mini pc

cintec

i'm looking for a cheap mini pc similar to the mac mini it doesn't need to be powerful web browsing, 1080p video playback, emails and occasional word documents is all it will be used for no gaming.

any recommendations?

Lu Tze

cintec wrote: »

i'm looking for a cheap mini pc similar to the mac mini it doesn't need to be powerful web browsing, 1080p video playback, emails and occasional word documents is all it will be used for no gaming.

any recommendations?

Intel NUC

cintec

I was looking at that but once you add the HDD and ram you get close to the price of the mac mini

BopNiblets

Raspberry Pi?

T-Bird

I got a voyo a1 Windows 8.1 tablet for college. I have been using it at home for a week with full size keyboard, mouse and 24 inch hdmi monitor connected to it, with no problem. it has 32gb memory, which is plenty for what you want. The only extras I put on it was office 2010 and Firefox. I keep all of my files on onedrive, so space isn't an issue. The battery lasts about 4 hours with all that connected, but my keyboard and mouse are illuminated, so it has to power that as well.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00L7O9PIG?pc_redir=1409466362&robot_redir=1

Gyck

It's actually pretty difficult to source a 'cheap' mini pc. Aside from the NUC you could look at other machines based on the ITX form factor with less powerful CPUs. I had a Zotac box at one stage that I put together for less than 300 euro or so (I think!). Check out http://www.zotac.com/products/mini-pcs/zbox/product/zbox.html
Take a look at something like this http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=85

cintec

i have decided to choose either the intel nuc or the mac mini i'm going to wait until apple announce the new mac mini

TerrorFirmer

How is the NUC almost the same price as the mac mini?

The Mac Mini starts at €620.

You can build an i3 NUC with 4GB Ram 256GB Solid State Drive for about €400.

You can build it with a 128GB SSD or regular 500GB drive for about €360.

U_Fig

I built a htpc last yeat for €350 the following specs

Intel celeron G550
4gb ram
64gb Samsung 830 SSD
500gb 2.5" HDD (recycled from old laptop)
Thermaltake elemebt q (PSU was loud so replaced it)
Be quiet SFX 350w PSW
Low profile CPU cooler (not needed really never goes above 50 degree Celsius so stock would be grand)
Asrock b75 pro 3 motherboard

Its super quiet. No problems at all could prob do it for less

cintec

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

How is the NUC almost the same price as the mac mini?

The Mac Mini starts at €620.

You can build an i3 NUC with 4GB Ram 256GB Solid State Drive for about €400.

You can build it with a 128GB SSD or regular 500GB drive for about €360.

I haven't looked around at prices so they could be found for cheaper but provisionally the i3 nuc is: €493 and the i5 nuc is: €582 and thats without a version of windows 8

8gb, 256gb ssd and wifi/bluetooth card is €210 and the i3 nuc is 287 so the total is almost €500 I could have gone with 4gb of ram but its only 26 euro difference and if I decided later 4gb wasn't enough it would cost me more money to upgrade.

I was looking at the slim version which doesn't allow a 2.5 drive so the Hdd has to be a ssd although I wanted an ssd, the bluetooth/wifi card is only €26 and is needed.

The pc is over spec'd for what I needed and as you said I could save money by having 4gb ram or 128gb ssd but I would rather spend a little extra in case I changed what I wanted the pc for.

TerrorFirmer

Well if you want to save money you need to look then at lower performance options, like this.

You're not going to need more than 4gb for browsing and media purposes, not in the forseeable future. Not sure what you mean when you say 'if I decide to change what the PC is for'; there's not much a NUC can be used for other than general use. If you mean stuff like encoding and editing, then at a minimum you would need to be buying the more expensive i3 or i5 models so the whole wanting a cheap PC angle is suddenly redundant.

Basically you either want a cheaper priced unit that'll suffice for web browsing and media, or one that'll handle heavier tasks. There's no room in NUC's for a half way point or flexability at the lower end like what you want - if you want that you have to think about a m-itx build rather than a NUC.

Ibetit

I just ordered a minix NEO X8-H from a Chinese online shop, about €110. it offers 4K2K UHD video playback, 2GB RAM+16GB ROM, dual-band wifi. Waiting for it

notmymark

Lenovo IdeaCentre Q190?

Gyck

Ibetit wrote: »

I just ordered a minix NEO X8-H from a Chinese online shop, about €110. it offers 4K2K UHD video playback, 2GB RAM+16GB ROM, dual-band wifi. Waiting for it

Nice wee box - I'd be interested to hear how it works out.