How many of you are switching to Mini PCs? I Finally made the switch.

hsehestedt · Jul 15, 2024

Wolfzz said:
I have a Intel NUC 13 Pro Arena Canyon i7 with 64GB Ram, 990 Pro 1TB SSD for my Plex running Windows 11
connected to my Qnap Nas Boxes
A bit of a overkill lol.

Actually, that's one of the things I like so much. You can get a cheap Mini PC for barely over $100 or go really high end or anything in between.

Cowboy · Jul 16, 2024

I have a Beelink SER AMD Ryzen 7 5700U with Radeon Graphicsand love it. Totally quiet. Very little heat. Best computer I've ever own!

KYHI · Jul 16, 2024

$148 at checkout

Amazon.com

kelper · Jul 16, 2024

Once you're happy with a mini PC, why not go the whole hog and buy a decent laptop?

pseymour · Jul 16, 2024

Because screens take up space.

MisterEd · Jul 16, 2024

We have to be realistic about this. A mini PC is a replacement for many desktop computers but not all. For power and cooling reasons it has components that you would find in a traditional laptop. For many models it closer to an all-in-one computer. However, in many ways it is more flexible than one of those. With better ones you can play some less demanding games. It is no replacement for a real gaming laptop or desktop.

I always thought that for the average home or business user desktop computers were larger than they needed to be. You could always buy a laptop instead of a mini PC. However, I suspect that a mini PC with a full sized keyboard and monitor is easier and more comfortable to use for most people.

BTW, in a senior center near me they replaced all their public accessible desktop computers with mini PCs.

kelper · Jul 16, 2024

pseymour said:
Because screens take up space.

Please explain. A desktop and a laptop both have screens that take up space. But a laptop can be folded and put on the floor where it takes no usable space.

hsehestedt · Jul 16, 2024

kelper said:
Once you're happy with a mini PC, why not go the whole hog and buy a decent laptop?

1) I already have a pile of laptops

2) Why pay the extra cost for another monitor (built into the laptop), when I already have nice monitors, keyboards, etc. ?

hsehestedt · Jul 16, 2024

MisterEd said:
We have to be realistic about this. A mini PC is a replacement for many desktop computers but not all. For power and cooling reasons it has components that you would find in a traditional laptop. For many models it closer to an all-in-one computer. However, in many ways it is more flexible than one of those. With better ones you can play some less demanding games. It is no replacement for a real gaming laptop or desktop.

I always thought that for the average home or business user desktop computers were larger than they needed to be. You could always buy a laptop instead of a mini PC. However, I suspect that a mini PC with a full sized keyboard and monitor is easier and more comfortable to use for most people.

BTW, in a senior center near me they replaced all their public accessible desktop computers with mini PCs.

Actually, you can get some mini PCs with serious power including a 4090 for graphics.

TraderGary · Jul 16, 2024

kelper said:
Once you're happy with a mini PC, why not go the whole hog and buy a decent laptop?

I switched to premium laptops years ago. I love being mobile and can't be tied down to a desk. I can work from anywhere that has an Internet connection.

kelper · Jul 16, 2024

TraderGary said:
I switched to premium laptops years ago. I love being mobile and can't be tied down to a desk. I can work from anywhere that has an Internet connection.

And that means anywhere with a cell phone connection as well, because hotspot tethering works so well.

pparks1 · Jul 16, 2024

kelper said:
Once you're happy with a mini PC, why not go the whole hog and buy a decent laptop?

In my case, I already have a mouse, keyboard and monitor on my desk that I use with multiple small form factor computers. I have a Mac Mini, i have a few Intel Nuc's and I have my BeeLink mini pc. It's super easy for me just plug in a few cables to the machine that I want to use. I'd rather use my 27" monitor than a laptop sized display. And my Beelink spec wise is way cheaper than a comparable laptop. And it's super easy for me to pop out 4 screws and change out the NVMe drive in my Beelink and my Intel NUC's to change operating systems, etc.

I love my little mini-pc. I didn't buy it intending it to replace my desktops, or laptops...but rather supplement my computer usage. It's been a great little machine and has all the power and functionality that I need for my day to day testing and usage of Windows 11. I have no need for portability.

pparks1 · Jul 16, 2024

MisterEd said:
We have to be realistic about this. A mini PC is a replacement for many desktop computers but not all.

Of course.

I still have my primary windows 10 desktop computer. It has my nice video card, and it's where I play games and such. I depend upon that computer to be operational at all times. And since it's rock solid stable, and Windows 10 is still supported, I've just left it alone. i do not expect a mini-pc to handle that gaming workload at all.

My Beelink mini PC I bought 3 years ago for about $450. I got it to replace an aging Intel Nuc that had a 5th gen Core i5. My Beelink is an 8th gen core i5, has NVMe versus a sata SSD and 32GB of RAM instead of 8. For day to day usage of Windows 11, it's been a great little workhorse. I have my scarlett focusrite audio interface looked to it, to loop my bass guitar through my PC and some plugins. I have audacity installed on it that I use to make some sound effect clips that I use for some theater shows I run sound for, etc. But more than anything, it's a machine for me to experiment to my hearts content. If I blow it up and it won't boot for 3 days, it's no big deal whatsoever. And it takes about 20 watts of power total, way less than my desktop. So, when surfing the web and reading these forums, I don't use my regular desktop hardly at all...,my Beelink gets all that usage.

flhthemi · Jul 24, 2024

I started out on Mini Android systems that would connect to a TV. Then when Kodi upgraded from version 18 to 19 I think it was I couldn't run Kodi on those boxes anymore. So I got disgusted with Android and bought Windows mini PCS. And even now my old Zotac BI 325 is running Windows 11 and Kodi version 21 with no problems. But I have upgraded my living room to an Intel Nuc with an i5 and it works okay I just can't get it to pass 5.1 surround onto my amp. Other than that they're pretty good pretty quick and pretty small.

Catnip · Jul 26, 2024

I switched out my tower beside the TV for a mini PC. I use it for music and video streaming. I bought a 5.25" case for my Blu-Ray drive and hooked it up via USB. The system is working well and I have it all nicely set up on my TV stand. The only thing I don't like is having to have a wireless keyboard to control everything. I miss the days when Windows had a remote control, but of course, that was with Media Centre.

I will never give up my desktop tower, though. I need the raw, animalistic power that my CPU and GPU provide for gaming. I also have a couple of cards inside for hardware interfacing/development, so that does require a tower. Maybe when I retire I will buy a mini PC for my desktop, but that is a long way away. The technology should be very improved by the time that happens.

Winuser · Jul 27, 2024

I have purchased over a period of time 5 Mini-Pcs. The first one I bought is now temporarily retired. The second one was bought to connect to my TV to use as a Mezzmo server. When my son decided he wanted to start streaming his content to his devices I gave the second mini to him and replaced it with a mini running an I5 CPU. My fourth one was bought for my man-cave (shed) computer. I think I had a power surge because the SSD died in it. I did get it fixed but I also used it as an excuse to buy a new mini with better specs.

hdmi · Jul 28, 2024

The reason why I stick to laptops is because Mini PCs don't have a battery. Granted, I could always decide to get an UPS and also get a screen with low enough power consumption to go with that, but then, there's a huge sacrifice in terms of battery life and/or in terms of the total price, and the portability would be closer to that of an average PC, at least when compared to my Asus TUF Gaming F16 (2024) laptop anyway.

colinp · Aug 2, 2024

In 2015, I bought a Dell chromebox (Haswell Celeron) to use as a Plex media player. It worked pretty slick, at least until Google stopped supporting it in 2019 and stuff stopped working in Chrome soon after. I hate throwing anything into the junk pile, so I bought a 128 GB M.2 drive and a 4 GB RAM module for cheap from Amazon (kept the original 2 GB for a total of 6 GB) and flashed the firmware from "Mr Chromebox" and installed Linux Mint.

Still works pretty slick as a media player and runs Mint just fine as well.

neves · Aug 2, 2024

Maybe it's a getting older type of thing - but i don't like (anymore) how much space a mid/full tower desktop can take - or how annoying it is to move. My last Desktop is 17 years old, since then i used only laptops at home. Had a Mini PC in mind for quite some time now - but the Covid situation - inflated the GPU prices beyond any common sense. Thus, found a laptop with same GPU at the price of the GPU alone - if i went for a Desktop. Hopefully, that won't be the case - for the next upgrade. Currently still satisfied with my current laptop - while at the same time - i find the PC hardware market rather unstable - mainly the A.I. part. So i see no point/need in rushing - and build a PC which i'd consider a good option with what's available right now - only for it to feel rather outdated a year latter cause of some A.I. breakthrough and either stick with it or sell it at a loss of 40% for another upgraded. That being said, i'm still waiting for a technological breakthrough + at least 6 other months for prices to stabilize. But, most definitely - that will be a Mini PC (or at least - small and portable enough).

Catnip · Aug 2, 2024

I will admit to my main desktop tower being very very heavy. I would really hate to drop it on my foot when I am working on something inside of it.

Ouch!

How many of you are switching to Mini PCs? I Finally made the switch.

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