An excellent upgrade to my home media PC!!
Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2020 6:20 am
I was looking for a replacement for my Dell Micro Desktop that I was using as my home media PC and that is when I came across this... I was skeptical when I bought this PC, but now I'm glad that I bought it!!
Though I bought it to mainly use as always-on file/media server, in this pandemic situation, I started using this as my Work-From-PC as well - as I just remote into work PC using secure channel. I stopped using my primary, power-hungry home PC - which is now used only for heavy duty stuff like video editing or developing applications. This PC handles great! I use 4K monitor and it just drives it fine even when my family watches home video streamed by this PC. No hiccups/stuttering!!
Pros:
+ Low power consumption (much less than a filament light bulb)
+ Tiny foot print (stuck behind the monitor)
+ Silent (ask me about it! I occasionally work at 2AM and hated the old PC fan noise)
+ 4 USB Slots (used USB3 slots for external storage devices and USB2 for keyboard+mouse receiver)
+ HDMI + VGA
+ HDD/SSD Slot for additional storage (video drive now stays inside the PC, not USB attached)
+ Micro SD Card slot (I use my action camera a lot - and this helps transferring videos)
+ Ethernet (for those who complain their wifi is slow)
+ Windows 10 Pro, not the Home edition!
Cons:
Of course, even Apple devices have cons. This is not an exception.
- Heat Vent: I would have preferred few extra vents in addition to those at the bottom cover of the PC to dissipate the heat efficiently.
- VGA: though useful for old school folks, I would have preferred another HDMI or USB here!
Wish list:
+ In-built speaker like the ones present in cell phone or tablet
+ USB C power supply
Though I bought it to mainly use as always-on file/media server, in this pandemic situation, I started using this as my Work-From-PC as well - as I just remote into work PC using secure channel. I stopped using my primary, power-hungry home PC - which is now used only for heavy duty stuff like video editing or developing applications. This PC handles great! I use 4K monitor and it just drives it fine even when my family watches home video streamed by this PC. No hiccups/stuttering!!
Pros:
+ Low power consumption (much less than a filament light bulb)
+ Tiny foot print (stuck behind the monitor)
+ Silent (ask me about it! I occasionally work at 2AM and hated the old PC fan noise)
+ 4 USB Slots (used USB3 slots for external storage devices and USB2 for keyboard+mouse receiver)
+ HDMI + VGA
+ HDD/SSD Slot for additional storage (video drive now stays inside the PC, not USB attached)
+ Micro SD Card slot (I use my action camera a lot - and this helps transferring videos)
+ Ethernet (for those who complain their wifi is slow)
+ Windows 10 Pro, not the Home edition!
Cons:
Of course, even Apple devices have cons. This is not an exception.
- Heat Vent: I would have preferred few extra vents in addition to those at the bottom cover of the PC to dissipate the heat efficiently.
- VGA: though useful for old school folks, I would have preferred another HDMI or USB here!
Wish list:
+ In-built speaker like the ones present in cell phone or tablet
+ USB C power supply