seems to be a distro aimed at the home office :/.
Anyhoo, I'm disappointed that Linux still hasn't cracked retail yet.
Not My Business Model
This is not my business model. But, no, this has zero chance of being sold to home office users. Internet cafes maybe. Within businesses, maybe. At the home? No. I cannot see any Linux user explicitly running this device unless they are looking for some XMBC device with NAS storage.
As long as you're *Absolutely Certain* Windows/Mac are the only suitable OS
This will fail
Hard to tell
Re: Hard to tell
Not a lot of "people"want to do that.
True, while most individuals won't reformat and install Linux
Re; You can get a much better PC than that for that price
If you want both those, the price will go up and performance will not be cutting edge.
First Linux Mint PCs go on sale
You are missing the point....
This is aiming at a different market. If you want to build a super PC go ahead, use the distro that suits, IF you want a laptop (mine run Ubuntu 12 as it is the wife's preference and the lap tops are for all) buy a laptop.
If you just want an alternative to windows (and windows 8, and I think we may need one) then this might just be your anwer. Even if it picks up a small % of disafffected Windows users who don't want to or are afraid to build their own, then this might just work.
It's not going to sell by the gazillions, but it just might be worthwhilw and open a few people up to linux, which wasn't possible the way Wal-Mart tried to market it. In their timidity, they tried not to sell Linux but low cost hardware, and got lots of returns, this is a Linux box with an interface close to XP but miles from Metro UI, reasonably cheap, stylish and less of a jump than XP to Metro so it should be viable.
Better build it yourself.
But not that small...
but do I pay for size or specs?
Since the form factor is extremely small, it seems the audience is rather limited. the real judgement of success is whether it does well in the target market.
Re; for that price I can build a gaming system . .
And what is the expected noise level and what kind of [b] silent and rugged [/b] case will you have for it.
The combination of silent [b] and [/b] rugged will always increase the price.
This is overpriced