New Apcsilmic Dot 1 Windows on ARM Mini PC Starts at $229

If the market for Windows on ARM PCs is still waiting for a true flagship device that would rival Apple Silicon Macs, we now have a new entry-level Windows on ARM mini PC with the Apcsilmic Dot 1 (via Windows Central). The new device was announced back in February and started shipping last week, and it follows the release of the Snapdragon WOA Mini PC last fall.    

Apscilmic is a China-based manufacturer that claims to have “20+ years of experience” in manufacturing PC components for “various well-renowned global brands,” and the Dot 1 is the company’s first ARM-based mini PC starting at $229. The base model comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c SoC, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage, just like the $219 Snapdragon Developer Kit. 

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However, the Apscilmic Dot 1 can also be configured with 128GB of storage and either 6GB or 8GB of RAM. There are also 2 HDMI ports supporting 2K resolution, 2 USB 2.0 ports, 1 USB 3.0 port, and a 3.5mm audio jack with separate mic input. Moreover, the Dot 1 features an Ethernet port, and there’s an optional SIM tray for 4G connectivity in addition to the WiFi 5 modem. To get the 4G antenna, you’ll need to choose the $309 high-end model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

The Apcsilmic Dot 1 is a fanless PC that uses a pretty small metal chassis (111 X 108 X 20 mm) that should easily fit in a bag or a backpack. Windows 11 comes preinstalled with it, though customers will need to purchase a license separately.  

If Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7c SoC is slower than the 8cx chip found on Microsoft’s Surface Pro X, it should be more than enough for browsing the web and other basic tasks. In a separate FAQ, Apcsilmic claims that its Dot 1 Mini PC “packs enough power performance to run most games,” but you should really take this with a big grain of salt. Keep in mind that the Snapdragon 7c is a low-end chip, and there’s also a performance penalty when running 64-bit x86 apps through emulation.

The Apcsilmic Dot 1 mini PC can be purchased on the manufacturer’s website, which also offers free worldwide shipping. Windows on ARM is still a tough sell for most consumers, but the form factor of the Dot 1 is pretty nice and there’s a decent selection of ports as well.

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Conversation 11 comments

  • Newtronic

    Premium Member
    08 April, 2022 - 10:50 am

    <p>That’s getting to the price where it could be used just for experimenting with Windows On ARM.</p>

  • helix2301

    Premium Member
    08 April, 2022 - 11:29 am

    <p>there sold out already</p>

  • helix2301

    Premium Member
    08 April, 2022 - 11:29 am

    <p>nevermind</p>

  • proftheory

    Premium Member
    08 April, 2022 - 4:02 pm

    <p>The 4G model are not available – all others are.</p><p><br></p>

  • kd5hiy

    08 April, 2022 - 4:38 pm

    <p>So excited about ARM for normal computer use starting to be a thing. I was excited when Apple converted to ARM. If I buy this to try, what applications are there on WOA other than Office? Any? Serious question because I don’t know.</p>

    • paradyne

      12 April, 2022 - 5:59 am

      <p>Office 365, Teams, All the inbox apps, .Net and Visual Studio Code, Edge browser, Windows Terminal, Powershell, lots of apps in the store, Linux (e.g. ARM64 Ubuntu in WSL).</p><p><br></p><p>When I had a Surface Pro X, it was 90% of everything I used daily. The big exception was Visual Studio but even that was usable with x64 translation. It compiled my .net project in 20 seconds vs 10 seconds on an 8th gen i7 so not unusable for emergency coding work on the go. Most apps spend most of their time waiting for network, waiting for disk, waiting for the user and so on so the performance penalty of translation is not always significant.</p>

  • kingpcgeek

    Premium Member
    08 April, 2022 - 8:09 pm

    <p>Any idea how much a license key for Windows 11 on ARM is? I have searched high and low and can not find it.</p>

    • kingpcgeek

      Premium Member
      08 April, 2022 - 8:11 pm

      <p>Neer mind. The Windows Central article has it, $100.</p>

  • hrlngrv

    Premium Member
    08 April, 2022 - 11:19 pm

    <p>Tangent: what’s the difference these days between a <em>mini</em> PC and a <em>micro</em> PC?</p>

  • ivarh

    Premium Member
    11 April, 2022 - 5:15 am

    <p>If only Microsoft would make windows available on apple silicon then people could use a mac mini and get a much faster arm system than small machines like these deliver.</p>

  • darkoverlordofdata

    21 June, 2022 - 1:38 am

    <p>gadgetversus.com says this snapdragon7c is equivalent to 5th generation i5. I’m running on a 2nd generation i3. This looks like a cheap upgrade, I’m certainly interested.</p>

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