Single review: Kangaroo Mobile Desktop Computer KJ2B#001-NA Intel Atom X5-Z8500 (1.44 GHz) 2 GB LPDDR3 32 GB eMMC Windows 10 Home

Kangaroo Mobile Desktop Computer KJ2B#001-NA Intel Atom X5-Z8500 (1.44 GHz) 2 GB LPDDR3 32 GB eMMC Windows 10 Home

Intel Atom X5-Z8500 (1.44 GHz)
2 GB LPDDR3 32 GB eMMC SSD
Windows 10 Home
Intel HD Graphics
Kangaroo Dock included

Hopefully answer some questions 11/10/2015

This review is from: Kangaroo Mobile Desktop Computer KJ2B#001-NA Intel Atom X5-Z8500 (1.44 GHz) 2 GB LPDDR3 32 GB eMMC Windows 10 Home

Pros:

Just received this today, hope to answer some questions.
Comes with activated Windows 10 Home pre-installed. No bloatware demos, etc at all. Only thing in programs list are drivers for hardware.

The white ring is the power indicator. Pulses yellow when charging and off, then stays off when full. Pulses blue when on. Don't remember the rest of the states.

BIOS can be entered by hitting F2. Turning off Secure Boot will allow for the boot menu to be available and displayed with F10. EFI boot order can be changed. Didn't see any options for legacy bootm so might be limited to UEFI supporting OS. BIOS is fairly minimalist. CPU and BIOS does have options for VT as well, though might have limited uses with 2GB RAM.

For the Linux crowd: Yes I was able to install Ubuntu 15.10 x64 with little fuss. Installed from USB DVD Drive connected to the USB 2.0 port. Ubuntu was able to see and install to the eMMC drive and took a little more than 4.5GB. USB 3.0 works, did not test speed, but did not work for install. (Used a hub on the 2.0 port).

Wifi and Bluetooth work right off, both are Intel controllers.
Didn't have a microSD card to test with Linux, and don't know about the Synaptics fingerprint reader.

USB had enough power to power an unpowered USB hub with keyboard, mouse, flash drive, and laptop USB DVD-Rom with the AC adapter connected. Didn't try on battery.

Cons:

Base install of Ubuntu 15.10 did not have a working battery indicator. I did not try to fix, just wanted to see if it would run. Not really a con as someone with more determination could likely get it working.

BIOS does not have an option to turn on after power restored. (useful for mini server). Maybe added in future please?

Other Thoughts:

I got it since it seemed like there would be nearly unlimited uses for it. Micro server with USB HD, maybe a firewall with 2x USB NICs? Its basically got a built-in UPS. I will likely get formatted and installed with many different tests, but this is great so far. I wish the Micro SD slot was full size, but not really complaining.

This did work with my generic HDMI to VGA adapter so I could use an old monitor with it.

I havent tested it with my iPad Air 2 yet, since I know it will work and wanted to try stuff I couldn't find info for.

A dock with Ethernet and more USB ports would be a welcome addition, although you can get a USB 3.0 hub that includes gigabit Ethernet too.

Please add power on/wake on AC to BIOS settings!!

Manufacturer Response:

Hi Jeffrey, enjoyed your feedback. Gotta admit, I was nervous when I read the title though.

I really appreciate you sharing your experience with Linux with the rest of the folks here on the forum. Although Linux really wasn't our target with this platform, its received some (limited) exposure.. and we'll continue to test, while we look forward to delivering more powerful and equally compatible Linux platforms in the future.

If there's anything you feel like sharing about your Linux experience, please feel free to send to me directly (with the disclaimer being that it may be published :)

Thanks,
Carl Giardina
product development core team

Did you find this review helpful? Yes Yes / No

Jeffrey P.
Verified Owner
Owned For: less than 1 day

write a review