InFocus Takes Kangaroo PC to Go

InFocus Takes Kangaroo PC to Go

I’m a big fan of the InFocus Kangaroo PC, an innovative mini-PC that offers Windows Hello compatibility and other unique features. But this week, InFocus announced the Kangaroo Notebook. It’s like the Kangaroo PC … to go.

I first wrote about the Kangaroo PC last November, noting that this cute little mini-PC really rises above the competition by offering a Windows Hello-compatible fingerprint reader, a battery for moving the device between docks, and the ability to use an iPad as a touch-screen for the PC. The Kangaroo PC also comes with one dock, allowing you to connect it to keyboard, mouse, display and other peripherals.

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The Kangaroo PC is a steal at just $99, though of course power users won’t be too happy with its low-end specs: A A quad-core 1.44 GHz Intel Atom x5-Z8500 processor with Intel HD Graphics, 2 GB of RAM, 32 GB of eMMC storage. So in February, InFocus announced a slightly more powerful and expensive version, the Kangaroo Plus, which bumps RAM up to 4 GB and storage to 64 GB. The cost? Just $169, though this version comes sans-OS, so you’ll need to pay $119 for Windows 10 Home too.

This week, InFocus took the next step in offering a portable version of its delightful little mini-PC. Called the Kangaroo Notebook, this device is likewise low-end, with basically the same specs as its mini-PC brothers: A quad-core 1.44 GHz Atom x5-Z8350 processor, 2 GB of RAM, and 32 GB of eMMC storage, plus Bluetooth 4.2, 802.11AC Wi-Fi, and a microSD card reader. And yes, it comes with Windows 10 Home.

But the Kangaroo Notebook is also a clamshell notebook PC, of course, so it includes an 11.6-inch display running at 1366 x 768, a 1 MP webcam, a full-size keyboard with Synaptics clickpad, one USB 3.0 port, two USB 2.0 ports, a headphone jack, microphone, and a 37 Wh battery rated at about 5 hours of battery life. No, nothing special. But given the price—just $299—what were you expecting?

What you should have been expecting is some form of innovation, given what InFocus accomplished with the original Kangaroo PC. And here, they do not disappoint. The Kangaroo Notebook isn’t just a low-end notebook PC. Instead, it works a bit like a Continuum device, where the notebook part of it is actually just a dock, or shell. And the PC part is like the original Kangaroo PC, a modular mini-PC you can plug into the notebook dock to take on the go.

pc-mod

But wait, there’s more. The $299 Kangaroo PC doesn’t just include one Kangaroo Mini PC with Windows 10, it for some reason includes two. That’s right: This is two PCs in one.

“Whether you are a parent with young children looking for both a family PC and a personal PC or a user looking to keep information separate for different uses and want autonomy and storage for both, this mobile computing bundle provides two separate PC’s with their own storage, safety and security,” InFocus explains. “The Kangaroo Notebook is the ideal solution for individuals who want a customized yet secure PC experience with the peace of mind that comes from having the ability to decide which information is securely stored on each of the Kangaroo Mini computing modules. From data, images and documents, to passwords stored in web browsers, Kangaroo Notebook offers users privacy and choice.”

Like many of you, I suspect, I am of course intrigued by this product. For me, however, it is too low-end, and too small: I’d love to see a 13-inch version of it with better specs, for example. Still. Very interesting.

The The Kangaroo Notebook will be available only from Newegg.com starting in mid-October.

 

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