Mini PC 12S Pro N100 6W 16GB 500GB M.2 WiFi 6 US$210.65 / A$317.25 @ Beelink via AliExpress

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Korban Dallas on 13/05/2023 - 20:59 aliexpress.com (2010 clicks)
Last edited 13/05/2023 - 22:47 by 1 other user

Better and cheaper than deals posted recently. Namely this popular deal $195 USD or $294 AUD if you want the same one.
Beelink MINI-S12 Intel 12th Gen N95, 16GB DDR4, 500GB SSD, Wi-Fi 5, Dual HDMI Mini PC $338 Delivered @ Beelink via Amazon AU

4 models to choose from. AliExpress also trying pay after delivery which is cool. 6w v 15w

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/5206vs5157/Intel-N95-vs…

Good specs for the price. But I have a 6500t which I just bought but I am sure be helpful for others.

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• 

  magikz on 13/05/2023 - 21:59

  What would you use this for?

  • 

    jong on 13/05/2023 - 22:25

    +12

    Low power server; this would be overkill for a PiHole or Home Assistant server or Grafana server (or all three as Docker containers). Or buy a couple and learn about clustering.

    If you already had a NAS, I expect this would make a fine Plex server, capable of transcoding half a dozen videos at once. Or make it a video surveillance/alarm box; I believe they make USB AI accelerator cards that'll let this thing figure out if the moving object in a camera feed is a bird that can be ignored, or a burglar. Or you, if it gets a good look at your face.

    Also, I've just watched a Level One Techs video where they took a box like this (but with a 2.5Gbit network interface) added another couple of 2.5Gb NICs via the M.2 slot, and turned it into a pretty brutal firewall.

    Or you could use it as an expensive set top box, or build an arcade cab and run emulators on it, or a virtual pinball machine, or, or….

    • 

      magikz on 13/05/2023 - 22:55

      +1

      Yea interesting, thank you. Didn't think of any of these

    • 

      repeat on 13/05/2023 - 23:02

      The Beelink EQ12 series has dual 2.5G ethernet - the N100 8G model is $359 with coupon at Amazon AU.

  • 

    skittlebrau on 13/05/2023 - 22:35

    +7

    To add to what jong posted, the chipset/CPU on this is particularly interesting for AV enthusiasts since it supports hardware accelerated AV1 decoding.

  • 

    netsurfer on 13/05/2023 - 23:53

    Low cost family mini PC for general Web browsing and light work. Windows 11 works on it whereas some of the el cheapo second hand Intel 6th/7th gen PCs will require some hacks.

    The el cheapo wifi card included in this Mini PC is a bit annoying. I guess it is okay for Home Assistant because majority of "smart" devices use el cheapo wifi chipset anyway.

    I am a bit cynical about the 6W claim. The N95 version runs in 20W configuration by default (can be boosted to 30W to get more CPU performance) so I would imagine the N100 version would run at a wattage higher than 6W (and would let you boost the wattage as well).

    Plex server, make sure you have the time and your family members do find that useful. My family members all use streaming services.

• 

  dcep on 13/05/2023 - 22:14

  +1

  For anyone looking for cheap netbook with this same N100 cpu, https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/13736132/redir
  I couldn't post, perhaps someone could if they deemed it as a good deal.

• 

  dirtyhen on 13/05/2023 - 22:49

  Just bought a 11th i3 nuc for $600 :|

• 

  BoredMartian on 13/05/2023 - 23:49

  Thinking of getting this to stream from my gaming PC to living room TV
  Would like to stream 4k @ 60fps at the minimum, using Sunshine (NVIDIA gamestream tech) as server, and Moonlight as client.

  [PC] — Cat5e — [capable router] — Cat5e — [4k TV]

  Tried a 10yo PC: stuttering.
  Tried a Chromecast w/ Google TV 4k: latency, no haptic feedback, aspect ratio shenanigans

  I'm at my wits end with this stuff - any experts wanna chime in?
  Hoping someone with similar or more experience can tell me this thing is gonna solve all my problems.

  • 

    bboarder on 14/05/2023 - 03:02

    +1

    Also had problems with Chromecast. Fire Stick 4k max ($60) on the other hand is 2-5ms decoding and 1-5ms network depending on wifi etc. Only slightly worse than a shield. The best decoding seems to be the Intel quick sync in NUCs which can do 0.5ms decoding. I ordered one of the $250 optiplex 4060 micro deals to test those as well. The $150 optiplex might work as well

• 

  SaraCarl01 on 14/05/2023 - 00:20

  Anyone use this? Any good?

  • 

    netsurfer on 14/05/2023 - 02:41

    +4

    There is a review on the N95 version of it, but not able to find a review on the N100 version. There are subtle differences in the specs though. Anyway, based on specs:

    • If you want 16GB RAM + 500GB SSD + Windows 11 Pro, and your NBN is less than 100Mbits, this may be the cheapest combo you can get (technically the N95 version is cheaper). Wifi card included in the N100 version is still dodgy / cheap (and is soldered onto the board).
    • If you do have spare DDR4 SODIMM, NVMe SSD and Windows 11 license, then you might want the barebone version without those.
    • Anything Beelink and Intel can cutdown to save cost is done.

    This beats Intel 6th gen i3 laptop class CPU, has a GPU that supports hardware video decoding that's technically a bit better than even 10th gen Intel CPU, but gaming wise, nowhere near any i3 8th gen.

    Basically, it comes down to whether you have a need to upgrade any existing low end PC system to Windows 11 (i.e. Intel 7th gen or below) despite this CPU won't beat 7th gen i3 and 8th gen i3 and above still have clear advantage over this performance wise. Plex server / mini server option, I guess it is okay, but from what I can gathered, I suspect the default CPU TDP is set to 20W (it's good because that means it runs faster, but also uses more power).

    By the way, if you look around, you can find cheaper deals on AliExpress for the same specs.

  • 

    netsurfer on 14/05/2023 - 03:26

    +3

    Another quick update. I did find one reviewer who reviewed the N100 version. However, after 1 day, his unit is completely dead. He paid for his unit with his own money. Due to the mini PC died after 1 day, he no longer recommends it. Also, unlike other reviews, his unit did not come with a Crucial RAM module, his one has generic AZW RAM module.

    So, the quality control is a question mark. This makes it a bit tricky. While AliExpress does provide decent support within the first few days of you getting the unit, I have no experience on its long term warranty support.

    Checking on some of the comments on another youTube video, it does appear multiple people have issue with Beelink mini PCs dying within days of receiving the units.

    • 

      ugm6hr on 14/05/2023 - 07:06

      I've bought 2 recently. And 3 previous Beelink MiniPCs 4y ago which are still running.
      My experience with Beelink has been very positive.
      BMax have been less good (50% failure / DOA <12 months of 6 purchased).
      I have therefore switched back to Beelink devices, but it is an unknown.
      I will not buy these MiniPCs direct from banggood etc any more.

      • 

        netsurfer on 14/05/2023 - 10:34

        +2

        I read their forum posts. Some people reported all 6 of their recently purchased AMD Beelink mini PCs have stability issues. Lack of firmware updates is also clear. The warranty support page seems to be written in Chinese with Google Translate or equivalent used to translate to English version.

        Their support on the forum is subpar. One guy was clearly sold a return unit or something dodgy about the Windows license. Anyway, that guy’s Beelink pc is locked to an organisation. If he can’t login to that organisation’s authentication server, he can’t complete Windows installation. My guess is he was sold a returned unit and that unit was first sold to an organisation.

        Quality control does appear subpar. The fact you can get AZW RAM module(s) and the power adapter for this particular model means it’s risky to push the cpu power to 30w.

        Question is would you buy it from AliExpress? Beelink RMA process is unpleasant and you need to pay for shipping to them.

        • 

          lyl-Lychee on 14/05/2023 - 18:36

          @netsurfer: Genuine question, if you don't mind and know.
          Do you reckon pre-installed spyware would also be a risk on these?
          And if so, would a clean windows re-install be sufficient kill the risk?

        • 

          ColonialBoy on 16/05/2023 - 17:40

          @netsurfer: I was looking at prices a few weeks ago & the AMD mini PCs were more expensive than Intel, I thought it would be the other way round.

          I'm thinking about trying an Intel mini PC with Intel graphics.

• 

  netsurfer on 14/05/2023 - 11:48

  +2

  For people thinking about getting this:

  • Despite all the specs, N100, based on Rob's review, does have youTube drop frame issue at 1080p, 2K and 4K (gets worse as the resolution goes higher).
  • While Beelink's offering is the cheapest (but you should search for a cheaper deal than the one posted here), it does cut cost in a few areas. Competition version has Wifi 6 AX201, 2.5Gbps LAN, and PCIe gen 3 x2 SSD support (but obviously cost more).
  • Reliability issue is a concern and there is component swap (RAM module).
  • Warranty, after sales concern. The Amazon deal (even with the discount) is roughly $50 more, but Amazon AU's service is likely better.

  While Intel did include hardware video encoding support for the CPU, it still crippled the GPU's raw power (below i3). It is still a low power CPU.

  • 

    Korban Dallas on 14/05/2023 - 14:24

    Did he check and replace the thermal paste? Reviews said it was done quite badly. Also pads are not covering entire surface areas

    Crucial ram down on a few pics. That was on a few N95 buys

  • 

    ColonialBoy on 16/05/2023 - 17:31

    Youtube rarely gets above 6mbps which is nothing, maybe 2% network and cpu utilisation. Dropped frames would be caused by UDP network congestion (assuming they have installed a graphics driver).

• 

  lyl-Lychee on 14/05/2023 - 15:43

  Where to get an official AUS power adaptor for this?
  Or have to use off-brand?

  • 

    ColonialBoy on 16/05/2023 - 17:29

    +1

    These are just 12V barrel adapters which you can get on aliexpress.

    A lot of miniPCs are using standard 19V laptop adapters.

• 

  ColonialBoy on 16/05/2023 - 17:27

  The only viable small computers at the moment are Orange Pis or mini PCs. Now the Orange Pi 5 is running Windows 11 albeit with minimal driver support at the moment.

  Raspberry Pi with no nvme is out of the race, the other horses have bolted.

  The prices of mini PCs are getting so low I can't see myself building any more desktops as all I do is basic gaming, mini PCs will soon be enough for me.

• 

  yolow on 20/05/2023 - 11:20

  Is this mini pc compatible with this dimm?