Sub $250 Windows 10 Mini PC

WaywardOne on 28/02/2020 - 08:21
Last edited 28/02/2020 - 08:52

My 2015 MacBook Pro died, and I decided I'd replace it with a mini PC.

I'm kicking myself for missing this deal:
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/521256

Requirements:
Silent Usenet computer running 24/7 in my bedroom.
Wifi
Windows 10 Home
HDMI output
SSD

Liked:
At least 128GB SSD
At least 8GB RAM

Budget: $250

I considered Raspberry Pi, but I'm not competent enough for that.
I would consider a Mac Mini but that's way over budget.
There are quite a few 'Beelink' Mini PCs on Amazon, but i can't tell which (if any) are good.

Find Me A Bargain Computer Mini PC

Comments

  • Gronk on 28/02/2020 - 08:57

    You could do it for under $100 with a pi, so it's well worth looking into if you've got the time and patience.

    If not, I dunno - compute stick?

  • SwarleyAUS on 28/02/2020 - 09:24
    +1

    $251? https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/133336416717

    • yasui on 28/02/2020 - 09:42

      $199 but it's sold out now. https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/521256

      • SwarleyAUS on 28/02/2020 - 10:21

        Yeah I realise, but with $20 off though it's within OPs budget. Not $199, but same spec. I've been watching out for these kind of mini PC's, $199 is a rare steal

  • scrimshaw on 28/02/2020 - 09:45

    There's a ton of Haswell era Lenovo Tiny desktops on eBay.

    https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1…

    Don't buy from overseas now. Shipping will take ages.

  • frondono on 28/02/2020 - 10:42

    I was looking for a mini pc/nuc. Liked the look of the compute card with the m3 7y30. Found a dell refurb laptop with the same specs for about half the price of a compute card.

  • scrimshaw on 28/02/2020 - 10:53

    If you want to build your own fanless Mini PC, on Amazon there's a ASRock Motherboard & CPU Combo (J4105M)

    https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B079GHR8L9/

    It's a low power (performance), quad core Mini ITX combo that supports up to 8GB DDR4 memory (not a lot) but the CPU is passively cooled, meaning you rarely need to worry about dust buildup.

    Add in a cheapo Mini ITX case with included PSU, M.2 SSD and some RAM and you're good to go for a always-on usenet downloading rig.

    I considered a rig like this and had it in my shopping list for a while, but I've found that Raspberry Pi 3 was already more than capable of doing what I needed to. And it's a lot cheaper..

    • djsweet on 28/02/2020 - 11:59

      POS = Point of Sale or POS = Piece of ….?

      • Iangh on 28/02/2020 - 13:22

        Bored?

  • Switchblade88 on 28/02/2020 - 11:59

    If you're prepared to go a little bigger than USFF for flexibility, you can get a SFF Optiplex 9010 or 9020 refurb with SSD for about $200ish. Also allows you to stick in a low-profile GPU like the 1050Ti or 1650 for decent gaming capacity at the bottom of the price spectrum. The do still have fans though, so are not silent.

    Otherwise, the many refurb USFF's on eBay would be perfect for you as @langh and @SwarleyAUS recommended.

  • scotty on 28/02/2020 - 13:25
    +2

    Also regarding to Lenovo ThinkCentre — if you don't need the corporate IT management features, you can also find cheap M73/M83 tiny PCs instead of more expensive M93p. This one for example has i3-4160T, 8GB/120GB SSD & Win10 Pro for $150 delivered.

    • WaywardOne on 28/02/2020 - 14:42

      Thanks everyone! I bought this one, thanks scotty!

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