Almost a year ago I blogged about a tiny PC, the Space Cube, which had landed in the PC Pro Labs and got quite a bit of attention – but, while that machine was undeniably impressive, its usefulness was limited to those who happened to own space shuttles and were familiar with its obscure version of Red Hat.

The latest miniscule computer to turn up, though, is far more practical for those who don’t engage in interstellar travel. The Anders Fit-PC2 may only be 27mm tall and weigh just 370g, but it’s a fully-fledged nettop with an Intel Atom processor lurking inside its tiny frame.

Specifically, it’s the Atom Z530, which we’ve previously seen in the stylish Sony VAIO P-series. While Sony’s product faltered by partnering a low-power CPU with Vista, though, the Fit PC sticks with Windows XP, and feels far snappier for it, capably handling Office applications and web surfing during the brief time we’ve had it in the Labs.

The rest of the specification includes 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard disk, so it looks as if this little machine will be a genuinely usable PC inside one of the smallest cases we’ve ever seen. There’s even some upgrade potential for those who like tinkering: a small slot on the side of the machine can be removed, and the hard disk replaced. And, since it’s a standard 2.5in notebook disk inside, an SSD will fit.

In terms of pricing, we were expecting that the Fit-PC2’s unique form factor would drive its price up, but we’ve been pleasantly surprised: manufacturer Anders is selling this model for £340 exc. VAT, and expect prices to further come down as more resellers in the UK stock the product and begin to compete on price.

Other specifications are available, too: cheaper models are sold without an OS, a hard disk or WLAN, for instance, and a mid-range version comes with Ubuntu rather than XP.

What do you think of the Fit-PC2? Could you see yourself fitting this tiny PC into your life or would you rather spend your cash on a fully-fledged nettop that, while bigger, has a broader range of features?

Let us know about your verdict in the comments below. As for ours, take a look at our full review by clicking here.

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