Which Box Is The Right Box: MSI WindBOX or Asus Eee Box ?
Posted by admin | Under mini motherboard Friday Jan 30, 2009MSI has recently released its WinBOX, targetting it for industrial/embedded use.
Some may consider it as a viable alternative to the Eee Box, given its similar size, performance and low power characteristics.
Here is a comparison table of the MSI WindBOX and current Asus EeeBox models*:
| MSI WindBOX | Asus Eee Box B202 | Asus Eee Box B204 | Asus Eee Box B206 | |
| CPU | Intel Atom N270 CPU (1.6GHz) | |||
| Chipset | Intel 945GSE + ICH7M | |||
| RAM | 1 GB DDR2 RAM standard | |||
| Expansion Slots | 1 x Mini-PCIe slot | None | ||
| Display | Intel GMA 950 Integrated Graphics 1 x VGA output |
Intel GMA 950 Integrated Graphics 1 x DVI output |
ATI Radeon HD 3450 Discrete Graphics with 256 MB RAM 1 x HDMI output |
|
| Audio | Realtek ALC662 5.1 Channel HD Audio | |||
| Storage | 2.5in SATA bay | 80GB 2.5in SATA hard drive | 160GB 2.5in SATA hard drive | |
| LAN | 1 x 10/100 Ethernet | 1 x Gigabit Ethernet | ||
| WLAN | 1 x WiFi 802.11 b/g | 1 x WiFi 802.11 b/g/n | ||
| USB | 3 x USB 2.0 | 4 x USB 2.0 | ||
| Rear Panel I/O | 1 x USB 2.0 port 1 x RJ-45 port 2 x audio ports (mic and line-out) 1 x Card reader 1 x VGA port |
2 x USB 2.0 ports 1 x RJ-45 port 1 x audio out (S/PDIF out) 1 x DVI port |
2 x USB 2.0 ports 1 x RJ-45 port 1 x audio out (S/PDIF out) 1 x HDMI port |
|
| Front Panel I/O | 2 x USB 2.0 ports | 2 x USB 2.0 ports 2 x audio ports (mic and line-out) 1 x Card reader |
||
| Other | Fanless 40W power adapter |
36W power adapter | Remote control Bluetooth Built-in battery for UPS function 36W power adapter |
Remote control 36W power adapter |
| Dimensions | 180 x 255 x 19 mm 1.08 kg |
222 × 178 × 26.9 mm 1 kg |
||
*: note to overload the table, only Atom-based Eee Box models have been included. The Celeron-based Eee Box B201 and B203 models have been ignored.
Looking at the comparison table above, the Eee Box models come with much better features (Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 802.11n, S/PDIF output, DVI or HDMI output) than the WinBOX. The WinBOX may be sllent thanks to its fanless design (and provided it is equiped with a SSD drive); this is however not sufficient to compensate for the lower features it offers.
The Asus Eee Box models are a better choice; with the B204 and B206 models being the ones to go to take benefit of their discrete graphics in a small form factor and quiet (26dB) HTPC configuration.
Great comparison Paul