Mini-PCs are great. They’re powerful enough for most productivity tasks, while being compact enough to sit right on your desk. Heck, sometimes, they can even do way more than that. If your mini-PC is going to sit on the desk, might as well give it some desk accessory functions and that’s what they did with the ViewDock Gen2.
Despite the “Gen2” in the name, this is not actually a new version of the ViewDock from last year. That one is a USB docking station with an integrated mini-display that you can use as a secondary screen. This one, on the other hand, is a full-fledged mini PC, albeit with a few added twists.
The ViewDock Gen2 is a pre-built mini-PC with a housing that measures 6.9 x 2.0 x 5.4 inches (width x height x depth) and weighs a lightweight 2.3 pounds. That’s compact enough to slip under the monitor, although it does bring a few extra functions that might make you want to pull it in a little closer. For instance, it comes with a 15W Qi wireless charging pad on top, making it the ideal place to set down your phone while doing your tasks for the day. It also gets a 4.5-inch display on top, which can be flipped upright at any angle up to 90 degrees. According to the outfit, you can use it as a mini-monitor, so you can put a document you’re reading, a chat window for your workgroup, or a menu window for whatever program you’re using on there. It seems very handy.
Inside, the mini-PC houses an AMD Ryzen CPU with integrated Radeon graphics, although it still hasn’t been confirmed which particular model each tier of pledges will get. Yeah, it doesn’t really inspire confidence when you can’t detail the exact CPU you’re using. It comes with two DDR5 RAM slots, which support up to 64GB, as well as two M.2 2280 SSD slots, so you should be able to load it with up to 4TB of storage.
The ViewDock Gen2 comes with three display slots, namely an HDMI 2.1 port, a DP 1.4 port, and a full-featured USB-C, all of which support 4K 120Hz monitors. We don’t know if it can actually support three external monitors connected to it at the same time, along with the integrated mini-display, but it would be cool if you can use it as a quad-monitor setup, even if you have to be limited to just 1080p. There’s a healthy selection of ports, too, including a non-display USB-C port, two USB 3.0 slots, two USB 2.0 ports, two Ethernet slots, and an audio jack. There’s also a Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 chip for wireless connectivity.
It has an integrated 40,000 RPM fan that, the outfit claims, can keep the temperature to 45 degrees Celsius or less while under load, with airflow passing through the side vents of the case. The fan is supposedly quiet, too, which will be needed if you’re going to keep this right on the desk. The case, by the way, is cut in lightweight aluminum, so it should look nice sitting on any work space.
A Kickstarter campaign is currently running for the ViewDock Gen2. You can reserve a unit for pledges starting at $639.
