HP unveils its minuscule new Windows desktop

In a complete turnaround from just a few years ago, it seems that companies are trying to make smartphones and tablets bigger while making PCs smaller. Apple has had the Mac Mini for a while, and many companies have released some tiny Chromebooks, but Windows devices has missed out on a lot of the shrinkage. This is something that HP wants to change with the minuscule HP Pavilion Mini Desktop.

HP’s latest desktop computer is — tiny. There’s no other word for it. But it doesn’t compromise on performance, the company says. At just 2.06-inches in height and 1.6 pounds in weight, the HP Pavilion Mini Desktop comes with up to 1TB of storage, up to 8GB of expandable memory, and enough power to run two full-sized high definition displays with DisplayPort and HDMI connections. Make no mistake. HP has of late ignored the smaller, pint-sized PC market — a niche but increasingly popular category of mini-desktop devices — specifically Apple’s Mac Mini (which was last upgraded in October), and Google’s Chromebox’s (one of which was manufactured by HP, no less). HP’s Pavilion Mini Desktop is a new entry in a market that’s existed for years already. It’s a notable effort in the Windows space, but barely scrapes the surface of the performance of a Mac Mini, a larger device but packs in a more powerful punch.