[jdietrich]

If you're wondering about the target market for these devices, the main answer is digital signage. Those LCD signs in train stations and shopping malls constitute a huge market for small, low-powered and fanless computers. There are at least a dozen SaaS startups in this space, targeting a wide variety of hardware and OSes.

[ZenoArrow]

I doubt that this particular Lenovo mini PC is targetting that niche. You wouldn't need 32GB of storage for something as basic as digital signage, and there are Android-based alternatives for 3x cheaper... http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/mini-pcs/mk808-android-mini...

[jdietrich]

A significant proportion of digital signage and kiosk systems run Windows, for a variety of reasons. Things like departure boards and PoS are often based on proprietary client software that is integrated into unrefactorable legacy backends. Fitting a Win7/8 install into less than 32gb is possible, but it just isn't worth the effort when hardware is so cheap.

[eli]

I wish the MK808 was a plug and play digital sign, but it's actually kind of a pain to set up and use. I've got one sitting in a drawer.

If someone came out with a stick computer that simply connects to wifi and displays a webpage in a relatively modern browser at 1080 (or at least 720) and makes it easy, I would buy several of them at a nice premium over whatever the hardware normally costs.

I actually think an Android hacker or RaspberryPI hobbyist could make some money selling something like that.

[ZenoArrow]

"I wish the MK808 was a plug and play digital sign, but it's actually kind of a pain to set up and use. I've got one sitting in a drawer."

What did you find painful about using it? Looks like it supports custom ROMs, did you try using something like CyanogenMod (or the Finless ROM mentioned in the linked article)?

[eli]

I tried one firmware (maybe it was finless?) downloaded from a sketchy looking site that cause the wifi to no longer connect. There did not some to be many firmware choices that supported 1080 output. Even getting an app to run automatically on bootup felt like a chore.

Regardless, I would gladly pay twice as much for the device if it came already set up. I am very pro-hobbyist, but in this case I want a fully formed product.

[ZenoArrow]

"Regardless, I would gladly pay twice as much for the device if it came already set up. I am very pro-hobbyist, but in this case I want a fully formed product."

So something as simple as a Raspberry Pi B+ ($25), an OmniVESA (approx $7), a USB WiFi dongle (approx $9), a 4GB MicroSDHC card (approx $6), a micro USB charger (approx $4) and a short HDMI cable (approx $7). Total cost $58. Could add a cheap case if you wanted. Perhaps there are ways to do all this cheaper with an Android mini PC, but a RasPi setup would be very flexible, and wouldn't require too much setup. It's also easy to boot straight into a web browser (can find some distro recommendations here https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=8502...).

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/RASPBERRY-PI-83-16317-...

http://shop.pimoroni.com/products/omnivesa

http://www.amazon.com/Raspberry-Pi-WIFI-Adapter-Dongle/dp/B0...

http://www.amazon.com/Sandisk-MicroSDHC-Memory-Adapter-Packa...

http://www.amazon.com/BlackBerry-Folding-Blade-Micro-USB-Cha...

http://www.amazon.com/Your-Cable-Store-Foot-Plated/dp/B00474...

Even though you're ideally looking for an off the shelf solution, hope these suggestions are of some use.

[eli]

Great, now put it together for me and I'll buy three at $99 each :)