Gigabyte Brix Projector Review
Category : PCs
Published by Luca Rocchi on 08.09.15
With the Brix Projector, Gigabyte has a small form factor PC in its portfolio, which comes with a built-in mini projector and it is based on Intel's Haswell platform. Apart from that the system features an attractive price and even the performance might be on a very reasonable level, since there is an Intel i3-U-series CPU inside.
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The Brix Projector from Gigabyte is a very small PC, which is perfectly suitable for office environments for example. Despite its compact size, the small system relies on good components such as a Intel Haswell CPU and a mini projector. On the following pages we will analyze all the components inside the Brix Projector as well as its performance in different scenarios.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Office PC |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - HTPC PC |
| Page 3 - Specifications | Page 7 - Conclusion |
| Page 4 - Closer look |
Preview
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Office PC |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - HTPC PC |
| Page 3 - Specifications | Page 7 - Conclusion |
| Page 4 - Closer look |
Specifications / Chassis
| CPU | Intel Core i3-4010U, 1.70GHz |
| Memory | up to 16GB, 2x8GB SO-DIMM |
| SSD | mSATA SSD slot support |
| Power supply | 65W Passive |
| Connectors |
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| Dimensions | 114 x 107 x 49 mm |
| Weight | 295 g |
| Projector Resolution | WVGA (864 x 480) |
| Projector type | DLP (LED backlight) |
| Projector Aspect ratio | 16:9 |
| Projector Image size | 7"-85" |
| Projector Brightness | 75 ANSI lumen |
| Projector Contrast Ratio | >900 |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Office PC |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - HTPC PC |
| Page 3 - Specifications | Page 7 - Conclusion |
| Page 4 - Closer look |
Closer look
With dimensions of only 11.4 x 10.7 x 4.9 cm at 480 grams weight, the Gigabyte Brix Projector is pretty small. Therefore this system is even compact enough to be placed on your desk or on top of any tripod.
Despite the rather small dimensions, the Gigabyte Brix Projector features a variety of connectors on its front and rear. Checking the front we find a 3.5mm audio jack and two USB 3.0 ports while the rear features two additional USB 3.0 ports, HDMI and mini DisplayPort output, Gigabit Ethernet and the AC power jack. The remaining two sides of the cubes are smooth and there are no openings at all, while on one side we find a Kensington Lock and focus slider. Unlike other mini PC barebones Gigabyte offers a small projector placed on the top of the device; the projector can be used separately or in a combined way to your display. If you are not a fan of wires or simply do not have a cable available, the Brix Projector also offers a WiFi 802.11ac as well as Bluetooth 4.0.
The Gigabyte Brix Projector is based on an Intel Core i3-4010U Haswell CPU, which receives active cooling. The Brix Projector is a barebone system and therefore you'll have to buy SO-DIMM memory and storage on your own.
Like its name suggests, the Brix Projector features a mini projector built into the enclosure. The projection system is cooled by a small copper heatsink facing towards the CPU fan. Once the projector is on, which requires no driver, the fan will start spinning a little bit faster. Fortunately the noiselevel is not too high. Actually, the entire system is surprisingly silent. The projector is capable of throwing pictures measuring 85 inches in diameter with 16:9 aspect ratios on the wall at 864 x 480 resolution. Maximum brightness is 75 Lumen, which is really not too much, but in a dark room it's enough. Therefore we used the little Gigabyte system in a dark room and under these circumstances the projector does a pretty decent job.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Office PC |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - HTPC PC |
| Page 3 - Specifications | Page 7 - Conclusion |
| Page 4 - Closer look |
Office PC
Primarily this little machine has been designed to be used in office environments and that is why we decided to start our test suite with applications for daily use, such as Microsoft Office and Adobe. We used the Gigabyte Brix Projector to write this review and modified all our pictures taken during the week with pre-configured actions. Even with Photoshop and Dreamweaver, the little Intel Core i3-4010U CPU was able to satisfy our need without any freezes occurring or the system becoming very low while processing batch operations.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Office PC |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - HTPC PC |
| Page 3 - Specifications | Page 7 - Conclusion |
| Page 4 - Closer look |
HTPC PC
In order to test the multimedia abilities of the small Brix Projector we have put the device through various video streams while using applications such as Plex Home Theater and VLC. Even while playing heavy .MKV files or Blu-ray videos we did not detect any problems, mostly thanks to the amount of memory available.
Using the Plex Server you can set up a server infrastructure for multimedia content such as music or just movies; while through the client you can choose to play movies with native resolution (using the client CPU) or converting the movie, server-side, thereby taking advantage of the Brix Projector CPU. In this scenario, the small computer from Gigabyte demonstrated a perfectly smooth experience.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Office PC |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - HTPC PC |
| Page 3 - Specifications | Page 7 - Conclusion |
| Page 4 - Closer look |
Conclusion
Overall the Gigabyte Brix Projector is an excellent small form factor PC. As the name suggests the small Brix Projector features a mini projector, which is perfect to be used for conferences or if you want to watch a movie. You should be aware that the projectors brightniss is rather low and therefore you need to be in a dark room to get a clear picture. The performance of this unit is pretty decent and during our tests we did not have any problems with both standard office applications or video playback. The Gigabyte mini PC ships as a barebone without memory and SSD, so it is down to the user to choose these components.
During our test, we have also measured temperatures and despite its small and very compact form factor, the Brix Projector from Gigabyte doesn't run too hot and even the noise, is very reasonable, despite the small fan and the additional projector. Only whne you're using the projector for several hours the unit becomes audible. We like the design as well as the low weigt of the Brix Projector, which makes is highly portable. Apart from that there is a small tripod in the delivery, which allows you to place the unit perfectly for projection.
The Gigabyte Brix Projector is available at Geizhals with a price of about 330 euro. In our opinion, the price is more than justified since this is a well performing device with a great additional key feature. The Gigabyte Brix Projector receives 4 out of 5 stars.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Office PC |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - HTPC PC |
| Page 3 - Specifications | Page 7 - Conclusion |
| Page 4 - Closer look |