Intel NUC 4" x 4" micro-PC - $299 shipped (1.8ghz i3, motherboard, case, PSU)

[Kaido]

Oh I forgot to mention, my Haswell i5 Intel NUC did not have any fan noise issues. Although I think the Haswell BRIX is a tad quieter, but that may just be my imagination.

 

[Kaido]

New Intel NUC BIOS update fixes SteamOS, other Linux booting problems

Some other fixes are included as well.

Nice! Good to see more Linux support. As much as I'd like to build a nice Gaming HTPC, the appeal of a BRIX Pro is pretty high - despite the higher pricetag & lower GPU.

The driver bundles are nice too - Gigabyte gives you a CD with folders and Intel now offers the driver bundle for download so you don't have to do them all individually, which is awesome.

 

[Gunslinger08]

Would you be able to pair a USB Blu-ray drive with one of these Celeron NUCs, hook it up to my TV via HDMI, and watch Blu-ray movies? No HDCP issues with USB drives or anything? Celeron powerful enough to play Blu-ray?

 

[imaheadcase]

Would you be able to pair a USB Blu-ray drive with one of these Celeron NUCs, hook it up to my TV via HDMI, and watch Blu-ray movies? No HDCP issues with USB drives or anything? Celeron powerful enough to play Blu-ray?

It has to use software to play the bluray movie with USB. Depending on celeron it should work fine. You can use VLC if you don't want to fork over money for powerdvd or something else.

 

[you2]

Be aware that VLC by default cannot play blu-ray movies (such as those you might purchase in a store).

It has to use software to play the bluray movie with USB. Depending on celeron it should work fine. You can use VLC if you don't want to fork over money for powerdvd or something else.

 

[Kaido]

Would you be able to pair a USB Blu-ray drive with one of these Celeron NUCs, hook it up to my TV via HDMI, and watch Blu-ray movies? No HDCP issues with USB drives or anything? Celeron powerful enough to play Blu-ray?

I happen to have an external Bluray drive on an IVB Celeron (they're like $85 for the R/W single-USB cord Samsung models), I can dig up my LOTR on Bluray to test if you'd like.

 

[imaheadcase]

Be aware that VLC by default cannot play blu-ray movies (such as those you might purchase in a store).

Works fine for me. Just have issues sometimes with menus.

 

[Medikit]

MyDigitalSSD mSATA 240gb 121.99, 128gb for 72.99
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS.../dealiggcom-20

 

[hans007]

MyDigitalSSD mSATA 240gb 121.99, 128gb for 72.99
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS.../dealiggcom-20

Extra 5 bucks gets you a crucial m500 msata also.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00BQ8RKT4

Ive had a mydigitalssd msata before and they use phison controller. Its ok but its worth $5 to get the crucial with Marvell.

 

[Kaido]

Extra 5 bucks gets you a crucial m500 msata also.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00BQ8RKT4

Ive had a mydigitalssd msata before and they use phison controller. Its ok but its worth $5 to get the crucial with Marvell.

I've only purchased one so far, but it was significantly slower than my Mushkins...

 

[deal-seek-101]

Indeed very much in detail.

 

[imaheadcase]

Well that was weird, the I5 Nuc just went up $50, Wonder why that is, it is not even released till Monday.

 

[Kaido]

Well that was weird, the I5 Nuc just went up $50, Wonder why that is, it is not even released till Monday.

They tend to drop in price within a couple weeks, as supply catches up with the initial release demand.

I'm still having great luck with the Haswell i5 BRIX from Gigabyte. It annoys me that I need adapters on both ports of the Intel NUC (Mini Displayport & Mini HDMI) instead of just the Mini Displayport. I also like that the BRIX has a built-in Wifi card, so that's just one less thing I have to buy when ordering them for business use.

 

[wpcoe]

I'm trying to rationalize buying the Atom Celeron NUC as a temporary computer while I'm living abroad (moving from Thailand to Mexico) for six months.

I'm limited on baggage I'm able to take (each extra piece is $200) and had been considering taking my current mobo, CPU, SSD and RAM in my carry-on and buy a cheap case & power supply when I get there for maybe $100. It looks like a Celeron NUC could be bought (during a trip to the USA) for about $225 including an 8GB RAM SODIMM.

Will I be constantly gnashing my teeth trying to multi-task on an Atom at 2.17-2.39Ghz with only a 1MB cache (and an SSD & 8GB RAM)? I don't play computer games or watch movies, and a typical session might have a few .JPG images open in Photoshop, about a dozen tabs in a browser, and maybe a spreadsheet & e-mail app open. Would that choke the Celeron N2820 NUC? Would I regret not lugging over my mobo & IB CPU?

Whatever option I do will involve compromise. Less room to pack stuff (to not crush the mobo), vs slower Atom-based system. Just how much slower would the Atom be? I'm aware that it would only be SATA-2 (3Gbps) and only have 3 USB ports, and I'm okay with that. I'm retired and spend a lot of time on the computer, and don't think I could manage with just my 1.33Ghz i3-380UM notebook computer with low resolution screen -- it's fine for short use when traveling, but not as my main computer at home.

The i3 NUCs seem more appropriate, but quite a bit more expensive, considering I probably won't need the system after six or seven months.

 

[cytoSiN]

I'm trying to rationalize buying the Atom Celeron NUC as a temporary computer while I'm living abroad (moving from Thailand to Mexico) for six months.

I'm limited on baggage I'm able to take (each extra piece is $200) and had been considering taking my current mobo, CPU, SSD and RAM in my carry-on and buy a cheap case & power supply when I get there for maybe $100. It looks like a Celeron NUC could be bought (during a trip to the USA) for about $225 including an 8GB RAM SODIMM.

Will I be constantly gnashing my teeth trying to multi-task on an Atom at 2.17-2.39Ghz with only a 1MB cache (and an SSD & 8GB RAM)? I don't play computer games or watch movies, and a typical session might have a few .JPG images open in Photoshop, about a dozen tabs in a browser, and maybe a spreadsheet & e-mail app open. Would that choke the Celeron N2820 NUC? Would I regret not lugging over my mobo & IB CPU?

Whatever option I do will involve compromise. Less room to pack stuff (to not crush the mobo), vs slower Atom-based system. Just how much slower would the Atom be? I'm aware that it would only be SATA-2 (3Gbps) and only have 3 USB ports, and I'm okay with that. I'm retired and spend a lot of time on the computer, and don't think I could manage with just my 1.33Ghz i3-380UM notebook computer with low resolution screen -- it's fine for short use when traveling, but not as my main computer at home.

The i3 NUCs seem more appropriate, but quite a bit more expensive, considering I probably won't need the system after six or seven months.

Have you considered a cheap laptop, or even renting one when you get there? Lots of countries have such programs for students studying abroad.

 

[you2]

-
As cytoSiN suggested you could try a cheap laptop with g3220 or faster (the g3220 is a bit faster than a mobile i3 but a mobile i3 would also be adequate - the N2820 is about 1/3 the speed of either of these and slower than a snapdragon 800 which is about 3x the speed of most mini-pc (take these numbers with a massive grain of salt as it is difficult to find comparisoin of n2820, snapdragon 800 and rk3188). Also the Rk3188 is near eol as the RK3288 will be widely available in another quarter.
-
I am not a fan of the N2820 esp at the current price point. About the only thing it does well is use minimal power but it is slower than the current high end arm processors and more expensive.

 

[imaheadcase]

I went ahead and got the I3 NUC, should be here Tuesday.

The hardest part about it is finding the perfect remote for it for media center. heh

 

[wpcoe]

Have you considered a cheap laptop, or even renting one when you get there? Lots of countries have such programs for students studying abroad.

The cheapest laptops I could find online were about $250 with 4GB RAM. If I added another 4GB that raises it even more, and the graphics is usually only 1366x768.

The $225 for the Celeron NUC was even a bit more than I wanted to pay, but I thought that if the Celeron were adequate, it would be worth the splurge to have such a small computer.

I will look into a rental. Hadn't even considered that. Wonder how much a six-month rental would be. For round-trip excess baggage fees of $400 I can just bring my entire IB i3 system.

(the g3220 is a bit faster than a mobile i3 but a mobile i3 would also be adequate - the N2820 is about 1/3 the speed of either of these and

If the G3220 is only a bit faster than my mobile i3, and the N2820 33% slower than that, then there's my answer. Oh, well. It was a short-lived idea.

 

[Aikouka]

The hardest part about it is finding the perfect remote for it for media center. heh

I use the gyration media remote. The only problem is that they aren't made anymore, which means they go for inflated prices on eBay. There is a cheaper way to get one by buying one of the Dell variants and building your own USB adapter using an internal connector and combining it with a USB plug. I believe there's a write-up somewhere on the AVS Forums on how to do it.

 

[you2]

Shuttle has a new version which looks very interesting (DS81) to be released in about 14 days.

 

[finbarqs]

what's the difference between the nuc box and the regular nuc? nuc box looks a lot bigger... Anyways, gonna order myself the standard i5 nuc (373.xx) and gonna turn it into a plex server... $600 bucks to make a plex server lol.

 

[finbarqs]

alright, got my i5 NUC installed, and plex transcoding. it can't even do 1 stream fluidly @ 1080p or 720p

connection seems solid @ 16mbp/s without issue.

 

[Kaido]

alright, got my i5 NUC installed, and plex transcoding. it can't even do 1 stream fluidly @ 1080p or 720p

connection seems solid @ 16mbp/s without issue.

Which NUC did you get?

 

[Kaido]

what's the difference between the nuc box and the regular nuc? nuc box looks a lot bigger... Anyways, gonna order myself the standard i5 nuc (373.xx) and gonna turn it into a plex server... $600 bucks to make a plex server lol.

Regular = laptop CPU

Box = desktop CPU (noisy, but adds 2.5" drive capability + Iris Pro graphics)

Although I think they have a box one now that has the laptop CPU with just an extra 2.5" drive slot (in addition to the mSATA port).

 

[Kaido]

Shuttle has a new version which looks very interesting (DS81) to be released in about 14 days.

Big deal on the DS81 for me is the dual Ethernet jacks:

http://global.shuttle.com/news/productsDetail?productId=1767

Would make a killer PFsense rig :thumbsup: