Prebuilt Chuwi LarkBox campaign has 5 days to go

[AlexTSG]

If anyone is interested in the tiny Chuwi LarkBox, you can still pick one up on Indiegogo for the next 5 days.

The link below has a secret perk code (nothing to do with me, I think it's a Facebook promo code) which brings the price down to $155, from $169 (there are a limited number at the reduced price):

www.indiegogo.com/projects/chuwi-larkbox-world-s-smallest-4k-mini-pc/x/23973431?secret_perk_token=0480f1da#/

I backed one early in the campaign to setup for my mother. She just needs something for emails, light browsing, and online banking/shopping. This is perfect for that kind of use case. Don't expect to run Cyberpunk 2077 on this, although it can run some console emulators.

So you don't need to wade through all the comments, here are the main limitations:

• The USB C port is only a USB C shaped power connector requiring 12V 2A (a standard DC barrel would have been better). It doesn't support power delivery (PD), as there isn't space on the board for the PD chip, so you can't power it from a PD charger, or power bank. It's also doesn't support data transfer of any kind. This is by far the biggest complaint!
• The 6GB of RAM is surface mounted and can't be upgraded, or replaced.
• The Celeron J4115 CPU is also surface mounted and is not upgradeable (and Intel has recently marked it End-of -Life).
• The 128GB of storage is eMMC, and there is still an M.2 2242 SATA port available for additional/faster storage. The M.2 slot does not support NVMe.

I'll be sure to post some info and benchmarks on mine when it arrives.

 

[BikingViking11]

If anyone is interested in the tiny Chuwi LarkBox, you can still pick one up on Indiegogo for the next 5 days.

The link below has a secret perk code (nothing to do with me, I think it's a Facebook promo code) which brings the price down to $155, from $169 (there are a limited number at the reduced price):

www.indiegogo.com/projects/chuwi-larkbox-world-s-smallest-4k-mini-pc/x/23973431?secret_perk_token=0480f1da#/

I backed one early in the campaign to setup for my mother. She just needs something for emails, light browsing, and online banking/shopping. This is perfect for that kind of use case. Don't expect to run Cyberpunk 2077 on this, although it can run some console emulators.

So you don't need to wade through all the comments, here are the main limitations:

• The USB C port is only a USB C shaped power connector requiring 12V 2A (a standard DC barrel would have been better). It doesn't support power delivery (PD), as there isn't space on the board for the PD chip, so you can't power it from a PD charger, or power bank. It's also doesn't support data transfer of any kind. This is by far the biggest complaint!
• The 6GB of RAM is surface mounted and can't be upgraded, or replaced.
• The Celeron J4115 CPU is also surface mounted and is not upgradeable (and Intel has recently marked it End-of -Life).
• The 128GB of storage is eMMC, and there is still an M.2 2242 SATA port available for additional/faster storage. The M.2 slot does not support NVMe.

I'll be sure to post some info and benchmarks on mine when it arrives.

I'm interested in these. Any impressions?

 

[AlexTSG]

I'm interested in these. Any impressions?

Unfortunately, my unit hasn't even shipped yet.

I'm going to contact them and see what's going on, but between this delay in shipping, and continuing delays due to COVID-19, I think I'll be lucky to get it before the end of the year.

 

[BikingViking11]

Unfortunately, my unit hasn't even shipped yet.

I'm going to contact them and see what's going on, but between this delay in shipping, and continuing delays due to COVID-19, I think I'll be lucky to get it before the end of the year.

Bummer. Well, I couldn't wait and ordered the Larkbox Pro from Amazon for $180. I'm going to attempt to run it off a battery bank and use it for a wearable POV camera setup for streaming. If you'd like I can give you my impressions after it arrives on Monday.

Edit: Man, glad I grabbed one when I did, looks like they're out of stock now.

Edit 2: I just noticed that you said it couldn't be powered from a PD power bank. He doesn't provide any backup info, but this guy claims to have his running from one and with a fanless mod:

I ordered the exact same power bank for $10 to see if it actually works. If not there are a few other options to explore.