I Bought a $70 Mini PC, Why?

[@jamesbeardsley9406]

this is a notice to all people considering buying the products recommended in this video as of 12/28/2022 the price is $139.99

[@jimatperfromix2759]

The noted website does offer a conditional measly discount with the condition being you have to apply for an Amazon credit card. But another Amazon store has it for $100. I think a better deal is the Kamrui T6 Pro Mini PC Stick Celeron J4125 Windows 10 Pro tiny PC box that is about the size of a smart phone only as thick as a pack of cigarettes - with same features including gigabit Ethernet, only about 30% faster CPU. There's videos on how to install Windows Pro (included) on this thing, and it looks extremely straightforward. Sells for about $180, which is about the same price multiplier as the speed multiplier, and obviously that Celeron J3455 CPU could use a 30% speed boost. Or wait til 2023 Black Friday for next big sale price.

[@call_me_stan5887]

yes, it is more expensive than it appears.

[@HoodHandyman]

Buy a mac mini. No need to buy this cheap computer from China

[@call_me_stan5887]

@@HoodHandyman there's no need to buy neither of them, especially that this "cheap" computer from China is not really cheap.

[@paulsmith9574]

@@HoodHandyman That is hilarious. All electronics comes from China.

[@PrecisionClays]

I bought one of these for $56 on Amazon delivered. Didn't need Win10 so I imaged for the key. I loaded it with Linux Mint on a 128G SSD 2.5". I use it with a 4TB USB 3 drive to backup all my computers using urbackup. Works great, low power and seems reliable. It has the SD slot inside but the case doesn't have the slot for it like the ad pictures.

[@paulyardley383]

After 5 minutes of chat he finally gets around to opening the box. It's more chat before booting at 7:50

[@bobbyus]

Yeah, a lot of blah blah…

[@abbylynn8872]

And.....

[@douggoodhill]

I am using a 6th generation Intel NUC with 8G ram and a 256G drive I bought on ebay for about $100.00 (i3-6100u) Very happy!

[@MaxGoof]

I have this exact mini PC and have been pleasantly surprised how snappy it is for most tasks. I believe your 100% processor usage was due to the update processes in the background. Nothing bogs down this PC like the update process. I generally check for updates first thing and let that finish before I try to actually do anything. Thanks for the tip about Tiny 10. I will check that out.

[@alice_agogo]

I'm the opposite. I never update anything..

[@rogerramjet6429]

@@alice_agogo same here.. Auto update is switched off on all my devices. I've had to many issues in the past and don't like losing data or functionality of apps or programs.

[@peppernickelly]

A few months ago I tested a $130 mini pc with a tiny AMD Zen+ laptop CPU - the 300U with 2 cores and 4 threads. It has a real nvme m.2 slot, with an adapter I ran a RX 6700 XT and it could handle a lot of games at 1440p but very high quality on 1080p with no problems. It even handles 3200mhz C18 on 32GB just fine as well. Even with its Vega 3 graphics, it handled 720p low details well enough.

[@MHFExtras]

That's pretty sick, I do know there are some slick mini PCs out there. I just needed something low power, basically cheap and close enough to a Pi for what my project is.

[@peppernickelly]

@@MHFExtras You may grad that new Orange Pi 5 from AliExpress. I think it's like $120 for a LDDR4 16GB Ram board. Just throwing that out there.

[@johnrourke2358]

You have a link for the mini you tested?

[@montecorbit8280]

@@MHFExtras Actually, yes, some of us did want to see the inside of the case. Some of us did want to see you fiddling with putting a SATA drive in. Some of us did want to see if there was an m.2 slot that might have been set up for either an NVME or SATA. I was wanting to find a PC that I could use instead of my main. My main has been broken down for years, and I can't afford to fix it. This doesn't appear like it would be an option....

[@montecorbit8280]

Did you have a link to that?

[@Gdgaiennie]

Love the video buddy! I love small-time KZbinrs like yourself hitting my feed and I check videos out like yours every time I see them. Keep us posted on your progress!!!! 😊👍

[@drgrunn174]

Just to mention one can ebay 2nd hand HP ProDesk 400 G2 minipc for somehow similar price ($145) with I5-6500T (upgradable) and 8G ram (2 slots, upgradable) and 480G SSD (also upgradable) which is not what you're looking for, but maybe someone else would have different goals. And they are pretty powerful little muffins

[@abbylynn8872]

I love your comment section. I'm learning at lot. Lots too read up on, especially since I was looking at getting a raspberry pi. Just to learn.

[@mnadamn]

The rpi is rather underpowered if you really get into home assistant with things like dashboards and such. With the new localized speech recognition, this mini pc will faaar out perform the pi. Good purchase!

[@RIPSIRJIMMYSAVILLE]

seen them the name but what is pi and what do they do/used for

[@mnadamn]

@@RIPSIRJIMMYSAVILLE they are basically a small inexpensive arm based computer. They can be used as a daily driver computer or to run dedicated services like home assistant, a small nas, dns filter, etc. They are low power making the energy cost negligible. Sadly due to demand and the chip shortage prices have doubled. There are also many other sbc's (Single board computer) out there but the raspberry pi is the most used.

[@chesshooligan1282]

The Orange Pi 5 seems to be a good option at the moment. It's about 4 times more powerful than the Raspberry Pi 4, consumes under 1 watt of power when idle, and you can pick one up for about $70. I got myself one from China, but it's still on its way here. Good things are being said about it. I didn't know about Tiny 10. I bought a job lot of 10 IBM laptops for £5 a piece a while ago, but I couldn't use Windows 10 on them properly as the boards have a memory limit of 3 GB. Tiny 10 is just what I needed. Thanks a lot.

[@cliffbrown5290]

Just received this from Amazon for $21.99. Just want to use it in my workshop to stream KZbin/Hulu/Netflix videos and to play mp3 music.

[@dro3m]

The Raspberry Pi isn’t the only SBC. In fact they’re actually one of the slowest and more basic SBCs. The only thing good about it the community and documentation. But if you’re experienced with SBCs there’s absolutely no point in choosing a Raspberry Pi. You can get much fasters SBCs from Radxa, Orange Pi, ODroid, etc. So many brands to pick from. But of course a Mini PC like that works great as a low powered server as well.

[@Vampier]

Got it - tested it if it booted on with a random Chinese windows installed on it with god knows what - slapped mint on it and gave it to my neighbor. She’s happy with it and doesn’t have any complaints compared to her previous PC

[@jermainenelson3636]

Great info. Love the demo.

[@Bicyclesidewalk]

I have this same unit. Instill Linux on this box. Any lightweight distribution works great.

[@sam11182]

I have that exact same computer and it is a very nice computer when all of the other ones are not working. It is good for a couple things. Getting a blank SSD to install windows 10 is what I used it for last night. A customers OLD STYLE MECHANICAL HARD DRIVE OF THE OCCURSED SEAGATE BRAND bit the dust after many years. I had them purchase 2 1Tb SSD's and her hard drive was almost completely dead. Weak computer but it can do extremely simple tasks. It will be my PLEX server

[@Explore531]

one day they will create Tiny mini pc next

[@cx3268]

Big case with a lot inside and a lot of space inside where you can swap out component parts of it is nice but today often not needed. Plus that big case draws a lot of power. Many of the minis are just as powerful and a LOT cheaper and cheaper to operate.

[@T313COmun1s7]

I got the same PC on the same day for the same price and for the same reason. I feel like I could have made this video for you. (Reason not being SmartHome, but an alternative to a Ras Pi) I even also watch Jeff's channel. By the way, it runs Linux Mint fairly well using Cinnamon. Playing KZbin videos shows some frame drop, but other tasks run well enough. Also, mine shows 2.5Ghz in Linux Mint, I think I read some where the 1.5GHz thing was a Windows issue.

[@davidkachel]

Too much yakkin', not enough crackin'!

[@ricardoribeiro8037]

As Soundwave from Transformers would say: "All talk, no shock"!. 😜

[@sourcilavise3788]

For the price, I've made the same choice by buying a celeron NUC. I Can slap sodimm ram and nvme SSD. Which is better than micro sd and soldered ram imo.

[@SeaJay_Oceans]

Check out the Pentium Silver N5030, it is only 6-watts, so runs cooler, still a 4 core processor, so run fast (enough), and Intel 605 graphics, so it handles video a bit better too. The N5030 is about 10% to 40% faster than the J3455, all while using less power. Intel's line up of little 6 watt CPUs (Celeron 2 core, or Pentium Silver 4 core) are very impressive in what they can do with barely more energy used by larger Smart Phones. :-)

[@AbdiPianoChannel]

If this little computer was in early 1980s, it would've been the only super computer in the entire solar system.

[@johnklejna2926]

Not available through Amazon UK at the suggested price.

[@malawisupasoldier7478]

I'm planning to buy a beelink Ser 5 pro or ser 6, they have Ryzen 5 5600h and 6600h respectively to use for gaming and productivity. I love these devices

[@SnijtraM]

Hmm .. do not expect just any PC to be as effective or fast as an RPI, especially since PCs (x64, ..) tend to require much more power than an ARM device to do comparable tasks, and these PC boxes often use an extensive thermal throttling scheme to keep the device from overheating. Having said this, I am not sure if your processing requirements come even close to what either type of box is capable of. People easily overlook how far computing has developed over the years, if you realize that a Raspberry Pi 2B has faster math than the $32M Cray 2 supercomputer of 1985. Though in the end, getting the right box for your needs involves a little guesswork. There are too many factors affecting whether the box is up to the task that you have in mind for it. Software quality is one of them, and it can be a major influence.

[@psyience3213]

I just got a mini pc because i have a dumb tv that i can't do anything else with. For under $100 i turned an old tv into a smart tv. I would stay away from the celeron line of processors.

[@boydw1]

I think you'd probably be better off with an RK3588 based ARM SBC like the Orange Pi 5, or for x86-64 something like the Odroid H3+ (N6005 based).

[@bensouthwell1339]

5 minutes gone before you open the box..............enough said

[@jamesslick4790]

I can see something like this as a "TV box" (I don't need 4K. 1080 or even 720 would work for my old eyes and my TVs are only 1080 anyhow.) A small wireless KB and Mouse and KZbin with AdBlock could be a thing! Plus, throw in an SSD with movies and music on it, something like this would seem to be a "thing" for such a use case. Sure it's not a "gaming" rig, But it can be useful for the right need. (Besides all of MY games are MS-DOS, And "DosBox" is a thing, again I am OLD. LOL.)

[@marccaselle8108]

I too enjoy dosbox and using my micro SD card on my Pi3B+ to watch cartoons and movies via the Kodi application.

[@Patrick-bn5rp]

Can probably play retro games?

[@jamesslick4790]

@@Patrick-bn5rp Depending on HOW retro, Yeah! I'm sure emulators for such consoles as NES (or SNES) for example would probably work out fine, Surely any Atari (or any other 8 bit/16bit computer/ game console) emulators would be fine. Old Win9x games might work on VM software (like Virtual Box)/Of course ANY DOS games would be fine, I have run DosBox on LESSER hardware. I'm not REALLY a gamer, So If I were you, I'd check the requirements of whatever game emulator you want to run. But can it run "DOOM"?. Yeah, It could!

[@Patrick-bn5rp]

@@jamesslick4790 I'm sure it can probably run PS1 games. Maybe using Retroarch and pcsx rearmed? I got that one to run full speed on a 40 dollar potato Android TV box.

[@jamesslick4790]

@@Patrick-bn5rp Yeah, This would SMOKE most Android devices. Even though it's low spec, it's a PC with a PC OS, and as such will still outperform an inherently Mobile platform. LOL Sent from my Android 12 phone!😂

[@byte-Geekery]

congrats! one video completed watch time requirement.👍

[@rrrrrrrr290]

Home Assistant eats ssd cards so if your do run a pi make sure to run ssd I think this box is better suited for H.A. than a pie for that reason

[@BrianThomas]

They gave you 6Gigs of RAM so that you can use 2Gigs for the graphics card and 4GB for the system. Seems like it was cheaper for them to give you 6 instead of 8 GB of ram

[@jorgem50]

I've been testing a mini pc that I bought on Amazon for $149 and bought it for streaming media, my personal 4k and bluray collection and music listening. After two weeks of testing I can say I love my mini pc. It's not perfect yet it is.

[@MHFExtras]

I've thought about getting something for that purpose too. My plan is once I move into a new place, to set up a proper home lab. That way I can have this, along with maybe a media box going.

[@jorgem50]

@@MHFExtras I've been using my 85" tv smart apps for media streaming and never really liked it. With my mini pc I feel things are faster and just more convenient

[@MHFExtras]

Yeah my TV is also a smart one, but apps like Disney+ still run and perform slow. Once the videos load, then it's fine, but it feels like the OS is really bogged down. So a local media source would probably be more ideal

[@jorgem50]

@@MHFExtras exactly. The biggest con about my mini pc is that it doesn't support hdr from netflix or other streaming services. Idc really as HD streaming looks excellent.

[@naikjoy]

Hmm.. the Intel Celeron J3455 was released in 2016 which its outdated IPC performance. The cheapest laptop released this year would be a better choice - laptop CPUs use the same amount of electricity.

[@krudeboy3835]

Thanks for the vid, I ended up going with a Lenovo m900 for 99 bucks

[@Nurse_Xochitl]

you should of opened in up in the video, some of us would be curious what's inside

[@TonyRome402]

I have an even smaller PC that fits in my pocket...my smart phone!

[@toadinthehole8085]

Humpty Dumpty didn't where was arms around that much.

[@marieagill]

How do you extract the activation key?

[@ygjt76v0-----]

Cool kiddo

[@Patrick-ng1xq]

What is the wifi chipset (model not bands)

[@fmlazar]

Windows tends to chug at 100 percent CPU for the first quarter hour after booting.

[@HungarianDerrickRose]

FFS most likely it was updating in the background. Windows Update can do that to a low-end CPU like that - all he should have done was to have a look at the running processes. I had the impression that the dude making this video does not really know what he is talking about, at least he is not that familiar with Windows. Obviously you don't want to run Crysis on this box, but it can deal with stuff like Office / media consuming perfectly fine.

[@jamesslick4790]

@@HungarianDerrickRose I can see something like this as a "TV box" (I don't need 4K. 1080 or even 720 would work for my old eyes and my TVs are only 1080 anyhow.) A small wireless KB and Mouse and KZbin with AdBlock could be a thing! Plus, throw in an SSD with movies and music on it, something like this would seem to be a "thing" for such a use case. Sure it's not a "gaming" rig, But it can be useful for the right need. (Besides all of MY games are MS-DOS, And "DosBox" is a thing, again I am OLD. LOL.)

[@HungarianDerrickRose]

@@jamesslick4790 It can cope with 4K, the GPU supports hw accelerated playback.

[@jamesslick4790]

@@HungarianDerrickRose So in my case it's "Future proof", Good to know! 👍👍

[@garrythornhill2323]

Is this good for turbographics 16 games? I'm looking for a good cheap emulator machine. Any suggestions?

[@energymarketchile]

Check out orange pi 5...you will be surprised.

[@johnward2445]

Got two raspberry pi for 1 GB 45 each

[@joekiddent]

Looks like a chromebox

[@PrimeRibb69]

Most of the time I’m either on my tablet or phone for online stuff. This is great for the few things that I do need a dedicated PC for. Beats having more computer than you actually need.

[@BeethoD]

Gaming test?

[@snowdog03]

Those hands are so soft and supple. What's your secret?.

[@you166mhz]

Amazon doesn't carry this item any longer ...

[@toadinthehole8085]

And he had an ryzen 5700g !!

[@bobbyus]

Come on man! You can use OrangePi or NanoPi … don’t be so limited there are so many options out there. I stopped use raspberryPi long time ago …

[@anthonystrong7075]

Cheaper than a raspberry

[@billpii6314]

You get what you pay for, hopefully :)

[@ernestoditerribile]

Why do you keep saying a raspberry pi is better for home assistant. While it’s clear a Z16 will work far better.

[@fmlazar]

It’s 140 now.

[@MHFExtras]

They're onto us!

[@RIPSIRJIMMYSAVILLE]

Whats rasberry pi do

[@fatherelijahcal9620]

Why would you want a Raspberry Pi over this? Not only is this cheaper than a Raspberry Pi, but it is also more powerful than a Raspberry Pi. You complain about it being "overkill", but why is that even a bad thing? I don't get it. Better to be overkill than underkill.

[@666Maeglin]

Actually peple want you to show the innards and put inan ssd.

[@msmdude7713]

Can it run minecraft java. No other games can it run minecraft java

[@sirdrakey]

There are other mini boards besides the pi you could look at the ESP32 or the esp8266 the two favorites of the wled community

[@ericgis6670]

video starts at 5:00 your welcome

[@djdoolittle1315]

Shame I carnt fit my Nvidia card in it 😢

[@SHASQAIA]

windows 10 $70

[@awdat]

Unboxing after 5 minutes talk

[@JDWatkins]

The endless labeling and repeating. That was painful.....

[@Dwight.K.Schrute.]

You got hacked

[@francisclengyel3641]

you like to mutch your own voice

[@Hchris101]

Why is this channel so bery sus

[@snowdog03]

You spend most of the time talking about trivial things instead of actually doing anything with it. Btw, the process count can be cut down by tweaking autoruns and services so cpu usage is cut way down. Typical Linux geek.

[@Bill15]

Get to the point you are waffling.

[@bfx8185]

Why you are cheating?

[@Ben333bacc]

this x86 chip is actually much more powerful than any rpi that exists today. benchmarks easily found w a google search.

[@A.I-GAMING]

Why does the title say 70 bucks and the description say 100 bucks and the amazon listing is 140 bucks ?

[@MHFExtras]

I bought it for $70, it was originally at the time $100 but is now $140

[@SHASQAIA]

windows 10 $70

[@SHASQAIA]

windows 10 $70

[@SHASQAIA]

windows 10 $70

[@SHASQAIA]

windows 10 $70

[@SHASQAIA]

windows 10 $70

[@SHASQAIA]

windows 10 $70

[@SHASQAIA]

windows 10 $70

[@SHASQAIA]

windows 10 $70