Azulle Quantum Byte Fanless Windows® Mini Desktop PC with Windows 10 Intel Baytrail-T (Quad-core) Z3735F up to 1.83GHz, 2GB RAM+32GB storage

Before I write anymore, just to say from the outset.... this machine is brilliant. I took a chance on buying it and am really pleased with what this superb little black box is capable of producing. My priority was to be able to watch good quality HD video 1080p... I also use the iPlayer a lot and my PC of the past 7 years has been showing its age a little so I thought lets give the Quantum Byte a go. The Byte deals with everything superbly whether you are streaming or playing from a stick or any external device. I have been amazed at how competent this box is at playing video.It measures just under 6" by 4" and is under 2" in depth... weighs next to nothing and you'll hardly notice it on your desktop or by your TV. Connections are 3 USB, VGA, HDMI... !!! Ethernet [built in excellent wireless reception too] and SD. I use the HDMI to the DVI-D connection on my Samsung monitor and the high quality HD this machine outputs has transformed my viewing and monitor!On board you have: Windows® 8.1' Intel® Baytrail(tm) T Quad Core Z3735F processor' Intel® HD Graphics' 2GB of DDR3L RAM' 30GB total integrated storage' 802.11 b/g/n Integrated Wireless Network' 3X USB 2.0 ports' HDMI & VGA input.There is no fan and the Byte is totally quiet... you'll hear nothing. I'm not sure however if the hard drive is SSD... whatever it is, it's quiet and the Byte does not overheat.[Edit: just found out it's a Toshiba 30GB Disc Drive... though not SSD you're not aware of any drive at all!] After initial installation you'll probably be left with around 17 free GB.On the back of the Byte where most connections are you have also the on/off switch, the DC 12v input and a headphone socket which you can also use of course to take to your sound system. Sound quality is top notch.A few words about Windows 8.1... I am used to Windows 7 Home Premium which I've enjoyed using. I have a couple Nokia Lumia phones so using 8.1 on the Byte wasn't totally a new experience but I've found it equally a pleasure to use.Back to the Byte... if you're looking for a really capable PC that plays 1080p HD video no problems and is well capable at general surfing I can highly recommend this little gem. I had the Byte up and running in no time... just added a wireless mouse and keyboard. If you need extra memory you have USB slots and the SD slot too. I'm just keeping mine fairly simple and don't intend to add much to the internal hard drive other than Media Player Classic. I have a wireless internet connection from router in the room above and normally I get about 12mB on my usual PC... the Byte receives 25mB on average through its aerial on the back.To put it through its paces tonight I had a 1080p video playing alongside an SD video whilst surfing the net and processor use was still only around an average of 15%... RAM use averaged 56%. It's easy to quickly call up the task manager on 8.1 to check PC performance. No bloat ware on board.It's very nippy around the internet and you can switch between standard desktop and Windows 8.1... with Windows 8.1 this really is a class act and is great to use and customise yourself. Start up time is fast... about 6 - 8 seconds and shut down is equally fast.I'll update this review if needed but for the time being I can thoroughly recommend this cracking little machine. I had been checking out desktops at three times the price but the Byte has proved capable way beyond my expectations.Edit/Update 19th August 2015I took up the Microsoft offer of 'upgrading' to Windows 10 from 8.1 on the Quantum Byte. After trialling Windows 10 for a week I found the Byte was not as responsive as with 8.1. So I opted for the recovery mode back to 8.1, which I prefer anyway, and now everything is back to normal and the Byte is zapping around the internet once more with no sluggishness. Note that should you download Windows 10 you have just one month in which to make a decision after which you can't revert to 8.1 or Windows 7.

Absolutely outstanding, genuinely amazed how good it is for £120!Bought for a friend who just needs a basic PC, but quickly realised how good it actually was. It works fine for his needs, internet browsing, XBMC for watching videos, no noticeable lag at all. I then did some testing and it also seems to work great for being a client using Steam to stream games from my main (wireless) PC. I'll now be buying myself 1 for the front-room to replace my HTPC as this does everything I need now that I can stream games.Also, it's absolutely silent - perfect for not getting grief from the wife!

Works well and is fast enough for browsing the web and streaming my Xbox one.

I have used the azulle as the heart of a navigation system on my boat.I expected the unit to arrive with Windows 8.1 unfortunately it was loaded with Windows 10. After buying upgrades for my nav system software to get it to work on Win.10, I discovered that Win 10 doesn't like Woking offline, and every few minutes it puts a "you are not connected to the internet" warning across the screen. I've tried everything I can think of to disable this warning without any luck so far. Windows 10 uses internet explorer 11 and this cannot be enabled to work offline.The nav system works very well, but having to keep clearing the offline warning spoils the system.Windows 8 wouldn't have had this problem.

This is a truly excellent little box for the money. It's very stylish (easily as good as the pictures) and absolutely tiny. In fact, the small neat size blows you away.It has some form of solid state drive (not an actual removable SSD) and boots up very quickly, just a few seconds. Full Windows 8.1, and it looks like it has formatted down to 23GB, a couple more have then gone to Windows 8.1, so usable space left will need to be treated with care. There a slot for removable media, so you can easily expand this.It has a Quad core processor, and feels very fast. It's even smaller than your average router, yet you can hide it away anywhere, or it's smart enough to keep on show, and would make a great HTPC or media server. All in all, I'm very impressed. But there are just two "buts" that I would warn about that loses it a star...Firstly, and I believe others have commented, the wireless antennae (although pretty large) appears to do quite a poor job of holding and maintaining a good wireless signal. When I set the unit up, it was in the same room as the router, and it never dropped out once. But when it was moved to another room (not far away) I started to notice connection issues over wifi, dropping and coming back, slowdowns and latency, coming back again, or having to re-connect manually. I even used an upstairs wifi hotspot (very nearby!) and it didn't even want to lock onto that all that well. Given that these issues never happened in the same room as the router, and given that smartphones, tablets and laptops all never have a problem in all our rooms, I can only conclude that the wifi facility in this little box is not quite up to scratch. In the end, I decided to use a spare pair of Homeplug adaptors, and provide the unit with a proper "wired" Ethernet connection, and it immediately became rock solid, and all the wifi issues ceased. So for me, that's not a deal breaker, but a bit annoying, and what if I had not had a spare Homeplug? Just something to bear in mind...The second disappointment, is that sound does not appear to carry through to TV with an HDMI cable. I use a very high quality HDMI cable (not that quality of cable will have anything to do with this issue), and guess what? no sound!!! Why not? I have another small PC I'm using as HTPC, and the sound goes straight from that box to the TV via HDMI. In the end, I had to use mini jack out from the headphone socket (at the same time as the HDMI) to get the sound out to the TV. This was a nuisance, because I had to find a line-level splitter, to make the sound go two ways, since various jacks were already being used, etc.So to sum all this up - you will be delighted by looks, speed, boot up speed, quality, value for money, full copy of Windows 8.1, ease of set up etc etc - but you may likely have issues with sound over HDMI and patchy wifi performance.Lastly, and I have seen this commented elsewhere, so I'm not the only one......why was my seal broken, with the writing on the seal "If this seal is broken, then product is used". I found inside, a shrunk-wrapped unit, and to me, it did [not] look used, and I felt I did have a new product. But the fact remains that for my purchase, and it would seem for some others - the seal has already been broken on arrival.Other than that, I strongly recommend this machine.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Update: 20th July 2015.I've updated this to a 5-star rating, after contacting Qbyte support about the HDMI issue. It is totally possible to output sound from the Qbyte to TV over HDMI, but you may need to visit the Hardware and Sound, in Control Panel, and then make sure that default playback device is set correctly.Here was the advice from support:As for the HDMI, please make sure that the DEFAULT Playback device is set to HDMI.Press both Windows Key + XSelect Control Panel *VIEW BY ::CATEGORY::*Select Hardware and SoundSelect SoundVerify HDMI is default output(Playback) device.This then worked perfectly!I expect to buy another of these, waiting until Windows 10 is out, rather than upgrading 8.1, so highly recommended.

I love to tinker with devices like this, even if it means I have to deal with junk products periodically. I must admit I didn't have very high hopes for this device. It's specs were iffy and the price was really cheap considering it came with a genuine copy of Windows 8.1 preloaded, so I wasn't expecting much.First things first - at first boot it asked if I wanted to upgrade to Windows 10. Of course I do! Who wouldn't when the alternative is 8.1? The initial install and upgrade went as smooth as I have ever seen. No issues. No device manager shenanigans telling me some oddball hardware device won't start. All the hardware in this box was discovered and loaded properly in Windows 10. Whew!I installed the Netflix App from the Windows store and Kodi 15.x (I'm not sure what specific version it is) from a USB thumb drive. Both loaded and run flawlessly. I'm left with about 8Gb of free space on the built-in 32Gb mSATA drive. Those two programs are all this device is going to be used for, so I'm satisfied with the tiny hard drive.This device connects via WiFi to my home network. I have no connection or speed issues whatsoever. I keep all my movies and TV shows on a NAS in the basement (I collect DVD/Blurays and rip everything to the NAS). Kodi sees all my files and loads those into a library. This devices plays all my media files, most in 1080p, without issue. There is no stuttering. This is connected to an extra 32" LED TV we have upstairs that isn't used very much and is very low-end quality-wise, but I watched Mission Impossible III in 1080p in its entirety without issue, and my teenage son watched some Netflix movie the next day. I assume he didn't have a problem because, believe me, he's as fussy as they come and if he had the tiniest problem, even a half second glitch at the start, I would have heard about it. He never said a word other than he thought it was cool movie.Some quick points to mention before wrapping up this review:--It's totally quiet. Believe them when they say it's fan-less, because it's doesn't make a sound.-- It boots up straight to the desktop in about 20 seconds. Considering a cold start-up and the modest specs of this device, that 20 seconds is more than adequate and would only be a concern to the very impatient.--The on/off switch is a tiny little button on the rear of the unit. It's definitely not something to get upset about or remove 1 star from its rating. However, it really is in the most inconvenient place possible. A nice soft on/off button on top, or even on the front panel, would be most preferable.Overall, I'd highly recommend this device for those looking for a wireless HTPC device and prefer the familiarity of working with Windows.

Update 06/22/2015: I've had the Quantum Byte for a few months now and it's still running great! During tax season I pulled it out of my home media center and plugged it into a VGA monitor so I could use it for TurboTax. I will admit I was a little hesitant because I didn't want to go installing bloatware on this thing but hey, I have to do my taxes, right? So, I installed TurboTax, Adobe PDF Reader, and Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus. None of these caused any issues or slow downs with my daily use or boot up time. It's now back in its humble abode and I decided to plug in 2 USB enclosures that both contain 1TB SATAIII hard drives. My Byte is always on so it's perfect as a home-network server. I turned on file-sharing, DLNA homegroup, and setup some FTP port-forwarding on my router so now I can add, remove, and playback anything I want whether I'm on the Byte itself or on my G-Box.Quantum Suppliers never fails to impress me! I am a huge movie watcher but I also like to "tinker" with things. I use a variety of programs to watch my movies- Popcorn Time, XBMC/KODI, Showbox/Moviebox, etc. I bought this to replace my G-Box Sigma and to use alongside my G-Box Q.The product is super small- way smaller than I imagined. It's small size is mesmerizing; I know smartphones have been doing quad-core computing for years now but I have never seen such a small quad-core desktop computer (typically called a Mini-PC or HTPC (Home Theater PC)).The Quantum Byte boots up very quickly- under 30 seconds- most likely because of its SSD and CPU. I had no issues setting it up and installing my programs.I tried YouTube in 1080P, Popcorn Time in 1080P, XBMC/KODI in 1080P, Netflix in 1080P, and it kept up great! No frames were dropped, no stuttering, buffering, or lagginess. It even buffered ahead while still playing back content. I will definitely be using this box for movies but it can even be used as an everyday computer I suppose. This box is was made to be used for HD playback and it proves itself! It did not get warm and I did not feel that it was underpowered at any point. Its price point and specs blow every other HTPC out of the water.I will be uploading a video soon!

I wanted a mini PC to do minor tasks with without having to boot up my laptop. Mine came with Win8.1 but I upgraded it to 10. Works great for casual internet surfing and watching media and working on apps such as MS Office.I also use it for downloading and editing 3D files as this is attached to my 3D Printer. Doesn't build the 3d files as quick as a regular pc, but a few minutes of patience and it's done.I've attached it to a touch screen monitor so great for my toddler to play some small learning based games on it. Don't be expecting to play Call of Duty on this!!

Unbelievable little unit for the money. Hands down, the best bang for your buck in a fanless mini PC.UPDATED:- Fanless (it is silent in operation - no feedback in audio of any kind, etc.)- Runs cool--> This is amazing. I intentionally loaded FFXIV on this thing which I know it can't run just to tax the begeezus out of it. Guess what? It got a little bit warm. As in you could tell by touch it was warmer than the room. Lifting it off the desk there was no hot desk underneath. The real funny part is that with everything turned all the way down... although still unplayable really... this little tank actually launched and displayed FFXIV. I even did some cooking for the heck of it. HA!- Surprisingly snappy under Windows 8.1 32-bit.--> Although a 64-bit quad core processor, I can see the benefits of using the 32-bit version. Smooth as butter too.- Runs Linux Mint like a race car.**UPDATE: This needs to be highlighted. LOW POWER USAGE! Power went out recently. I have a sizable battery backup unit. Will run laptop, PCs, and server with a couple of LED floor and desk lamps, etc. for 2.45 hours. Pared everything down to desk lamp, monitor, router, and this unit - 29 HOURS available. LOL nice. Perfect internet / news and entertainment solution during power outage.What I have used it for and it excels at:- Streaming media server using PlayOn software (Plug a USB or network drive with your content into it. Done. Not to mention SD card slot)-- via other computers and our Roku, playback is flawless and the unit does not get hot. That is a lot of transcoding. No problems. It will handle one person streaming from a computer and another from the Roku without any hiccups... you start adding number 3 and 4 though... you'll get some stuttering and breaks in the stream. Can't say any different about many other mini systems though either really.- OpenSim region server (at the same time mind you)-- works great. With only 2GB ram it is a little limited on the region size, how many people, etc. before resources suffer, but still - just wow.- Linux Steam Box-- Valve's linux version of Steam. I'm impressed with how many of the games on Steam for Linux will actually run on this thing. Not to mention look good doing it too. Yeah you won't run the big-engine games, but wow. Nice.There is an extremely long list of things I have put this poor little unit through the meat grinder with and it has come up on top every time. Whatever I have thrown at it, regardless it has actually managed to chug through it even when it technically should have just choked down to nothing.I am looking forward to a version 2 or a 'level 2' model of this unit. If you guys would build something like a simple gaming unit for double the price? You'd kill in the marketplace. Not everyone needs or wants 'Ultra mode' settings in every game they play. You make a nice little unit for the average joe and I think people's heads will explode. Just like this little guy for the streaming media / desktop users.TOTALLY WORTH IT!

I've had this thing set up for less than a week, and already it won't boot. It goes to that "Azulle" start screen and stays there indefinitely. I can't access bios or anything. Don't waste your money. Get something more reliable.Edit: It took a while, but I finally got this mini PC working again. Azulle took 4 days to get back to me, but I had fixed it by then, so I can't say much for their customer service. BUT despite that, now that it is working properly, the computer has been running pretty well for several weeks now and I have had no issues with it since. No sudden shutdowns or trouble starting. This is definitely not a computer that can handle a heavy workload. If I have a few internet tabs open and then try to stream so video, it struggles and lags a bit. That being said, I can probably improve this computer relatively cheaply with a few hardware updates. If you're looking for a very simple computer, this will do the trick. That being said, beware the windows update. This little guy can barely take it.As for physical description, it is so small! about the size of my hand and smaller than my old terabyte external. It looks clean, has 3 USB ports which works perfectly to leave my wireless mouse/keyboard duo, external, and printer hooked up at all times. I hooked up an old TV via HDMI to act as my monitor, and that is working well too. I haven't had any issues with the wireless internet connecting to my router, so green lights there. Overall this is a very compact and useful little fellow.It boots extremely quickly (must be the SSD), and when not overloaded, it runs crisply with little lag.