ECS Unveils Bay-Trail-Powered Mini-ITX Motherboards

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Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) today reveals its latest Mini-ITX motherboard line - BAT-I- featuring the new Intel System-on-a-Chip (SoC) processor family, formerly codenamed "Bay-Trail".

Energy Efficiency
Based on the new low-power consumption microarchitecture "Silvermont", ECS BAT-I is the ideal solution for small-form-factor PCs and AIO systems. With a maximum power consumption of 10W, BAT-I delivers power efficiency and features a fan-less heatsink design. The Bay Trail-D processor line is the first Intel SoC platform and is also the smallest-ever package for desktop processors. Three SKUs are available: Intel Pentium J2850, Intel Celeron J1850 and Intel Celeron J1750. ECS BAT-I also has electrostatic discharge protection (ESD) and 100% solid capacitors around the CPU and memory in order to maximize reliability and longevity.





Excellent Extension Support
Even with the Mini-ITX format of the BAT-I, ECS has kept in mind the expansion needs of its customers. BAT-I has one Mini PCI Express Gen. 2 x1 slot for wireless cards and TV tuner cards, one USB 3.0 port, and two 3 Gb/s SATA connections. For industrial applications, BAT-I is equipped with two serial port (COM) headers. Moreover, users can enjoy high definition applications as BAT-I supports 1080p HD and Blu-Ray playback through HDMI and VGA ports. BAT-I is also bundled with additional software including NortonTM Antivirus, Muzee, Cyberlink Media Suite, and ECS iEZ Utility, which combines eBLU BIOS Live Update, eDLU Drivers Live Update, and eSF Smart Fan.

Windows 8 Support
ECS BAT-I has the official Windows 8 WHCK (Windows Hardware Certification Kit), which allows users to take full advantage of the touch function oriented design of Windows 8. Moreover, ECS BIOS and drivers are specially designed for Windows 8, making the BAT-I an optimal motherboard for Windows 8 users.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

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When comparing to this:

ECS KBN-I/5200 AMD A6-5200 Quad Core processor Min...

2 Mini PCI slot's vs 1,and a 20 pin USB 3.0 header. More RAM DIMM's (1 vs 2), and 2 USB 3.0 in the I/O. Now the CPU in Bay Trail is a bit better, but it's graphics compared to the 128 GCN GPU in Kabini it's terrible. Also were looking at half the power consumption compared to Kabini.
However, the deal breaker for me here is what's the price? If the Intel solution is more, then why do you need a little more CPU power, when it not going to do intensive things, that's a given, and you will be let down if you purchase based on that. If the Intel solution is more, power consumption be damned, you can save your self some money get something with a better GPU, and "good enough" CPU power.

One other thing I'm seeing Embedded Solution like this on their way out, where's ASUS, and Gigabyte with Kabini boards!?!