When I was asked to review enano, I was surprised to see a slim designed box that is the same size as my external hard drive.   The shinny black box is an unobtrusive, portable mini computer equipped with 1.6 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo T2050 CPU, mounted on the intel 945 GM chipset.  The graphic chip is  the Intel GMA 950 which is integrated into the 945 GM chipset.  This model comes with 120 GB hard drive space for reviewing, but we learned that it actually comes with a 240 GB or 320 GB hard drive.



In the silver back side panel, there are ports for FireWire, DV1, S-video, 4 USB connections and network connections which are all clearly labelled.  The front silver panel also has media-card slot (for SD Cards and Memory Sticks), and a DVD rewritable drive is accessible here.

The box comes by itself, we used our Logitech cordless optical mouse M/N:M-RAA93a, Logitech diNovo cordless desktop cordless ultra-flat keyboard , Logotech pid:A530 usb speakers and our own monitor to play with the enano box.

According to enano, it doesn't usually ship with a monitor, keyboard or mouse, so if you are looking to buy one, you can do some mix and match of products on the market. 



The box is very quiet. According to enano, “it runs on the same amount of power as an electric light bulb, about 40 watts in full power mode, or 20 watts while idle.  We use a slim laptop-style long-life heatsink/fan unit.  It works different than your normal PC by aggressively throttling the fan speed to match the actual cooling needs of the computer.  Since we have a very efficient, cool CPU in the machine, the fan runs at a very slow speed most of the time.  There are times (when the computer is idle) that the CPU fan turns off completely”. Among all the desktop computers, the e2 enano is 80% to 85% more energy efficient.

One thing to be noted is that the Intel mobile 945 GM chipset has already been dubbed as a low power design with a 28% less energy consumption  compare to the previous generation of chipset.



Another notable thing is that the little box has a bracket for mounting to nearly any LCD monitor that has a VESA compliance.  That is another way to reduce clutter on your desktop! When asked about possible side effect to the monitor, enano assured me that there is not any adverse affect to the monitor have been found so far.  And the bracket would also allow the computer to be mounted under a desk, or to a wall, or anywhere that's convenient for the customer.  If you change your mind, you can always easily unmount it.  This makes the model versatile, you can mount it on your TV set and let it be your entertainment center, or you can mount it in a cabinet so that it is tucked away.

Since all the computing hardware are packed in this small box, if you want to expand it, you will have to get a new model, enano does offer a few different models with different prices. In summary, the enano box is a very pleasing, environmental friendly, quiet, non-obtrusive, powerful computer that is comparable with today's desktop boxes.  The advantage of small and energy efficiency sometimes overweights its expandability.  



enano model number: EX1230 XP

CPU: 1.6 Ghz Core 2 Duo T2050

Graphics Adapter:Intel GMA 950, it's integrated into the 945GM chipset.

Total HD size (GB): 120

Memory: 1GB, max 4GB

Company information number: (800) 426-6375

For more information, please visit: www.enanocomputers.com

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