Solved Do you use a 1 L machine as your main work computer?

I have always bought (small) towers thinking they were upgradeable, but the reality is that I seldom upgraded my machines. Today's machines are so powerful that the need for upgrades is even less.

The change from a 10 L machine to a 1 L machine is a big one, though, and I wonder if anyone here uses a 1 L machine as their main work computer. Or a bookshelf computer, or an NUC, or a micro form factor, or whatever they are called.

I use one: Lenovo ThinkCentre M75Q-1.
Fantastic little machine. No complaints whatever. RAM, CPU and storage are upgradable. Just like any other desktop.

See my specs for details.

my main desktop is for gaming, and is a Ryzen 9 5900X with an Nvidia 3800 running WIndows 10.

However, my main windows 11 box is a BeeLink SEI8 mini PC, Core i5-8279u, 32GB of RAM and a 512GB NVME. It's been a fastastic machine for Windows 11.

I tend to go for a mid-tower or a full tower case for the extra room and flexibility to expand.

We got a full tower for the main home computer, the rest are laptops

The-Hive said:

We got a full tower for the main home computer, the rest are laptops

Click to expand...

I like bigger cases.. more room for parts and you get better air flow..

Hi,
Never run across the terms you're using for computers 1L 10 L lol

I prefer desktops mid towers mainly for foot print but best cooling options seeing heat kills hardware eventually but now days machines are built cheaply and crappy cooling systems same as cell phones and people replaced them every 2-3 years

I do have a laptop but rarely use it heck it's pushing 12 years old lol

I've been using a Lenovo A-540 Idea Center all-in-one for the past three years on an average of 5-7 hours/day, without any problems. It's a fine home office system.

BunnyJ said:

I like bigger cases.. more room for parts and you get better air flow..

Click to expand...

@BunnyJ Good point there Jeff, more parts and good airflow

I have always gone for either Workstation or Server level desktops [ I tend to install a lot of HDD capacity], and portable desktop level laptops - suits my workflow

I use a desktop level laptop the Alienware Area 51m R2, best machine I have ever used

I use mid tower, self built, desktops. I also use it for my recording studio DAW. Flexibility for add on cards, cooling, etc.
I have a laptop that I use for client site recordings but otherwise it collects dust as I hate the keyboards on laptops.

Folks, the article below has cohesive examples of small form factor computers "For comparison purposes, the size of an SFF case is usually measured in litres." I like to hear from people putting these computers to serious use.

(the Raspberry Pi vs Giga Tower comparisons are really for a different thread)

Hello Haydon,

I am using a Lenovo M720q Tiny for internet and office work.
Also with he USB connected Motu M4 audio interface I do some home recording or just playing some guitar, bass and keyboards.
The specs are in My Computer System Two.
Bought it second hand for € 225 and swapped the 7th gen i5 processor for an 8th gen i7 the make it Win 11 compatible.
It is in front off my nose on my desktop and the ventilation is not bothering me and it comes on rarely anyways.
This is a € 400 pc and I love it. Nice and small.

Ps: I own towers and a big server just for fun. And ofcourse a laptop.
But these little Tinys that I kit out for friends and family have great succes.

Ciao, Han

I like to add that the jump from € 225 to € 400 was for the processor. (second hand).
It is a 6 core, 12 thread, 2,4 GHz base, 4,0 GHz boost Intel i7-8700T.

One BeeLink and two Lenovos sofar

What are the 'little Tinys' below?

han jansen said:

But these little Tinys that I kit out for friends and family have great succes.

Click to expand...

These Tinys are the Lenovo M710q or M720q. And M910q or M920q.
The q stands for the versions that are also called Tiny.
The 10 versions have a chipset that is max. compatible with Intel 7th gen processors.
The 20 ones do 8th and 9th gen versions so you need one off these to be Win 11 compatible.
You best google e.g. Psref M720q to see all the options, there are lots of different configurations.
The size is approx. 18 x 18 x 3,5 cm.

Ciao, Han

I have a mid-tower machine. I like a motherboard that can actually hold more than 3 cards and, as Jeff and @ThrashZone point out, actually cool the parts. Plus, you can install more fans for the cooling. Big fans!

han jansen said:

These Tinys are the Lenovo M710q or M720q. And M910q or M920q.
The q stands for the versions that are also called Tiny.
The 10 versions have a chipset that is max. compatible with Intel 7th gen processors.
The 20 ones do 8th and 9th gen versions so you need one off these to be Win 11 compatible.
You best google e.g. Psref M720q to see all the options, there are lots of different configurations.
The size is approx. 18 x 18 x 3,5 cm.

Ciao, Han

Click to expand...

Wow, thanks, I downloaded a couple of manuals for reference. What do your friends and family typically use these little machines for?

Everything, except gaming or heavy compiling.
They are basically nice little office machines that you can put up to 32 GB of memory and a nice processor in if you want to have a little more power.