Found a decent mini PC on Amazon.
Never thought the quality of the pc is good and getting good review.
What do you guys think?
CamelCamelCamel.
i'd like to upgrade my main driver N100 to an amd one day - just waiting for a good bargain.
Is N100 and QuickSync now outperforming whatever AMD have?
What's it cost on special?
From memory I think it may have had a 15% off coupon previously
So spend more to get more?
@RecklessMonkeys: It's all relative. The Ryzen 5 3550H first released in 2019 performs like a Intel Core i5-8500T. The Ryzen 7 5825U first released in 2022 is 30% faster with double the multithreaded performance and also less than half the power and thermal hit.
I was looking at this, any decent? Looking at one for running a small business, mostly all web based portal processing and maybe MS Office.
As is it's perfectly adequate for that purpose. If I had the choice I'd be pushing for 32GB ram. For example you could consider this
Thanks, maybe a tad high in price, but will keep an eye out.
@BatmanAU: Just heads up that both ram and nvme prices are going up every other day (eg 500GB NVMEs have gone from ~$56 to $75 and higher in the last week and half, ram has basically doubled). So I don't expect many deals until late next year when chip supply gets better.
@BatmanAU: Chip over supply now getting back to "normal" stock levels with insane AI investments has totally messed the market. I remember just a few years back a decent 500GB nvme was $36.
@captainmac: All it takes is the AI bubble popping and the prices of storage, memory, and supposedly GPU AI units will crash 😂
@BatmanAU: 16gb should suffice but if you still want 32gb, CEX has some used 16gb DDR4 sodimms and they haven’t gone up in price (at least 3 days ago)
The used market is good for cheap stuff like this, for now. They’ve just started to creep up in price.
The one above is sufficient. You might need more ram if you are running excel sheet. The 5825u is much faster, but really, you can do what you want in Chromebooks and n100 devices.
I tried an N100 a year ago, wasnt that wrapped tbh, was a tad laggy.
Does excel actually take up a lot of RAM?
@BatmanAU: Yeah, and n100 is also single channel ram only, so that's a much worse problem.
Processing wise, it's aight. Won't rock anyone's world, performs like a 4 core CPU back in 2012. Gets the job done.
I bought this for me mum a while ago. It’s very fast for general usage.
better off getting this one Mini PC BOSGAME P4 Ryzen 7 5825 it has a decent graphics card in it.
$265 here https://www.amazon.com.au/BOSGAME-E2-Windows-Computer-Displa…
$275 for Dual NIC E4 Version here https://www.amazon.com.au/BOSGAME-E2-Windows-Computer-Displa…
Always worried about this generic mini PC's being a spy PC for the maker :)
how much more spying can they go than Google or Microsoft?
not worried about spying worried about logging bank and credit card details
You have to fresh install windows but that’s no guarantee there are no firmware/bios “back doors”.
If you are really worried, setup a VLAN for these generic el cheap brand mini PCs and make sure that VLAN cannot access the Internet. Use them for internal file servers, retro gaming, login as Luke Skywalker and don't login to your real email account or bank account when using one of them.
My main issue with these is they have lousy BIOS (limited options and hardly any (or no) BIOS update). You get el cheap RAM and SSD with these and they tend to cut corners on the WiFi card (they send decent ones to reviewers, but cheap ones to customers).
@netsurfer: I just find it funny that anyone would bother buying one of these things if they're gonna get the extra effort of setting up a vlan for it, and use it like an internal server. The only benefit of these things are that they're small. If you're going to use them as a headless device, just use an ex office fleet lol.
@Wonderfool: For people who have UniFi or pfSense or OPNsense setup, then there is a good chance they are doing VLAN setup already. It doesn't have to be no Internet, isolate that VLAN is another option (depending on your usage). They don't need to be headless. I did mention just login as Luke Skywalker for people who are scared that they've been key-logged.
Also vid_ghost has plenty of AM5 based PCs, I am sure he can use one of those for proper email and banking. These mini-PCs are good enough for general Web surfing.
Honestly, most of us getting these are FOMO and trying to save some money. Ex office fleet, personally not a fan because I know how many hours those have been used and how old they are. The real issue is Intel has been lagging behind for years. Yet, they are still releasing CPUs with efficiency cores only.
@netsurfer: I'm not sure how much better it is to trust these PC's with dubious PCBs, ssds, power supply and ram. atleast with office fleet, you know the motherboard and the Delta branded psu stood the test of time.
It's like comparing a new Chinese branded washing machine with a good ole LG one from 15 years ago. You're gambling either way, and the Chinese one is probably a little more cost efficient to run. But the LG probably has another 10 years on it, and if it breaks, it's usually understable and Google-repairable.
As for a self made router, I'm not sure how many people have these. On that topic though, mine is running off of a ex office unit with an i3-6100 lol.
@Wonderfool: UniFi isn't self made. For newer houses, UniFi setup is tempting and can provide a better experience (both wired and WiFi). We are talking about security here.
Noticing I'm being replied through cherry picking bits and pieces. Those office fleet PCs are made in China. I had bad experience with them and you are still making compromises. i3-6100, are you putting 2.5Gbps LAN cards in them? My setup is 10Gbps LAN with WiFi 7. Even at a relative's place, I've switched their setup (traditional router) to 2.5Gbps WAN and LAN. i3-6100 doesn't support AV1 hardware decoding and isn't power efficient. There are variants of these mini PCs with 2 x 10Gbps LAN ports + 2 x 2.5Gbps LAN ports (price is cheaper than this one). Hard to imagine you can achieve that with a second hand i3 6th gen ex-workplace PC.
I work in a large company, I know how those old PCs are. I wouldn't buy them. LG, don't get me started. I have multiple LG devices. My LG phones bootloop a lot. Washing machine, not that good to be honest. I have a LG fridge, price is okay, fridge itself…. well you get what you paid for.
I am not recommending these no name brand el cheapo mini PCs. If you read my comments, that should be obvious. At the end of the day, cheap Mini PCs and old / second hand heavily used PCs from companies are some ways to cost save. With so many good deals on OZB, people can get decent PCs at good prices.
Knowing what vid_ghost has bought, I'm sure if he decides to get one of these mini PCs, it would either be just for fun (as a toy) or the mini PC price is too good to resist FOMO.
so just don't enter those?
Should be the other way around.
The worst that can happen when someone has your credit card details is that they use it - it's not your money and you will be 100% covered and very easy to get back (happens all the time)
If someone get hold of your IDs then they can impersonate you , ie open new loan account , mess with your tax return etc which is a lot harder to fix and get out
Any examples of this happening in the real world?
I feel like if that were a thing that was actually happening someone among the tens of millions of units sold would have noticed the additional network traffic by now, or noticed that people who bought X hardware got affected. Doesn't seem to have ever happened… yet at least
It's been reported:
Mini PC maker ships systems with factory-installed spyware
The infected files consist of two executables: ENDEV and EDIDEV. The malware belongs to the Bladabindi and Redline families, which steal stored passwords from browsers and cryptocurrency wallets, log the victim's keystrokes, and extract information from the infected system - among other illicit activities. A complete system scan revealed additional spyware files hiding in the Windows folder.
That's why the first thing you do with these is wipe it and install a fresh copy of Windows 11 or linux (from an USB you prepared on a clean PC). Also, it is obviously that these used a hacked approach to "register" Windows 11 Pro. It's not really a legit license (except Microsoft currently doesn't care).
Beat me to it!
There are many, many flavours of 'living off the land' in the cyber threat world. Not all of them arise from breaches either - designed, built and delivered "exactly to spec."
a bit better than an N100 but… a bit old too.
Eh, half the fleet deployed in small offices are still 8xxx CPUs. These are fine.
True that but a lot of them are desktop CPU, drains more power but performances better than n100.
I have this PC. it's great for its price. I use it for CAD.
CAD? I use mine for USD!
Why not AUD? We're not America.
It's more valuable
CAD as in computer-aided design. Running Alibre Design software for side hustle/3d printing tasks.
The equivalent spec'd Origimagic Ryzen 5 3550H was only $159 a few weeks ago on Amazon
N150 or this Ryzen 5 3550H? Even my 5 year old desktop has a Ryzen 5000 series.
I'd get the N150 out of the two simply because it sips power. 6W vs 35W
N150 is newer, more power efficient, and whilst slower, for the use-case for most of these boxes, it's the better choice IMO. If it's for your parents office machine or even a low-power HA server or something, it's the better choice.
As first comment said go for a 5xxx series at minimum for similar pricing when on sale/with coupon stacking when considering Ryzen
$285 to run MAME and other older emulators sounds about right.
Looking for a something like this to run a Plex server, this gonna be good enough?
It's good enough, but it depends on how many services you need. If all you're doing is serving a single device at a time, the n100 PC's are better due to the much lower power consumption, especially at idle.
I’d probably go Intel for Plex.
If you can play everything natively (no transcoding), an N100 etc will be adequate* with lower power consumption.
If you do need/want transcoding then Intel Quicksync and Hardware acceleration is your friend.
I recently built a NAS running a 13100 and Plex transcoding basically uses no CPU and 4 streams is well under 10%.
*Adding media to library and pulling metadata DOES hit the CPU hard so if you have a large library, bear that in mind.
these are usually around $265 on amazon
https://www.amazon.com.au/BOSGAME-E2-Windows-Computer-Displa…
$379 - $114 coupon =$265
I am running one of these as Plex server with extra 4TB of SSD HDD and I am very happy. https://amzn.asia/d/gDLiEMZ
Why post a deal just to ask. Is this any good? Should I Buy it? More likely belongs in the forums.
"Never thought the quality of the pc is good and getting good review. "
Vas??
Yea no deal there was literally one for $159 in the last two mths
Anyone use these for frigate with something like a Hailo-8?
I've been looking at a mini pc to replace my android media box. I have it packed in a box with speakers and my projector.
Thinking forward, the base model AMD chips don't support AV1 playback, whereas the Intel chips do. Was looking at the n97, because it's faster, and energy efficiency is not that important.
I've been looking at a mini pc to replace my android media box.
problem with mini-pc is no support for TV remotes due to no support for hdmi-cec
what you going to do about that?
problem with mini-pc is no support for TV remotes due to no support for hdmi-cec
what you going to do about that?
I'm gunna re-read my post and realise I aint planning on using this with my TV, rather a projector which doesn't have hdmi-cec!
I currently have a HTPC running windows 11 in the lounge room I drive 99% of the time with the mouse, 0.9% of the time with the on-screen keyboard, and a K400 keyboard when needing it for the rest.
For this use case, I'd use a trackball, or maybe an air mouse, although I've never used one of those before.
Long live my Harmony hub.. (Logitech better not decide to shut that one down too)
I've always used the bluetooth connnection to directly control my media player.
Long live my Harmony hub.. (Logitech better not decide to shut that one down too)
I have a Harmony One, but don't use it anymore because I don't have need for the scripting ability. Fired it up just recently for something else, and it still works. Not sure if they are still updating the database, or the software though.
Use a hdmi-cec adapter ;P….. I mean they exist lol
Could wait for whatever the next Nvidia Shield equiv is gonna be? XD
we bin waitin…
I knowwww. I've got the most recent pro model myself.. Which replaced the previous variant..
Latest Android variant Nvidia sheild update when? XD
Could wait for whatever the next Nvidia Shield equiv is gonna be?
Not sure how much better this would be, or how expandable it would be to cover newer codecs etc.
I have an Android box that works fine, but was thinking of upgrading … just because! Yeah, not really an OzBargain-worthy reason.
I'm in the same situation and going to use Mini PC's to replace my old S905X boxes. I've actually got both Mini PCs already, this E2 @ $265 and an N97 but just been a bit lazy setting them up (the android boxes are still working ok running Corelec, just the odd lockup or bit of lag..).
I wasn't thinking forward to AV1 as not using it atm but went with the 3550H as wanted something that could handle a few light couch co-op games too and the 3550H seemed like the iGPU while not great would be a better option than the Intels. One thing, it said it had 2x8GB but came with 1x16GB. They really benefit from the dual channel memory, iGPU especially. (The seller kindly refunded some $ for me to purchase another module and updated the listing though you may notice they only updated one of them). You can also run the Universal x86 Tuning tool (I think its called) and unlock the power limits which gives this unit a nice boost though it sounds like all of this is unnecessary for what you'll be using it for.
The N97 I got when there was that cracker deal for $120. That one will only be used as a media player (but does have the strongest iGPU of the Nxxx range.)
So I'd say if you are only using it for media playback the N97 being newer hardware is a good choice if you can get it at the right price.
So I'd say if you are only using it for media playback the N97 being newer hardware is a good choice if you can get it at the right price.
It might get used for other basic stuff, but I won't be gaming on it, or other hungry tasks.
I also don't have many AV1 files, but it's coming down the pipeline, so best be prepared for it.
As I don't really need it, I can afford to wait around for a cracking deal to come along.
I'm assuming this is suitable for the 75yo father in law who just surfs the web, email and Facebook?!
(and yes he also has a tablet he could do this on, but likes the 'big screen' of a monitor)
I just want something to do emulation up to switch on….
another brand ! how does this compare to say Beelink or Minisforums overall?
Does this one come with free malware too?
3550H is pretty bad
Grabbed one for missus and will plant it on the back of the monitor freeing up some desk space the very old Dell is taking up, TY.
Comes with a very garbage AMD Ryzen 5 3550H.
Better to get something like this of course only when it's on special.