PC in Your Pocket: $74 Android Stick Goes on Sale

  • Share
  • Read Later
Aliexpress.com

If you need a dirt-cheap desktop PC and don’t mind Android, $74 will get you one that fits in your pocket.

The MK802 “Android 4.0 Mini PC” just popped up at online retailer AliExpress. It has a single-core 1.5 GHz processor, 512 MB of RAM and a 3D graphics processor, and as the name suggests, it runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

To use this little guy, you’ll need a monitor or HDTV that accepts HDMI input, plus an HDMI cable. You’ll also need a wireless USB keyboard and mouse combo, which would plug into the machine’s lone USB port. The device has 4 GB of storage on board, plus a microSD card slot and it supports 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi.

Keep in mind that I haven’t seen any reports of anyone using the MK802. The device’s specs suggest decent performance, but since it’s coming from an unnamed manufacturer at an overseas retailer, it’s kind of a $74 gamble.

As Liliputing points out, (relatively) big spenders may want to wait for FXI’s Cotton Candy, a $199 miniature Android PC with a dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM and a built-in HDMI plug, so you can connect the device directly to TV with no cables. The Cotton Candy will ship internationally this summer.

I’d suggest the $25 Raspberri Pi as another option, but good luck getting one.

MORE: New HTC Android Phones Tweaked to Evade Apple Patents