What are Mini-Pcs?

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

What can they do and what else to they need to do it? What are the benefits over a desktop, laptop or tablet, if any?

Example:

https://www.amazon.com/GMKtec-Windows-Computer-Ethernet-G3/dp/B0CQ4C9ZY1

 

[Brainonska511]

Smaller than a desktop, generally more customizable than a laptop, sometimes they have full fledged desktop processors, and they can preserve desk space if you want a monitor/keyboard/mouse but don't want a full desktop or have a laptop sitting on your desk. Could even use one as a basic HTPC, if you don't need tons of storage or optical drives, and games on your TV aren't your thing.

They're good if you want a simple machine that doesn't take up a lot of space. I replaced my mom's old Haswell desktop with one, and it's been perfect for her use.

At one point, I even considered one for myself as an HTPC, but I'll probably just gut my current HTPC when it comes time to upgrade so I can keep the Blu-ray drive.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Storage? EHDs?

RAM internal?

I've been using a laptop as primary for several years largely due to less power consumption than a desktop.

 

[Brainonska511]

Storage? EHDs?

RAM internal?

I've been using a laptop as primary for several years largely due to less power consumption than a desktop.

Maybe someone just wants something small without the hassle of other components that can stink in cheap laptops (like soldered RAM, bad displays, and bad keyboards). Different people have different needs. If replaced my mom's desktop with a laptop, then that would be something else wasting space on her desk, and potentially a mess of cables coming out of it to support peripherals. A NUC fits nicely under her monitor and the ports are all in the back, which makes for a cleaner setup.

The mini PCs are generally pretty low power too, and many can fit 1-2 NVME drives, a 2.5" SSD, and 2x SO-DIMMs for RAM needs.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

I guess I'm trying to figure out what they're capable of. A Pi doesn't do much without a lot of knowledge and programming ability.

Are these minis more like a laptop without a built in monitor, KB and mouse? Can you load regular programs like Quicken and LibreOffice? You imply the HDD and memory is internal that same as a laptop?

Will one take a backup/restore image of what's on a laptop?

At $300 or so, I need to be relatively certain they'll do what I want.

 

[Brainonska511]

I guess it depends what you're talking about then:

A NUC and the like are full fledged PCs, usually sold like a bare bones kit you'll need to complete and then put Windows or Linux on.

A Pi and similar are cheap, very basic systems that people use for lighter, DIY applications (router, basic embedded system for controlling something customized, etc). I wouldn't use these as a desktop/laptop replacement.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Crossposting with the laptop thread and some links in there.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

What are these DreamQuest things?

https://www.amazon.com/DreamQuest-Desktop-Computer-Pro-Preinstalled/dp/B0CS2H2X7V/

That looks cool and may be just what you are looking for.

It is basically a laptop with out a screen, keyboard or touch pad, perfect if you always "dock" your laptop anyway. You lose the ability to just grab your laptop and travel light but if you never take it anywhere this is not an issue.

Laptops and especially minis are heat and power constrained. The same chip will always perform best in a desktop because it can be fed more power and kept cooler but you might not care about that.

Upgrading a mini is not as easy as a upgrading a desktop.

I think you would be blown away with how well that DreamQuest performs. With 1TB internal storage it would be a while before you needed an external drive (other than an optical if you still need one of those).

These things are so small you can hang them from the back of your monitor!

I'm not as concerned about upgrading/modifying in the way that so many do with desktops. I don't get into all of that kind of thing. I'm concerned about it being safe, reliable, durable and efficient as well as easy to use.

I've read about some fears that some of these have unpleasantware and I don't have the knowledge to strip the OS and reload from scratch. I may have done that with XP at one point.

My daily driving is simple web stuff, a spreadsheet/wordprocesser and some banking records. No heavy graphics.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Amazon.com

Ryzen 7, 32Gb, 1Tb $300 after coupon.

 

[mikeymikec]

I bought an Intel i5-8000 series laptop CPU Intel NUC a few years ago. It came with an SODIMM slot and an NVMe M.2 slot and had room for an additional 2.5" HDD/SSD. Unfortunately within about 3-4 years it started having stability issues and while the fan was definitely ailing, each time I cleaned it out it brought temps back down again, the stability issues didn't clear. I wasn't overly impressed.

The fan was a pretty standard laptop type fan. The PC was in an office setting that involved light loads but running most of the time (day and night). Getting to the fan meant entering from the bottom of the NUC and having to take everything out to get to the fan. When I brought it home, it passed basic stability tests with a desk fan pointing at its naked innards. I probably ought to get it a new fan and see whether I can get it back to a working condition, but I have little faith that it's going to work.

 

[KMFJD]

i use it as a htpc instead of using the built in android tv that's installed on most tv's these days, throw on vpn and ublock and ad free tv again....works for me (i have 4 now, 2 for tv's , 1 for 2nd pc beside my main and the oldest one i use for retro games)

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

^^^ Thoughts on the one linked above?

 

[Tup3x]

For cheap ones this is about the best that one can get: https://www.amazon.com/MINISFORUM-UM760-Slim-Processor-Computer/dp/B0DFQ3YFXH/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa
I don't think it makes sense to buy anything else than >=Zen 4 at this point.

My father bought one (Amazon DE) to replace ancient HTPC build. It's really nice, although it came with single 16 GB 5600 MT/s stick (depending on things it might come with 2x 8 GB 4800 MT/s sticks). So far very happy with it.

 

[manly]

I've read about some fears that some of these have unpleasantware and I don't have the knowledge to strip the OS and reload from scratch. I may have done that with XP at one point.

As explained in this thread, a mini PC is basically a laptop in a different form factor. So you can do anything with a mini PC that you can do with a similarly spec'd laptop.

As for unpleasantware, what's happening is that a lot of the cheap brands are from China. And they aren't paying Microsoft the standard fee for a Windows license (as far as I know). In the past, a Windows Home license is about $30 although it might be less if you're a huge OEM like Dell or HP. But considering the tight margins on these things, some of these no-name brands are not passing through the $30 legit license cost. Presumably they are using gray market keys to give the veneer of authenticity.

In short, you're probably okay but stick with brands that have more reviews and good reviews, at that.

Oh definitely avoid that DreamQuest unit, for the money. I'd never heard of them before but it does not look like a good deal. The N95 processor is a modern descendant of the Atom chips of a decade ago. It's enough for a basic PC, but you have better options. It makes little sense to pair an N95 with 32GB of RAM. Notice the Windows 11 Pro license. This is a strong hint that this is a gray market key. Pro costs OEMs more than a Home license, so it's very difficult to see how they could shoehorn that cost into a $300 selling price and still turn a profit.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

So, I've got this one coming:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BRRVFP2T

Beelink, Win 11Pro, 32Gb Ram, 1Tb NVME drive, AMD Ryzen 7

And:

Sansui 24" Monitor, 100Hz, 1080P HDMI

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRH7YY7G

Also:
Backlit keyboard
RGB Trackball
10 port USB Hub with card reader ports
128Gb SD card
128Gb micro SD card
Adjustable arm for the monitor
Split loom for cable management

Plus a few other goodies for other unrelated projects.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Monitor showed up today. Thing is barely a 1/4" thick except right at the bottom couple of inches.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Mini-PCs are fairly niche and I think laptops have sort of eaten their lunch after the pandemic when a lot of offices switched over from desktops to laptops with docks. Mini-PC's were the ultimate white collar desktop PCs you'd find across 100's of thousands of cubicles everywhere once upon a time.

For probably 94% of average PC users, some $500 laptop + Dock will cover basically every use case they are liable to have.

For the 5% of people that need a ton of performance in their PCs there are full form factor desktops.

and for the 1% of people who just want to be different for the sake of being different, there are the min-PCs and such.

 

[manly]

Monitor showed up today. Thing is barely a 1/4" thick except right at the bottom couple of inches.

Was that $60 + tax? Sansui isn't really a manufacturer, so I'm a bit curious whether you got a good one. (At a glance, it's fine for $60.)

@GodisanAtheist are you confusing mini PC with SFF (popular corporate form factor)? Two different things IMO.

Laptops have dominated the PC market for a long time, so I wouldn't completely disagree that mini PC is niche. IMO it's a growing niche though, judging from the huge number of units offered for sale on Amazon alone.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Yeah, 60 something.

I remember Sansui from way long time back, but I don't know if this is the same Sansui.

 

[Muadib]

Yeah, 60 something.

I remember Sansui from way long time back, but I don't know if this is the same Sansui.

It's not the same.

Sansui Electric - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Well it's here. The tasks begin.

Arm mounted to table. MiniBox acclimating to room temperature while I review the equally mini-'manual'.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Well, that was informative indeed. Connect power, monitor, keyboard and mouse. Something about mounting the bracket to something. Then a page on inserting RAM and drive (which I hope is already done!!!)

Nothing about the little red plastic tab sticking out of the bottom. Block for CMOS battery?

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

We have RAM in green, NVME in yellow and .... a 2.5" drive bay (cyan)????

Got the tiny little cable and SATA connectors.

That'd be mighty cool. But then I'd need to order one of those.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Well, lookey there!

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

No clue what the red rubber doojobby is. Same as the red square in the pics above.

Could it be just a handle to help pull the back off once the screws are out?