Any experience with the various "mini pcs" on Amazon?
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My little Surface Go is getting long in the tooth; time for a replacement. My personal computing needs aren't outrageous; the most action this thing will see is a shitload of chrome tabs and maybe a VM or two. Originally, I was thinking I'd just buy one of the many HP/Lenovo/Dell 1L SFF pcs that come off lease and can be found for peanuts, but then I stumbled upon this:
I've been out of the computer build game for a long while now (last build was a little headless m-itx server build back in ~2008) but I have enough of a clue to know "ryzen good" but that's about it. Compared to, say, a Dell Optiplex 7XXX that can be found for ~$150, this thing already has more ram, more horsepower, and built-in wifi/bluetooth. Whatever I buy will likely get 32-64gb of ram slapped in it for no other reason than it sounds cool and my pea brain thinks more ram = more better.
Dark horse is finding an Intel mac mini (2018ish) or a base model trashcan mac pro (HAVE YOU SEEN HOW CHEAP THEY ARE) and stuffing a bunch of ram in it, but that would still be more expensive than either of the other Windows-based alternatives.
So Oppo, does anyone have any experience with the Beelink? Should I put my big boy pants on and navigate the minefield of "refurbished" off-lease Dell/HP/Lenovos from Uncle Bezos' Shop of Horrors? Something else I'm missing entirely?
04 v8 4runner. 94 ford e250 class b (for sale!), and a bunch of pedal bikes
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@dejock said in Any experience with the various "mini pcs" on Amazon?:
Dark horse is finding an Intel mac mini (2018ish)
This was going to be my recommendation. Nobody supports their OS like Apple so if the plan is to use the computer as a web browser that you don't have to replace for a super long time, Mac Mini makes a really strong case for itself.
"What are you gonna do, stab me?"
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@dejock pretty sure that's a mobile processor you linked too but still fine fore what you want to do.
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@WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAthenGTInowA4 I also have an iphone and an ipad and I'd love for them all to play nice together again, but the mac mini would still be quite a bit more expensive, in some cases, double(+) the cost of a dell optiplex with an 8th gen intel processor.
@Italia i figured, but also was hoping that the extra oomph from a bunch of ram and a speedy ssd would split the difference.
04 v8 4runner. 94 ford e250 class b (for sale!), and a bunch of pedal bikes
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@dejock Ram won't help after a certain point, 16gb is plenty of overhead for online browsing and the other light usage this machine sounds like it's used for.
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@WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAthenGTInowA4 i should probably check and see if owc/macsales has anything. theyre probably the only place id trust to buy an actual "refurbed" unit at a reasonable price.
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@WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAthenGTInowA4 said in Any experience with the various "mini pcs" on Amazon?:
Nobody supports their OS like Apple
Apple is great in the mobile space, but Windows almost always supports old hardware much longer than Apple in the desktop/laptop space.
@dejock I bought a refurbished Dell SFF to hook up to my parents' TV, and it sucked (and was fraudulently advertised, so I returned it). So instead I spent a bunch more (though still only ~$400) on a new Intel NUC system (which probably had a bogus Windows license, but has worked fine). Pretty good in general. I wish its cooling system was a bit quieter.
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@facw said in Any experience with the various "mini pcs" on Amazon?:
I bought a refurbished Dell SFF to hook up to my parents' TV, and it sucked (and was fraudulently advertised, so I returned it).
this is the minefield im talking about, at least you got your money back. nucs are cool, but i feel like theyre much more expensive than they need to be, and since this thing will live on my desk, it would be nice if it were on the quieter side.
04 v8 4runner. 94 ford e250 class b (for sale!), and a bunch of pedal bikes
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@dejock also to add on, more than 32 gb of ram seems excessive for what you want and 16 gb should be plenty. I don't think you'll feel the difference.
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@dejock The noise isn't terrible, but it's definitely not silent either. My parents don't even hear it, but I'm a stickler for quiet PCs.
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@dejock Trashcan Macs are slower than the last Intel model Minis.
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@dejock
I've been using one of these as a media and other things server for a while, it's nice because I just remote desktop in and it's the size of three CDs stacked or two DVDs.
Plenty of RAM and CPU. Storage I use a 2TB USB HDD to hold the movies. Turned our DVD collection into a home netflix arrangement.
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@WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAthenGTInowA4 said in Any experience with the various "mini pcs" on Amazon?:
Nobody supports their OS like Apple
Uh...don't they completely cut off OS support after like 5 years usually?
In theory as long as I had a Windows 10 key I could install it on a computer from 2006 and it would still run and be supported until Win10's End-Of-Life in 2025....it would run like shit, but it would run.
I'd say if you just need a cheap PC for browsing and streaming video that one would be fine - if it's upgradable, toss some more RAM in it.
Core i5, RAM is upgradable, as is the hard drive. Toss a cheap SSD hard drive in it and a RAM upgrade (you could even put like 16GB of RAM in it if you want), and it's overkill for what you'd need. I use one for my Home Theatre PC and I suggested one to a fellow Oppo awhile back as well and it's been working well for them as far as I know (...I think it was @Bandit ?). Install Linux on it instead of Windows and it would run even faster (mine runs Linux Mint). 8GB of RAM would be fine unless you're going to have like 40 tabs open at the same time, and it's a quad-core CPU, so plenty fast enough. On-board video means you couldn't game on it, but it would be fine for decent video quality streaming.
The HP is a very similar machine to the one @Demon-Xanth suggested above.
'09 Hyundai Accent | Loves 2-cyl FIATs, old Euro, Eastern Bloc & kei cars!
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@dejock they're pretty cool... but ebay prices are SOOO MUCH BETTER
llook for the hp elite minis and the thinkcentre ones
May the stars shine down on you
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@dejock I bought a Lenovo Thinkcenter Tiny purely for word processing, although it turned out to be just about capable enough for some retrogaming in addition to my usual tab spam method of researching + working. Of which the latter meant it paid for itself in a hurry.
It did in fact set me back $150, but I benefited from already having a spare wifi modem in addition to other peripherals.
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@RallyDarkstrike said in Any experience with the various "mini pcs" on Amazon?:
@WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAthenGTInowA4 said in Any experience with the various "mini pcs" on Amazon?:
Nobody supports their OS like Apple
Uh...don't they completely cut off OS support after like 5 years usually?
In theory as long as I had a Windows 10 key I could install it on a computer from 2006 and it would still run and be supported until Win10's End-Of-Life in 2025....it would run like shit, but it would run.
Yes, and the 2018 Mac minis can’t upgrade to Monterrey, so that’s one strike; however, 2025 isn’t that far away, and a lot of these cheap dell/hp boxes don’t run the minimum required 8th(?) gen chips required to get the Win11 upgrade. I’m not sure if I’d really be missing out, but I’d like the flexibility to upgrade and not be in a forced obsolescence scenario.
04 v8 4runner. 94 ford e250 class b (for sale!), and a bunch of pedal bikes
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@Nibby do you have a seller or two that you’ve bought from before that you’d recommend?
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Hmm, for $125 (plus whatever usb Bluetooth and Wi-Fi adapters cost) this kinda sounds like an ideal starting point: https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-EliteDesk-800-G3-Mini-i5-7600-3-5GHz-16GB-RAM-256GB-SSD-Win-10/185771249327?hash=item2b40d44eaf:g:WqIAAOSwA7Fjc~QC&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAAwI2sAhqZ30k4Z3Y80f7zjhJeZSs0/vQYjcdiKKXBX3zfpmV+0rGq+LHamWTBaruBoOXYk1cpyZdzOJd2hw45dAJpA8wg3txvGfvLRssgyWVGTzgSNJYBGtD3Vw4oV5m8A5uERAmEdnm9GpyyyNohe8xKGAQUgFcbk4Yf4jFd+I4NB+knuiM3XRot6AEbs4vE/ChEI6C756mGmyXapLMhIPch0C+a8cc94H7gEqXGlDLr5EvXApQsynPMBSkeYgQiRQ==|tkp:Bk9SR5SlspzeYQ&pageci=c4e34300-7ef2-405b-a5a2-22a8e1385adc&redirect=mobile
Any apparent red flags with this?
04 v8 4runner. 94 ford e250 class b (for sale!), and a bunch of pedal bikes
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@dejock Not officially supported by Windows 11 if that matters to you. Means you would stop getting OS updates in ~2.5 years if that matters to you. Unofficially it probably would work fine on Windows 11 though (I have a laptop with a Win 11 installed that's running Windows 11 fine)
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@dejock I am pretty sure I bought one from the same batch. No issues for me except a rumbly cooling fan. It does everything I need which I act as a cheap basic computer. I do wish it had more computing power because it struggles with video above 1080p.
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Refurb Thinkcentre Tiny. They're, like, $300. I sell them to clients all the time and they're pretty much flawless. Most come with 1x8GB stick of RAM, add another stick and you're set. I think they're typically 8th gen i5s or thereabouts, and since it's a Thinkcentre they'll have Win10 Pro licenses with them.
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Build a new PC around something like this:
https://www.mini-itx.com/~J3355B-ITX -
@dejock I found an older Lenovo small Form factor business desktop on Facebook market for $70. Its i7 4590 4 core, 16gb memory, runs near silent. It’s my router now but is super capable for what you want to do as it is a full desktop chip and memory set.
There’s lots or great deals on very capable office equipment and newer SFF desktops like that one. $200 can get you a nice item off Craig’s or Facebook market for a local meeting/buy at a coffee shop.
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@100percentjake have a model number I can hone in on?
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@bison78 I have no desire to piece everything together, fix compatibility issues, and spend hours finding drivers at this point. I’m fine swapping a hard drive or something, but builds don’t appeal to me at all.
04 v8 4runner. 94 ford e250 class b (for sale!), and a bunch of pedal bikes
