We’ve seen loads of Android powered TV boxes launch in China through the past one year or so. These come in all shapes and sizes — while most are Apple TV style boxes, others are supremely discreet USB thumb-drive like drives. However, most are restricted to running the Android OS, which is a bit of a bottleneck for many.

The GULEEK i8 though, runs Windows 8.1 and even has its own battery, which means you don’t have to keep it plugged at all times. Although its only a 3000mAh unit, it is still better than nothing at all.

Inside the external-HDD like hood, the GULEEK i8 contains an 1.8 GHz Intel Atom Z3735F quad-core processor paired with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of on-board storage, along with a microSD card slot. That’s not bad, considering it is on pre-order for US$104. The i8 has you covered pretty much, for it has 2x full USB ports, 1x micro HDMI port, and a micro USB port for charging, besides a standard 3.5mm headset jack.

Like I said, the design is very much like your good old external hard disk. DX is currently only offering it in a Coffee coloured variant.

TV boxes have largely served the purpose of media devices for quite long now (barring those that run hacked Linux distros). With Chinese OEMs adopting the Windows OS and offering quality devices at budget prices, you can soon expect to see 2nd or 3rd home PCs running on such arrangements.

GULEEK i8 in action

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGHIvYUUitc]

Do you think you’re getting one? I’m certainly going to try and get my hands on one to review for our readers!