AOpen has followed up on the tiny, Mac Mini-like, PC it launched at Computex last year with an updated Viiv compliant model.

To accompany the new MiniPC, it is also bringing out its take on the burgeoning external hard disk backup products, with 128bit encryption.

The Viiv MiniPC MP945-VXR comes out at the end of the month and weighs just 1.3kg – the weight of some of the smaller ultraportable laptops we get into our labs.

Again it uses a mobile CPU, this time Intel’s Core Duo processors – but it won’t support the Merom Core 2 Duo chips due out soon. Internally, its other components are also from notebooks – its memory and 2.5in hard disk.

Aimed at digital home enthusiasts (and offices with space problems), the black-cased PC also comes with a remote control for its TV functions.

Also in black, and the same size, is he ST201, its secure external hard drive box. It will work with any PC though. It can handle a 12 digit code, using keys on its facia, to secure data.

If the wrong number is keyed in, the had disk is locked. If a thief removes the hard disk from the box, the data is still secure, said AOpen, because it is encrypted on the disk.