The ZOTAC PICO P1320 is one of those products that you will either desire or dismiss out of hand because you will either have a specific use for it or you won't. We struggled to place the product in any segment because on the one hand it is a great little device that can do pretty much everything a SFF PC can do and because of its size it is most certainly portable. ZOTAC themselves market it toward the business sector where we see a guy sliding it into his blazer pocket. What we don't see is the same gentleman stuffing a keyboard under his armpit, a mouse under the other and Lord knows where he would put a monitor. You see unlike a tablet PC, which can be had for around the same price, this PC needs peripherals and with that you lose portability unless you are lucky enough to have multiple devices at a variety of locations and let's be honest here, if you have the peripherals, you are likely to have a desk and to that end a desktop PC. Sure it may have the 'cool' factor which is sure to draw attention when you swap out the HDMI cable from your work desktop PC and plug in the ZBOX to catch up on the latest episode of Game of Thrones but to what end? Lunch breaks sadly only last for so long and the cool appeal of this device won't last much longer than that before you wish you had something with a bit more oomph, a little more storage, a little more speed. The device in an office environment may have a place for giving presentations where carrying your laptop across town to your meeting room proves too much all the while hoping when you get there projector in said meeting room is HDMI compatible!

Alternatively, if all you need a PC for is for web browsing and basic functionality then the ZOTAC ZBOX PI1320 is ideal. Tasks such as email and word processing are a breeze. Upping the tempo to media editing is also acceptable so long as you are not in any hurry. Quite simply unless you are an avid gamer, the ZOTAC ZBOX P1320 can do pretty much anything your average PC can but encompasses a much smaller footprint.

What the ZOTAC ZBOX P1320 could be suited for is as a media PC hooked up to your cinema display. We tried out KODI (XBMC) on the ZBOX and were very happy with the results when hooked up to a 60" smart TV and paired with a Bluetooth Keyboard and mouse combo. It could also have uses in other areas too, especially where space is at an absolute premium or indeed where you don't want a PC on display, say in the kitchen? There are multiple uses, each being viable for some but sadly not for others so we think it is fair to say the ZOTAC ZBOX is not for everyone.


We admire ZOTAC for what they have accomplished here as this product truly is a feat of engineering which is why we have given this product our creative award. If we asked why they crammed all this technology into such a small device no doubt they would tell us, 'because we can'. For most people though we fear that this product is only likely to appeal to those who are either very limited on space or simply have little use for a more powerful (but inherently larger) personal computer.

A lightweight, extremely portable PC that complete most tasks without breaking a sweat.