Giada i53 Mini PC

The front of the i53 stands seven inches tall and is only an inch thick. The left side panel wraps around the front until it runs into the offset chrome strip. This strip contains the activity LEDs and the black power button.

On the right you can't see the silver flake as much with the white backdrop, but you can see the Giada name and the geometric design applied to the lower section near one of the air intake vents.

On the back you find the exhaust port for the active cooling along with the rear I/O. Here you can connect HDMI, four USB 2.0 devices, optional VGA port, Gigabit LAN, and the power jack at the right to finish it off.

The bottom of the i53 has a sticker with the model and serial of the unit. Just to the right of it is a notch that is recessed to accept the base that is also included in the kit.

Both sides are pretty close to identical if not for the sticker applied to this side. On that sticker is Giada's name, its compliances when making the i53, and the fact that this is made in China. You should also notice that there is an air intake on this side as well to get as much cool air into the confined space as possible.

On the top the majority of the area is taken up with the cover over what we will call the front I/O panel. You can see if you look closely that the card reader types, USB 3.0 and audio jacks can be found here.

Excuse my thumb, but since the cover is designed to self-close without pressure to keep it open, I would not be able to show you this. As you can see the card reader, USB 3.0 and the 3.5mm jacks are all under the cover.

I jumped ahead a little bit just to show you what the i53 looked like as if it were on your desk. As it sits, with power and HDMI connected, I just need some peripherals and I am ready to go.

Before I open this up and expose its innards to you, I wanted to power it up and verify that everything was working and get the testing out of the way, just in case something was to go wrong. When you first push the power button, only the green LED at the top lights up.

Once the Hitachi HDD starts to spin up, you get the red light to illuminate with its activity. The third light it took me a bit to get to light up, but once I used the remote, I noticed the blue flash as you pressed the buttons.