At least, someone is not only just reviewing these mini pcs, but also keeps a track cpu performance to a pivot table. Good job! Because of you I now know that I'd better to choice N5095 if I need more CPU performance
This guy deserves way more attention subs and likes. I just randomly found him and thought he was new because he only has 2k, but he is 2 years in!!! I said if subs were an indication of quality then he would have started off with at least 1 million :)
Your spoken intro is great definitely never get rid of that :) It's very unique idea - I never saw anyone bother to declare this. I am going to watch all your previous videos on mini computers and consoles. I thought you were new!! LOL not so, you're almost a veteran now. That subscriber count doesn't tell the full story of your channel bro, if quality = subs then you'd have millions already! You will get there I reckon :) I make videos knowing full well I might well be the only viewer. But I do it as a service to history rather than because I want fame or money. That excuses my lack of direction and production value anyway!! 🤣
With Raspberry Pi's no longer available, I am considering using some of these little guys for my 3d printers. I'd definitely purchase at the price you picked up this one.
That is in part what turned me to these, as the Raspberry Pi I think was the best for software support. I've got one that has been running for 9 years and I think the support finally ends next year.
@@hogey74 The Pi 4 is the newest, with Compute module and 400 being based on the 4. The ones I'm talking about dropping support are the ones that are now approaching 10 years old.
I bought one of these to use it as a headless linux server, plug several cameras and run motion on it to record multiple plant timelapses as video and photos that will be regularly backed up on my home NAS, so every few months I just stitch and edit the result. I previously used an old jetson nano like this but accidentally poured water on it and it was done. I've been doing plant timelapses for over an year and this seems to be the most effortless way to do it once it's all set up. This will be an upgrade from the jetson's only 2 gb of ram and running from a micro sd so I might come up with something else to use the spare resources.
I just picked up a Beelink SER5 as it was on sale just before Thanksgiving for $300 USD. It's got a Ryzen 5 5560U, 16GB LPDDR4-3000, and a 500GB NVMe SSD. I'm using it as an HTPC connected to our 4K TV, as it's more versatile and more powerful than any other little streaming box.
@@ntgm20 oh yeah. Now that I'm seeing that video, it's pretty much identical to the one I got, with the *only* difference being the case is slightly different on the Beelink, as the top panel is ventilated.
I got a very similar box off Amazon. I have used it for about 2 weeks with Ubuntu 22.04 - basic stuff: Chrome, VLC, simple Python stuff, all works great. Neat little computer.
I'm using my mini for watching videos on you tube, internet browsing and some minor office type stuff and tracking my bank accounts and credit cards. None of those things are "hi-tech" jobs and the mini works just fine. It's a lot better for me than trying to do just about anything with a phone.
I do love these mini PCs. I've got a Beelink model with the Ryzen 3750H. Got rid of Win11 and installed Pop_OS! on it and use it for some light Steam gaming.
Very awesome video. Keep up the good work. Sometimes I wish I could scoop a few sub hundred computers just to play with . Same orange pi and raspberry pi computers
Ahoy, thks for the video. I have 2 mini PCs I bought on eBay. One is a Guzila AK3V 6+128 w/Celeron J3455 4C HD500 Apollo Lake ($37 w/cracked lid) and the other is a Kamrui CK2 8+128 w/Celeron J4125 4C UHD600 Gemini Lake ($81). The performance is definitely faster on the J4125 mostly due to the better graphics performance on the UHD600 GPU. Coincidentally I have 2 notebooks, one with a J3450 4C and one with a N4020 2C. The difference is about the same as the 2 mini PCs. So Gemini Lake is an improvement on the Apollo Lake for sure. Thks again, daveyb
Another great video and I'm pleased to see your sub numbers going up a lot! I wonder if I should do a video of those Gigabyte Brix systems I picked up?
I watched the video on one of the Mini PCs from this brand. It works well for anything I need to do but for gaming. I play games on a gaming laptop but these are great for everything else and a great price.
I'd suggest the Shuttle XPC Slim series of 1.3 lt PCs. It comes in passive and active cooling SKUs and it's very well built, in all-metal cases with all components on one side and some of them rated for 365/24/7 operation. The newest seriers supports Intel 12th Gen and there are also AMD-based models. I have the DL20N6 one (Pentium N6005-based, passive cooled) and I'm quite happy of it, even though in the heat of the summer and under heavy load, it may throttle to 2.6GHz.
can't go wrong testing skyrim, gta, and some emulation that uses open gl and vulkan. would also love to see some tests on single board computers that run the rk3588
stick lol great way to see feedback. I have a couple server dell R620's but the noise and power means I only turn them on when I really need the extra power. Ive been using mini Pcs for a long time now Hp pro desk and other models. Ive thought about buying the AK2 but was not sure. This video really helps
Thanks! I've got a couple HP Minis, their 1 liter machines, but I think the fans on them are still too noisy. For now the AK2 and GK2 are fairly quiet except under load, which really in my case should only be in special circumstances.
The problem is Amazon "launches" these at low prices then increases once sales gets going. This already @ ~ $160 level. A few days ago I bought a J3xxx mini pc with $50 discount making it about $50 but hours later up to ~$110 after discount. This is much better spec'd but I would only buy @ ~$100.
@Kevin Right now, 1641UTC 20 NOV 22, there it is for $270 with $80 coupon. Can you see the coupon? I'm not saying that is the best price, but I want to know if others can see what I do and displace any distrust.
Nice. Yeh been seeing this case type in my local online market. But wow, the discount coupon you got. Where did you get? Thats a great grab. Will be ordering one as a router+proxmox server running small things like home assistant, wireguard, grafana, etc..
The coupon was really crazy. I bought it from Amazon, and I wonder if things like this will go on sale again around Black Friday. I think what you'd be running would be fine, unless the RealTek NIC doesn't do well as the router.
@@ntgm20 ServeTheHome here in yt has been testing these Jasperlakes and they do quite well. Oh wait, yeh I have to double check if they are using intel lan chips or realteks.
@@cybercapri As a small server. Maybe Emby, maybe a Docker lab, maybe DNS services, maybe database...not certain yet, will figure it all out early next year after I move.
Great vid thanks. Id have grabbed it at that price too! Its gutless compared to the older gear I've got lying around so it wouldn't even replace the Samsung 3630qm laptop in the shed. I think mini PCs start making real sense from the AMD 4800u onwards.
Thanks! I'm happy to hear someone else can actually grab it at the price I've found. As for use, what are you using it for that it doesn't work out? Just curious, as I can't cover every use case it is interesting to see.
@@ntgm20 I run 24x7 but it in text mode. Mostly, light load. Mine mostly bought used from tv-box user. I do clean and re-paste them time-to-time, there was a unit its fan died.
Ahoy, I ran Batacere from a USB3 thumbdrive on my Kamrui CK2 8+128 w/Celeron J4125 4C UHD600 Gemini Lake. It ran quite well except for sound. Usually all I had to do for sound was set it to HDMI0,0 but I had about 10 (!) options for sound on the Kamrui and was trying each without success when the thumbdrive quit working totally. I had used it for a year on an ASUS Onyx MedPC w/J1900 when it died. Not the Kamrui's fault, just the cheap thumbdrive prob daveyb
It is just in the listing on Amazon. Not like any special tools, though there are browser extensions that help find the best deals. Those might not report well with these listings, but who knows.
Neat little device. Is there anyway of knowing if the device is running dual channel ram? I always think it’s a hit or miss with these mini PCs Stick 🌚
Thanks for the stick! I'd assume single channel, but since CPU-Z is no help I'm not certain where I'd go to find out. If I figure out anything else I'll let you know.
Stick. I would add that the prices you are paying, where you get massive discounts are not the reality for most potential users. Also outside of North America, the prices for these mini PCs are much higher. For example in the UK, on Amazon, the 8gb version of this same PC (I can't find a 12gb model) is £286.93, that's approx. $338us.
It is always a gamble stating price, but it is factual on what I paid, no sponsor discounts Popular reviewers can cause an interest that drives up prices too. A decade ago while living in the UK I loved that used cars were much cheaper than in the USA. Markets can be weird like that.
I'm using an odroid hc4 (the one with sata controller) mainly for bakup my phone when I'm traveling, pihole and other small task. At least that was my attention when I got it. Now I put in a couple off sdr stick's on it and runing open rx wit some background decoding of digital ham radio signals, and the that's actually quite intesive load, I had to turn down the settings on the software to not be @100% cpu all the time. I'm actually looking for something with better performance with low budget just for the sdr stuff, my plans is to ad some more sdr stick's to be able to monitor more band's at the same time but that odroid is just too under powered to doo that. It wuld need only network, couple off usb port's (usb2 is good enough) and some power in the cpu. I think raspberry 4 is quite similar power I have now so better than that. Do you have any suggestions for what path I should go?
Greetings. I just looked at the Openwebrx site to try giving some advice. Are you also looking for something that has low power draw? If not a used desktop with an i5, say 6th or 7th gen would probably be able to do it better and at least where I am those can be purchased around the $100 mark, sometimes less or more. If you still need low electrical power draw than maybe something with a N5095, N5105 or N95 as the processor would work. Not having any experience running Openwebrx I can't say exactly though how much difference the performance would be.
It could be. I think it would be better to go up to the Jasper Lake minis or with a 10th or 11th gen i3 based system. The amount of RAM in this one is good but might be under powered if UA-cam does step to using more AV1 streams.
I'd almost buy one but besides the geek fun of it I really have no need for one. I am getting ready to build a new rig made up of older stuff due to upgrading my main rig, so... not really necessary. But, just to have... oh... that would be sweet. I'd probably put BSD on it. STICK !
It ain't under $100 now! Following the link you provided, it is now selling for $270 with a $50 coupon, more than double the price you got it for. It seems they may have decided to take advantage of your video to attempt to price gouge.
That could be (someone claiming to be them has emailed me after this video) but it also could have went super low to get people buying and reviewing. Also lots of things have been going on sale at periods all month long not just for Black Friday, this has been more like Black November with random door busters.
Stick. I recently bought a used mini PC - a Ryzen-based Asus PN50 - to potentially replace my daily use PC, a self-build with a Ryzen APU, which is rather overkill for web browsing and the like. Unfortunately, I'm having some stability issues with it, under Linux Mint. I've not invested much time in it yet to run tests - different kernels, etc. The latest version of Linux Mint is due later this month, so I may try that and see if there's an improvement.
What kind of stability issues, if there is anything that you noticed at least? My Dell machines have had issues when video with sound were going and the system would lock up. Never really looked into why, as when I went back to Windows 10 there was no such issue.
@@ntgm20 It appears that the 5.15 kernel used by Linux Mint 21.x is causing the stability issues. On a hunch, I tried a distro that uses a 6.x kernel (PC Linux OS), and the mini PC is now stable. I don't care much for PC Linux OS, though, and as no later kernels are yet available (via Ubuntu) for Linux Mint, I'll be looking into manually adding one.
@@ntgm20 yes in edge://flags you can change ANGLE graphics backend to use OpenGL or D3D11 or D3D9, this machine might work better using OpenGL, also make sure Hardware-accelerated video decode flag is enabled.
I had 3 of the the original GMK Nucs and the kids where using them as a school computer during the Covid shutdowns, now 1 dead and the other two are just collecting dust. Used them a little as test benches for some ideas but that is about it. One has Windows 10 on it and the other has Arch Linux. They are too slow for me to really use for anything.
I'm not sure Ubuntu will give you the best Linux FPS - the GNOME 3/4 compositor is not that great. It would be nice to compare the performance with a lightweight Debian KDE distro like MX Linux. My experience is that you get much-improved performance on low-end systems with MX KDE.
Yeah, crazy. That is how these sales have been going for the three or four weeks I've been eyeing them. I even did a really short video on keeping an eye on some details.
Lol, do yourself a favor and use Shift+F10 to skip the network setup and make a local account. Anyone looking for a low end machine on a tight budget could do worse than picking up a Lenovo Tiny, Dell Micro or HP Mini. Get a Haswell 1225v3 Xeon or a Skylake i3 6098p. Get some old laptop ram to throw in it and an SSD, you are set. Why? Um because it is business class. Its easier to work on, easier to clean. Parts are available, and listed online so you can search by part number. Haswell Lenovo M93p/M73p Tiny as an example: $30 for the barebone, pick a processor $8-$40. Get a power brick: $5-$15 Some ram: $10 for 2x4GB SSD: $20 You can start at $80 and still upgrade later. If this box works for you great, I personally am leery of bonding the two most expensive parts together Motherboard/CPU, not to mention you can't get another motherboard for these little boxes like you can with a business class tiny. Reviewing them is great. Journalism is telling people if they are good value. Maybe they are, if you need the lower power, or the new codec, etc etc. If you just need it to run for years and control a printer or something, may not be good value. If you already have some laptops and desktops being thrown out by friends/neighbors/your business; scavenge the parts into a Mini business system is a no brainer, it would literally only cost the barebone system and a storage drive.
This one came shipped with Win11 21H1 so you can still enter a local account, also it is OOBE reset, not an initial install. Windows 10 still allows for local account creation, and the recovery questions are with a local account. CODEC support is a real thing you have to look out for based on needs. If putting together a used system a 6th gen Core i3/5/7 processor is probably a safe bet, older than that (at least 4th gen and earlier) you are dealing with a larger lithography and some lack of advance CODEC support.
It all depends on budget and need of course. If you are just editing documents / checking email / online shopping than below the N5000 series may be fine, but if you can afford one I'd always recommend stepping up to at least those.
@Goodmonkey LOL trick of the eye. I thought it said 1.97M but after you said that comment I now see it is 1.97K. What the hell is the algorithm doing!? I hate the way they distribute new content. If millions of people were watching this about 20% would like and sub before the video was out. Give it time bro never change just keep moving forward. You are unique that's why I say that, but if you do all the marketing [like others] that would kind of ruin it a little. No I say keep doing things your own way and not follow others previous tactics. Grow at your own pace, and if you add a superthanks button to your channel I will throw you £5 in a couple of days when I get paid :) It's about $8
Maybe you were in an alternate reality where I did have 1.97M and now you're here where I have 1.97K. I really wonder that sometimes if things aren't as I remember. I'll look into the super thanks button, than you for the suggestion and you kind words!
@@ntgm20 I want to be in that reality. Put me back in the other reality!!! Lol. I have 19 so by that standard you have more than I could conceivably count by hand. I don't think people ever watch my videos not even the person who challenged me to make one for them! In the near future, I think more recognition will go to UA-cam content as a whole. Individuals will then be more likely to see reward for all the hours they put in. Until then you should at least give some method for rewarding your videos, that's why I suggest superthanks buttons, but there are tonnes of ways! Like I said, I have a pot of unspent TV Licensing money here precisely for spending on UA-camrs I watch. I definitely think it's a great investment at a time the cash economy is fucked. I can see your content next year then and it will be money well spent, you won't quit if you are rewarded you'll probably grow and get better.
By the way, Chrom Flex OX and Android TV don't work on my J4125 optimal, ich couldn't install a few of my needed Apps, so I changed to Elementery OS which worked great, but it is not to my Taste, Then I used UbuntuDDE, superb, but no German Language, so at least, I ended Up-on POP OS for best result, where I came from. But it was a lot of Fun Testing around. Kind Regards from Germany
@@ntgm20 If not desktop PC function, I gravitate to ARM for general network functions. A Walmart On media box is near the processing power of this cpu and it is just $20 for a 4K capable device.
@@ntgm20 I agree completely that x86 is "here now" while ARM can be a struggle to a dead end. I have a handful of x86 tablets with dead batteries looking for uses -I won't buy another atom core. I thought I was done with x86, but a ryzen seduced me.
At least, someone is not only just reviewing these mini pcs, but also keeps a track cpu performance to a pivot table. Good job! Because of you I now know that I'd better to choice N5095 if I need more CPU performance
This guy deserves way more attention subs and likes. I just randomly found him and thought he was new because he only has 2k, but he is 2 years in!!! I said if subs were an indication of quality then he would have started off with at least 1 million :)
Oh it's my own comment! Lol almost liked it. Yeah man you're quality I tell everybody who wants a mini PC to watch you.
Congrats on your channel growing. Thanks for sharing your adventures in tech.
It is an adventure for sure, and that is why I find Finn appropriate as my picture for now.
Stick. I really like the style of your vids.
I would like to see the link to the product on the description, nice video tho!
I've added it to the video description per your request.
Your spoken intro is great definitely never get rid of that :) It's very unique idea - I never saw anyone bother to declare this. I am going to watch all your previous videos on mini computers and consoles. I thought you were new!! LOL not so, you're almost a veteran now.
That subscriber count doesn't tell the full story of your channel bro, if quality = subs then you'd have millions already! You will get there I reckon :) I make videos knowing full well I might well be the only viewer. But I do it as a service to history rather than because I want fame or money.
That excuses my lack of direction and production value anyway!! 🤣
With Raspberry Pi's no longer available, I am considering using some of these little guys for my 3d printers. I'd definitely purchase at the price you picked up this one.
That is in part what turned me to these, as the Raspberry Pi I think was the best for software support. I've got one that has been running for 9 years and I think the support finally ends next year.
really? I thought a new gen had come out?
@@hogey74 The Pi 4 is the newest, with Compute module and 400 being based on the 4. The ones I'm talking about dropping support are the ones that are now approaching 10 years old.
I bought one of these to use it as a headless linux server, plug several cameras and run motion on it to record multiple plant timelapses as video and photos that will be regularly backed up on my home NAS, so every few months I just stitch and edit the result. I previously used an old jetson nano like this but accidentally poured water on it and it was done. I've been doing plant timelapses for over an year and this seems to be the most effortless way to do it once it's all set up. This will be an upgrade from the jetson's only 2 gb of ram and running from a micro sd so I might come up with something else to use the spare resources.
Very cool, thanks for sharing! I've been eyeing using one or two of my mini machines with some PoE cameras, just haven't yet.
I just picked up a Beelink SER5 as it was on sale just before Thanksgiving for $300 USD. It's got a Ryzen 5 5560U, 16GB LPDDR4-3000, and a 500GB NVMe SSD. I'm using it as an HTPC connected to our 4K TV, as it's more versatile and more powerful than any other little streaming box.
Very cool. Sounds a lot like the Trigkey S5. I'm actually typing this message on it now.
@@ntgm20 oh yeah. Now that I'm seeing that video, it's pretty much identical to the one I got, with the *only* difference being the case is slightly different on the Beelink, as the top panel is ventilated.
I got a very similar box off Amazon. I have used it for about 2 weeks with Ubuntu 22.04 - basic stuff: Chrome, VLC, simple Python stuff, all works great. Neat little computer.
Thanks for sharing!
I'm using my mini for watching videos on you tube, internet browsing and some minor office type stuff and tracking my bank accounts and credit cards. None of those things are "hi-tech" jobs and the mini works just fine. It's a lot better for me than trying to do just about anything with a phone.
Thanks for your feedback. I also like doing a lot more things from the computer than my phone. I am responding from my phone though.
I do love these mini PCs. I've got a Beelink model with the Ryzen 3750H. Got rid of Win11 and installed Pop_OS! on it and use it for some light Steam gaming.
Any stability issues?
@@ntgm20 not at all. Had Pop_OS! on it since July.
Very awesome video. Keep up the good work. Sometimes I wish I could scoop a few sub hundred computers just to play with . Same orange pi and raspberry pi computers
Thanks!
Ahoy, thks for the video. I have 2 mini PCs I bought on eBay. One is a Guzila AK3V 6+128 w/Celeron J3455 4C HD500 Apollo Lake ($37 w/cracked lid) and the other is a Kamrui CK2 8+128 w/Celeron J4125 4C UHD600 Gemini Lake ($81). The performance is definitely faster on the J4125 mostly due to the better graphics performance on the UHD600 GPU. Coincidentally I have 2 notebooks, one with a J3450 4C and one with a N4020 2C. The difference is about the same as the 2 mini PCs. So Gemini Lake is an improvement on the Apollo Lake for sure. Thks again, daveyb
Thanks for sharing!
Bad but not terrible! Ha Ha I know I'm hilarious! Keep 'em coming, I appreciate your reviews and thoughts.
S2 keep up the good work.
S2 I know where you made it! Where is the superlove button?
Another great video and I'm pleased to see your sub numbers going up a lot!
I wonder if I should do a video of those Gigabyte Brix systems I picked up?
Thanks! The growth is really unexpected but it really does make me smile! For the Brix, go for it. Never know who will be interested it them.
I watched the video on one of the Mini PCs from this brand. It works well for anything I need to do but for gaming. I play games on a gaming laptop but these are great for everything else and a great price.
Thanks for your feedback! The lack of discreet graphics is the killer forost games, though iGPUs/APUs have improved in the past couple years.
Stick stick 😁
I'd suggest the Shuttle XPC Slim series of 1.3 lt PCs. It comes in passive and active cooling SKUs and it's very well built, in all-metal cases with all components on one side and some of them rated for 365/24/7 operation. The newest seriers supports Intel 12th Gen and there are also AMD-based models. I have the DL20N6 one (Pentium N6005-based, passive cooled) and I'm quite happy of it, even though in the heat of the summer and under heavy load, it may throttle to 2.6GHz.
Thanks for sharing.
stick? i been looking for a mini pc for my secuirty cams and as a torrent server
can't go wrong testing skyrim, gta, and some emulation that uses open gl and vulkan. would also love to see some tests on single board computers that run the rk3588
Good to know. I think I've seen a fanless PC with the rk3588 on Amazon, maybe I can look at one of those.
stick lol great way to see feedback. I have a couple server dell R620's but the noise and power means I only turn them on when I really need the extra power. Ive been using mini Pcs for a long time now Hp pro desk and other models. Ive thought about buying the AK2 but was not sure. This video really helps
Thanks! I've got a couple HP Minis, their 1 liter machines, but I think the fans on them are still too noisy. For now the AK2 and GK2 are fairly quiet except under load, which really in my case should only be in special circumstances.
Cant wait for 780m based mini pcs.
Stick! New sub. I am just now getting interested in these mini PCs.👍👍
Very informative thanks.
The problem is Amazon "launches" these at low prices then increases once sales gets going. This already @ ~ $160 level. A few days ago I bought a J3xxx mini pc with $50 discount making it about $50 but hours later up to ~$110 after discount. This is much better spec'd but I would only buy @ ~$100.
Prices are all over the place. I'm not sure I would have bought this one if it had not been for the steep discount.
@Kevin Right now, 1641UTC 20 NOV 22, there it is for $270 with $80 coupon. Can you see the coupon? I'm not saying that is the best price, but I want to know if others can see what I do and displace any distrust.
Nice. Yeh been seeing this case type in my local online market. But wow, the discount coupon you got. Where did you get? Thats a great grab. Will be ordering one as a router+proxmox server running small things like home assistant, wireguard, grafana, etc..
The coupon was really crazy. I bought it from Amazon, and I wonder if things like this will go on sale again around Black Friday. I think what you'd be running would be fine, unless the RealTek NIC doesn't do well as the router.
@@ntgm20 ServeTheHome here in yt has been testing these Jasperlakes and they do quite well. Oh wait, yeh I have to double check if they are using intel lan chips or realteks.
Good detailed review. Can you recommended some mini PC to run smoothly 1080p 60fps at 1.5x speed at yt?
Thanks. Not yet, as I've not tested it,.but could be good for the N5105 or N5095 based systems, like the Beelink ones I've reviewed.
STICK... So what are these little units good for? Thanks...
Low powered desktops or as I'm going to use them low powered headless Linux machines in my lab.
@@ntgm20 Ok, not really up on what a Headless Linux Machine is, but know headless means no monitor so how would you use it?
@@cybercapri As a small server. Maybe Emby, maybe a Docker lab, maybe DNS services, maybe database...not certain yet, will figure it all out early next year after I move.
Great vid thanks. Id have grabbed it at that price too! Its gutless compared to the older gear I've got lying around so it wouldn't even replace the Samsung 3630qm laptop in the shed. I think mini PCs start making real sense from the AMD 4800u onwards.
Thanks! I'm happy to hear someone else can actually grab it at the price I've found. As for use, what are you using it for that it doesn't work out? Just curious, as I can't cover every use case it is interesting to see.
These types of mini pc usually I use for home lab (linux, proxmox)
Do you have any issue with reliability? I hear mixed things, but also don't know on what level the problem was (SSD, fan, etc).
@@ntgm20 I run 24x7 but it in text mode. Mostly, light load. Mine mostly bought used from tv-box user. I do clean and re-paste them time-to-time, there was a unit its fan died.
Have you ever tried running batocera linux to test games on this mini cpu? That will be a game changer
Ahoy, I ran Batacere from a USB3 thumbdrive on my Kamrui CK2 8+128 w/Celeron J4125 4C UHD600 Gemini Lake. It ran quite well except for sound. Usually all I had to do for sound was set it to HDMI0,0 but I had about 10 (!) options for sound on the Kamrui and was trying each without success when the thumbdrive quit working totally. I had used it for a year on an ASUS Onyx MedPC w/J1900 when it died. Not the Kamrui's fault, just the cheap thumbdrive prob daveyb
I have not, but thank you David for sharing your experience!
Thank you a lot :)
No way, I have a cousin from gggggggggggggggg. Small world! 🙂
Small indeed!
Where do you find that discount coupons?
It is just in the listing on Amazon. Not like any special tools, though there are browser extensions that help find the best deals. Those might not report well with these listings, but who knows.
Neat little device.
Is there anyway of knowing if the device is running dual channel ram? I always think it’s a hit or miss with these mini PCs
Stick 🌚
Thanks for the stick! I'd assume single channel, but since CPU-Z is no help I'm not certain where I'd go to find out. If I figure out anything else I'll let you know.
Isn't dual channel only a big difference for games though?
With the Raspberry Pi hitting over $150 I would get this just to run as a server.
That is the idea I have.
Stick. I would add that the prices you are paying, where you get massive discounts are not the reality for most potential users. Also outside of North America, the prices for these mini PCs are much higher. For example in the UK, on Amazon, the 8gb version of this same PC (I can't find a 12gb model) is £286.93, that's approx. $338us.
It is always a gamble stating price, but it is factual on what I paid, no sponsor discounts Popular reviewers can cause an interest that drives up prices too. A decade ago while living in the UK I loved that used cars were much cheaper than in the USA. Markets can be weird like that.
I'm using an odroid hc4 (the one with sata controller) mainly for bakup my phone when I'm traveling, pihole and other small task. At least that was my attention when I got it. Now I put in a couple off sdr stick's on it and runing open rx wit some background decoding of digital ham radio signals, and the that's actually quite intesive load, I had to turn down the settings on the software to not be @100% cpu all the time.
I'm actually looking for something with better performance with low budget just for the sdr stuff, my plans is to ad some more sdr stick's to be able to monitor more band's at the same time but that odroid is just too under powered to doo that.
It wuld need only network, couple off usb port's (usb2 is good enough) and some power in the cpu. I think raspberry 4 is quite similar power I have now so better than that.
Do you have any suggestions for what path I should go?
Greetings. I just looked at the Openwebrx site to try giving some advice. Are you also looking for something that has low power draw? If not a used desktop with an i5, say 6th or 7th gen would probably be able to do it better and at least where I am those can be purchased around the $100 mark, sometimes less or more.
If you still need low electrical power draw than maybe something with a N5095, N5105 or N95 as the processor would work. Not having any experience running Openwebrx I can't say exactly though how much difference the performance would be.
thanks
You're welcome!
Would this be good for just internet use/watching utube for my elderly parents. If not what would you suggest?
It could be. I think it would be better to go up to the Jasper Lake minis or with a 10th or 11th gen i3 based system. The amount of RAM in this one is good but might be under powered if UA-cam does step to using more AV1 streams.
Stick, Where are you getting these from AliExpress or Amazon?
So far, all the mini PCs I've reviewed have been from Amazon. I've seen a few on Aliexpress too.
I'd almost buy one but besides the geek fun of it I really have no need for one. I am getting ready to build a new rig made up of older stuff due to upgrading my main rig, so... not really necessary. But, just to have... oh... that would be sweet. I'd probably put BSD on it. STICK !
Nice way to tie it in! I completely understand, but thanks for looking over my review anyhow!
It ain't under $100 now! Following the link you provided, it is now selling for $270 with a $50 coupon, more than double the price you got it for. It seems they may have decided to take advantage of your video to attempt to price gouge.
That could be (someone claiming to be them has emailed me after this video) but it also could have went super low to get people buying and reviewing. Also lots of things have been going on sale at periods all month long not just for Black Friday, this has been more like Black November with random door busters.
Stick. I recently bought a used mini PC - a Ryzen-based Asus PN50 - to potentially replace my daily use PC, a self-build with a Ryzen APU, which is rather overkill for web browsing and the like. Unfortunately, I'm having some stability issues with it, under Linux Mint. I've not invested much time in it yet to run tests - different kernels, etc. The latest version of Linux Mint is due later this month, so I may try that and see if there's an improvement.
What kind of stability issues, if there is anything that you noticed at least? My Dell machines have had issues when video with sound were going and the system would lock up. Never really looked into why, as when I went back to Windows 10 there was no such issue.
@@ntgm20 It appears that the 5.15 kernel used by Linux Mint 21.x is causing the stability issues. On a hunch, I tried a distro that uses a 6.x kernel (PC Linux OS), and the mini PC is now stable. I don't care much for PC Linux OS, though, and as no later kernels are yet available (via Ubuntu) for Linux Mint, I'll be looking into manually adding one.
Stick 👍👍💻
I wonder if for UA-cam playback you actaully changed to flags to use OpenGL o D3D.?
Can you expand on that? I'm pretty sure all the streams at that level from UA-cam are VP9, are you saying that I can change something or them?
@@ntgm20 yes in edge://flags you can change ANGLE graphics backend to use OpenGL or D3D11 or D3D9, this machine might work better using OpenGL, also make sure Hardware-accelerated video decode flag is enabled.
I had 3 of the the original GMK Nucs and the kids where using them as a school computer during the Covid shutdowns, now 1 dead and the other two are just collecting dust. Used them a little as test benches for some ideas but that is about it. One has Windows 10 on it and the other has Arch Linux. They are too slow for me to really use for anything.
I understand that. I think this one is a bit faster than the AK2, and always more responsive with updates under Linux than Windows.
Would be great if the fan was quiet.
That it would.
I'm not sure Ubuntu will give you the best Linux FPS - the GNOME 3/4 compositor is not that great.
It would be nice to compare the performance with a lightweight Debian KDE distro like MX Linux.
My experience is that you get much-improved performance on low-end systems with MX KDE.
Ubuntu is just what I had around because it works pretty good with most modern hardware.
@@ntgm20 even better. the version of chromium in the manjaro repos has video hardware decoding that should work with youtube and new celerons.
Are the Bluetooth and wifi modules removable?
Unfortunately no, this one is also soldered on.
1 day and the coupon is now 15.00 Wow
Yeah, crazy. That is how these sales have been going for the three or four weeks I've been eyeing them. I even did a really short video on keeping an eye on some details.
@@ntgm20 lol, 279.00 now with a 100 coupon.
The biggest thingi want is the coupon so I can buy it also
If there was a way to share I would, but that is all on the seller at the time.
@@ntgm20 I figured so.
In the market for a media/mine craft server. stick
Stick. 😃
Lol, do yourself a favor and use Shift+F10 to skip the network setup and make a local account.
Anyone looking for a low end machine on a tight budget could do worse than picking up a Lenovo Tiny, Dell Micro or HP Mini. Get a Haswell 1225v3 Xeon or a Skylake i3 6098p. Get some old laptop ram to throw in it and an SSD, you are set.
Why? Um because it is business class. Its easier to work on, easier to clean. Parts are available, and listed online so you can search by part number.
Haswell Lenovo M93p/M73p Tiny as an example: $30 for the barebone, pick a processor $8-$40. Get a power brick: $5-$15 Some ram: $10 for 2x4GB SSD: $20
You can start at $80 and still upgrade later.
If this box works for you great, I personally am leery of bonding the two most expensive parts together Motherboard/CPU, not to mention you can't get another motherboard for these little boxes like you can with a business class tiny.
Reviewing them is great. Journalism is telling people if they are good value. Maybe they are, if you need the lower power, or the new codec, etc etc. If you just need it to run for years and control a printer or something, may not be good value.
If you already have some laptops and desktops being thrown out by friends/neighbors/your business; scavenge the parts into a Mini business system is a no brainer, it would literally only cost the barebone system and a storage drive.
This one came shipped with Win11 21H1 so you can still enter a local account, also it is OOBE reset, not an initial install. Windows 10 still allows for local account creation, and the recovery questions are with a local account.
CODEC support is a real thing you have to look out for based on needs. If putting together a used system a 6th gen Core i3/5/7 processor is probably a safe bet, older than that (at least 4th gen and earlier) you are dealing with a larger lithography and some lack of advance CODEC support.
So this can be used as a streaming server?
It should be able to, but that also depends on what you are streaming and if the device you are streaming to requires transcoding.
Stick!
Stick 🥢
Do not recommend any Mini PC with less than a Celeron 5105 which supports dual channel RAM. Still for under $100 is a steal.
It all depends on budget and need of course. If you are just editing documents / checking email / online shopping than below the N5000 series may be fine, but if you can afford one I'd always recommend stepping up to at least those.
$199 in the UK. not sure what that is in ££££
it is however $100 on aliexpress but then i pay delivery and tax so its about £150 or more
So will it play my Steam games?
That I do not know. Do they list any minimum requirements?
I just clicked your link, it was $269, 4 X your clickbait price.
You may think it click bate, but it is really what I paid, unlike some like Scotty Kilmer, his are outrages sometimes.
@@ntgm20 Scotty's "clickbait" titles are a "schtick" we Scotty fans would be disappointed if he did NOT use them, LOL.
They only start off cheap and quickly skyrocket. I wouldn't buy any of these celeron/pentiums more than ~ $100 total.
All depends on the generation, but they do seem to fluctuate wildly on price.
$279.99 at the moment.
Wow. At that price I'd look around for similar specs or something just a little newer, because I've picked up machines based on the N5105 for less.
"Stick"
@Goodmonkey LOL trick of the eye. I thought it said 1.97M but after you said that comment I now see it is 1.97K. What the hell is the algorithm doing!? I hate the way they distribute new content. If millions of people were watching this about 20% would like and sub before the video was out.
Give it time bro never change just keep moving forward. You are unique that's why I say that, but if you do all the marketing [like others] that would kind of ruin it a little. No I say keep doing things your own way and not follow others previous tactics. Grow at your own pace, and if you add a superthanks button to your channel I will throw you £5 in a couple of days when I get paid :) It's about $8
Maybe you were in an alternate reality where I did have 1.97M and now you're here where I have 1.97K. I really wonder that sometimes if things aren't as I remember.
I'll look into the super thanks button, than you for the suggestion and you kind words!
@@ntgm20 I want to be in that reality. Put me back in the other reality!!! Lol.
I have 19 so by that standard you have more than I could conceivably count by hand. I don't think people ever watch my videos not even the person who challenged me to make one for them!
In the near future, I think more recognition will go to UA-cam content as a whole. Individuals will then be more likely to see reward for all the hours they put in.
Until then you should at least give some method for rewarding your videos, that's why I suggest superthanks buttons, but there are tonnes of ways!
Like I said, I have a pot of unspent TV Licensing money here precisely for spending on UA-camrs I watch. I definitely think it's a great investment at a time the cash economy is fucked.
I can see your content next year then and it will be money well spent, you won't quit if you are rewarded you'll probably grow and get better.
Price went up to 270 :(
:(
stick
stick x2 xD
Stick
By the way, Chrom Flex OX and Android TV don't work on my J4125 optimal, ich couldn't install a few of my needed Apps, so I changed to Elementery OS which worked great, but it is not to my Taste, Then I used UbuntuDDE, superb, but no German Language, so at least, I ended Up-on POP OS for best result, where I came from. But it was a lot of Fun Testing around. Kind Regards from Germany
Thanks for your feedback. Hello from Alaska! I've been to Germany before, beautiful place.
@@ntgm20 I have seen a few Docus about Alaska it must be amazing, but I am retired, so I prefer Warm Countries like Spain or Greece
stick 200000
Give it to me
Sorry, no planned giveaways at this time.
@@ntgm20 ok thanks 🙏
Stick.
Stick.
I got a ryzen 4700u mini pc be link. I stopped buying cheap pcs -to soon garbage.
Have to remember these are not planned for desktop use but because they are sold as such I like to show what they can do
@@ntgm20 If not desktop PC function, I gravitate to ARM for general network functions. A Walmart On media box is near the processing power of this cpu and it is just $20 for a 4K capable device.
@@skyak4493 Not a bad idea, but I'm moving away from ARM simply because of OS and software support in Linux is much better for x86/amd64.
@@ntgm20 I agree completely that x86 is "here now" while ARM can be a struggle to a dead end. I have a handful of x86 tablets with dead batteries looking for uses -I won't buy another atom core. I thought I was done with x86, but a ryzen seduced me.
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