Kangaroo Offers a More Powerful Version of its Amazing Mini-PC

As you may recall, I’m a big fan of the InFocus Kangaroo mini-PC, which offers amazing functional value and a low price. Today, InFocus announced a second model of its mini-PC, called Kangaroo Plus, which provides double the RAM, storage, and performance.

“We’ve received overwhelmingly positive response from the launch of Kangaroo a little more than three months ago,” Kangaroo director product marketing Lawrence Yen said as part of the product announcement. “For our latest model, we have taken direct customer feedback and incorporated it into the Kangaroo Plus. Customers asked for more storage and memory packaged in the same tiny form factor and we are giving it to them. Customers have also asked to be able to customize and configure their own operating system and now that is possible as well.”

The Kangaroo Plus costs $169—compared to the $99 price of the original Kangaroo, which is still available—and differs from its predecessor like so:

RAM. Kangaroo Plus arrives with 4 GB of (non-upgradeable) RAM, compared to 2 GB in the original.

Storage. The Kangaroo Plus provides 64 GB of eMMC storage, compared to 32 GB in the original.

No operating system. While the ability to “customize and configure your own operating system” is being touted as a benefit, that’s not really the case for most.Windows 10 Home OEM will set you back about $90 at Amazon right now (or you can get the retail version for about $120).

What hasn’t changed is the processor (a 1.44 GHz Intel Atom x5 Z8500) with Intel graphics, the expandability (via an included dock with 1 USB 2.0, 1 USB 3.0, and full-sized HDMI, plus microSD), the connectivity (dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 A/C and Bluetooth), and that neat Windows Hello-compatible fingerprint reader). I assume/believe the dock is the same one used by the original Kangaroo.

You can purchase Kangaroo Plus from Newegg.com for $169 right now. I ordered one and will review it soon. In fact, this might make a very interesting living room device.