Not as simple to configure as I thought.

I previously purchased this unit with Windows 10 Pro on it. I convinced my brother to purchase the same unit SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE it was advertised as coming with Windows 10 Pro. Instead, his unit came with Windows 11 Pro installed. I have been pleased with my Windows 10 Pro unit, but Windows 11 might as well be malware with its mandatory creation of an online Microsoft account, completely rearranged desktop environment, etc. I had to use a hack to bypass the mandatory account creation.

Ive switched over to the Apple ecosystem for most things. But still wanted a budget PC around, for a couple of Windows-only applications and some light PC gaming. This mini PC, basically the Windows version of a Mac Mini, seemed like a good choice to fill that gap.

Was looking for a powerful, but small, PC to use for a home built NAS system. Needed something in a small footprint, but with an 8th gen intel CPU and some m.2 slots for expansion purposes and this fit the bill near perfectly. For my setup, Ill be replacing the m.2 wireless card with a Coral AI TPU for security camera AI detection and replacing the m.2 NVME card with a 5x Sata adapter. I am using the built in sata interface with a 2.5 SSD to run the OS and using the 5x Sata add-on card (ASIN: B09N8MCDTZ) for a RAID array. The 8th gen CPU was a requirement for the use of Intels Quick Sync for video transcoding. Ill be pairing the Mini PC with a custom built enclosure to have a very powerful NAS at a fraction of the price of comparable commercially available NAS devices.

If you are looking for a computer for a home media server, then you should buy one of these. There is no need for a graphics card since this mini pc has an Intel i5-8279 which has Intels Iris Plus Graphics 655. That supports up to 3 monitors. Also, when it comes to using this CPU for transcoding on a media server, I have read that people managed to hit 24 simultaneous 1080P to 720P transcodes or more. I wont be using it for that many, but it shows how good these processors are.

PC was delivered in a bag (not a box!) with no cushioning or protection whatsoever. The unit was already used and tied to another person’s account. Was supposed to be a brand new unit. Can’t use the pc at all and am very frustrated.

I had an old desktop that need replaced that I needed to connect to a 65 in 4k tv and my XP-Pen drawing tablet. Ive tested and it works great. The small profile is perfect for my new desk. The video I uploaded shows a video being played on my 65inch tv while other screen is still on. I have my headphones plugged in and it sounds great. Overall I definitely love the this mini PC and has replaced my old desktop perfectly.

Being from the IT world, Ive seen and used many platforms and many devices, but this little dynamo hits it out of the park! It took all of maybe 10 minutes from opening the box to being up, running, and fully functional. I primarily run the Adobe CC suite and a DAW for music production. These applications were lightning fast with no hiccups whatsoever. Boot time is less than 30 seconds and amazingly, comes with Windows 10 pro. I plan on upgrading to 32 gb RAM and adding a additional SSD to push it to the limit, but it runs just fine as is.

Plenty of processing power in a small package. Quiet fan when under load compared to desktops. Plenty of ports. USB ports are upside down but not really an issue. A good value for the money.

So far so good. Run some heavy software on it and it does the job great. Actually really impressed.