Intel sub mini PC's
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NiftyDigits wrote: »Yes, but how will it beat a normal sized tower with the same spec? That is just nonsense.
Apart from anything else, look at the costs.
Basic unit £270
Then you need RAM. 2 x4GB @ £70
Then you need Storage (mSATA) Crucial 480GB M500 mSATA SSD £160
Then a Wireless mini PCIe card
No space left for PCIe cards
You are already at £500 for just the basics.
Nice little thing no doubt, but you are limited in comparison to a full size tower.
Wireless (WiFi and Bluetooth) built in
What cards do you need ?
It has HDMI output and 3 (I think) USB ports inc 1 USB3 !!
Anyway - we have one and will be buying more - try one and see what I mean about speed
What would you pay for a high spec i5 desktop nowadays ?0 -
NiftyDigits wrote: »It's only built in if you take those options. So that would be added on to the basic price of £270 anyway.
The WiFi and Bluetooth would need to be on the same card, as there is only two PCIe slots and one of them is used for mSATA.
The simple fact is that unless I was pushed for space, I could put together a better and faster 'normal' tower and I wouldn't be stuck with a soldered on CPU.
OK I will give you the full story
I work at a secondary school - where the kids destroy "normal" PC's by jamming things in ports and as for CD drives !!
So - the idea is to bolt these NUC's either to the back of monitors or in "cages/boxes" to the desktop - now do you get where I am coming from ?
We tried securing PC's but found them too bulky and easy to "get at"....0 -
Wireless (WiFi and Bluetooth) built in
What cards do you need ?
It has HDMI output and 3 (I think) USB ports inc 1 USB3 !!
Anyway - we have one and will be buying more - try one and see what I mean about speed
What would you pay for a high spec i5 desktop nowadays ?
It's only built in if you take those options. So that would be added on to the basic price of £270 anyway.
The WiFi and Bluetooth would need to be on the same card, as there is only two PCIe slots and one of them is used for mSATA.
The simple fact is that unless I was pushed for space, I could put together a better and faster 'normal' tower and I wouldn't be stuck with a soldered on CPU.
A simple example of this Novatech Barebones system @ £275. That is the same price as your system that has nothing included. No RAM, no Storage.
This has a doubly powerful processor and 8GB of RAM. So the basic engine is much more powerful.
I'm not disputing their usefulness. Just skip the dubious statements that they are faster than a normal tower. A normal Tower has the capacity for much more and can cost less.0 -
OK I will give you the full story
I work at a secondary school - where the kids destroy "normal" PC's by jamming things in ports and as for CD drives !!
So - the idea is to bolt these NUC's either to the back of monitors or in "cages/boxes" to the desktop - now do you get where I am coming from ?
We tried securing PC's but found them too bulky and easy to "get at"....
Can you put some kind of kiosk OS version on there, and then just lock the units in a metal box nailed to the desk with no access? That way it'll stay super-speedy forever ;-)0 -
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OK I will give you the full story
I work at a secondary school - where the kids destroy "normal" PC's by jamming things in ports and as for CD drives !!
So - the idea is to bolt these NUC's either to the back of monitors or in "cages/boxes" to the desktop - now do you get where I am coming from ?
We tried securing PC's but found them too bulky and easy to "get at"....
Mini PC and TV compatible with the VESA mount (the same mount used to secure a TV to a wall for example). Don't forget a male to female USB cable for keyboard and mouse wireless adapters because the signal won't go through the TV
I'm currently looking at mini PCs as a replacement for an ageing tower which is only used for multi-media, email and internet. There is a lot out there and all very similar and mostly barebones. What stands out for me is the Lenovo Ideacentre Q190 which is fully built. Why I'm considering the Intel is flexibility over the HDD (SSD) and graphics the latter of which is the greater consideration.0 -
NiftyDigits wrote: »I certainly would not use a 'U' suffixed processor in a Desktop. So at the source I would already have more processing power.
Used to think the same, however I've used quite a few of these U ultra low power intel chips now (ultrabooks) and I think they are perfectly fine for the majority of desktop stuff, even a bit of light gaming is ok.0 -
Used to think the same, however I've used quite a few of these U ultra low power intel chips now (ultrabooks) and I think they are perfectly fine for the majority of desktop stuff, even a bit of light gaming is ok.
Perhaps a misunderstanding. The processor itself is fine. Certainly better than the one in my PC. It's just not a match for it's Desktop brothers.
It was simply a theoretical debate as to whether the Mini PC would exhibit superior performance as compared to a 'full sized' tower.0 -
I like the flexibility of a desktop for upgrades but really like the tiny dimensions and relative power these tiny intel NUC's offer, ideal for bolting onto a TV for a great media/smart PC for your flat TV.
The reality of upgrading desktop PC's, for me at least, is that I do much less upgrading these days than I used to. It seems less necessary to upgrade things than it did 10 or 15 years ago. So I personally wouldn't be worried that these mini PC's have their CPU soldered onto the motherboard, they're not made to be upgraded very much but I doubt that'd be a problem for their expected life span.
Never trust information given by strangers on internet forums0 -
spannerzone wrote: »I like the flexibility of a desktop for upgrades but really like the tiny dimensions and relative power these tiny intel NUC's offer, ideal for bolting onto a TV for a great media/smart PC for your flat TV.
The reality of upgrading desktop PC's, for me at least, is that I do much less upgrading these days than I used to. It seems less necessary to upgrade things than it did 10 or 15 years ago. So I personally wouldn't be worried that these mini PC's have their CPU soldered onto the motherboard, they're not made to be upgraded very much but I doubt that'd be a problem for their expected life span.
I agree - much like the cache used to be a user replaceable/serviceable/upgradeable part - it is now combined as part of the CPU - The CPU is now starting to become part of the motherboard - soon a PC will come on one board with no user serviceable parts on (we are not far from that with these NUC's)
They are also much better built than in the "old days" - in clean room conditions - and presumably will outlast the opposition (until the case is prised open)....0
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