Mini PCs Group Test
Discuss this review at http://www.facebook.com/webusermagazine 22 Jan - 4 Feb 2020 23
IntelmakesbarebonesPCssimilarto
theRaspberryPi,butthey’rea lotmore
expensiveandpowerful.Thisis one
suchunit– anNUC83i3BEK,tobe
precise– that’sbeenbuiltupintoa
properPCwith8GBofmemoryanda
Samsung250GBSSDwithWindows 10
installed.
It’sa great-lookingPCthatlivesup
toitssilentname– thecaseitselfacts
asa coolertotransferheatawayfrom
theprocessor.It didwellin our
benchmarktests,significantly
outperformingthecheaperMinixPC(seereview,right),
butatmorethantwicetheprice,that’snosurprise.
Generally,if performanceis yourpriorityin a PC,it’smore
costeffectivetobuyonethatcomesin a largercase.Butif
youwanta miniPCtherunsWindowswell,andyou’rewilling
topayfortheprivilege,thisstylishmodelwon’tdisappoint.
If you’relookingfora trulytiny
WindowsPC,thisunitis
only 38 x 290x 290mm.
There’snofan,soit runs
silently,butit also
doesn’thavea cooling
case,whichmeansit can
onlyrunwitha low-powered
CeleronN4100processor.Alongwithits
4GBofmemory,thismakesit relativelyslow,butthe
affordablepricereflectsthis.It’sgoodenoughforofficework
andwebbrowsing,butwillstrugglewithanythingmore
sophisticated.
The64GBofstorageis disappointing.It’sfastenoughbut
itsWindowsinstallationtakesupmorethanhalfofthedrive’s
capacity.Fortunately,youcanupgradebyaccessingthe
storagefroma flapontheunderside.Thedeviceincludesfour
USBports,thoughonlytwoofthemareUSB3. It alsohas
GigabitEthernetand802.11acWi-Fi.While most people are familiar with the
concept of a Chromebook – a laptop
computer that uses the browser as the core
of its operating system and runs most of its
apps over the web – the desktop-like
Chromebox hasn’t been as enthusiastically
supported by manufacturers. However, it’s
essentially the same thing, except that it
comes in a desktop-style configuration,
including a mouse and keyboard, and needs
connecting to a separate monitor.
The Acer Chromebox CX13 is a recent model that’s available
in a bewildering assortment of specifications. For example,
you could get it with an Intel Celeron 3865U and 4GB of
memory for around £280. The model we’ve used in the Group
Test has a quad-core i5-8250U, 8GB of memory and a 64GB
SSD. At £431.50, it’s a bit expensive, but it runs Chrome OS
like a dream. Our benchmarks don’t let us compare
ChromeOS devices to Windows machines but it feels
remarkablysmooth, even with lots of tabs open.
Built around the Intel Pentium
Silver J5005 processor, this
affordable Windows 10
Pro PC won’t stretch to
running the latest games
but it’s still a capable
Windows model
considering its affordable price.
It only comes with 4GB of memory but you
can open the case and upgrade it to 8GB without spending
too much more money, which we would recommend.
Windows is installed on a 64GB eMMC storage device, so
it’s quick but doesn’t leave a lot of room to store anything
else. It only has three standard USB ports, though they’re all
USB 3, but it comes with an additional USB Type-C port,
Gigabit Ethernet and 802.11ac Wi-Fi. You connect it to a
monitor via its HDMI port.
For the price, it fared reasonably well in our Windows
benchmark, scoring 33 overall. The Quiet PC (below, left)
is fasterbutit’salso vastly more expensive.Minix NeoG41V-4 |£254.90 |
BuyfromAmazon:bit.ly/miniam493Quiet PCUltraNUCPro8 Fanless |£745 |
BuyfromQuietPC:bit.ly/quiet493
Minix NeoJ50C-4| £300|
BuyfromOnBuy:bit.ly/minix493Acer ChromeboxCX13| £431.41|
BuyfromSotel:bit.ly/acer493
FEATURES++++++++ PERFORMANCE++++++++
EASEOFUSE+++++++++ VALUEFORMONEY+++++++++FEATURES++++++++ PERFORMANCE+++++++++
EASE OFUSE++++++++++ VALUE FOR MONEY+++++++++
FEATURES++++++++++ PERFORMANCE+++++++++
EASEOFUSE+++++++++ VALUEFORMONEY++++++++ThispriceyWindowsPC has a decent amount of fast storage,plentyofmemory,
runs silently and looks great. If you want good performance in a small PC, this is
a great option, but you could get more for your money in a bigger package.TheChromeboxCX13runs Google’s Chrome OS and is a greatalternativeif you
want a more accessible operating system than the Raspberry Pi’s Linux. It won’t
run Windows software but is well suited if you spend a lot of time in a browser.If you’reonlywillingtoconsider Windows as an operating system,thisis an
excellent PC - as long as your expectations aren’t too high. It’s pricier than a Pi,
but more powerful, and costs less than the arguably less versatile Chromebox.Thisis thecheapestmini PC in this test that’s capable of runningWindows.
However, it’s a bit underpowered for anything except basic office and browsing
tasks, and it doesn’t have the modern ports of the Minix Neo J50C-4.VERDICT +++++
VERDICT +++++ VERDICT +++++
VERDICT +++++
FEATURES+++++++++ PERFORMANCE++++++++
EASE OFUSE++++++++++ VALUE FOR MONEY+++++++++