RandyDSok
Well-Known Member
You may ask why a geeky computer post on a RC hobby forum... and it'd be a good question if it weren't for what I'd seen over this weekend... specifically today when I tested Realflight 5.5 on one and found that it works better than the first regular PC that I had it installed on a couple years ago. BTW... I'm a computer tech and my regular PC's have never been anything to sneeze at even back then.
What this post is about... is my own search for a decent basic Mini PC that most home users or even some business's could use that were easy to use and solid enough to count on as well. Recent changes in the last few months have finally made it possible without breaking the bank.
I started looking into the MiniPC's well over a year ago. For my business, it was in hopes to provide a basic and affordable computer that could do some multimedia and be good for the internet, email and other basic computing tasks. For my own needs, I was also hoping they worked well enough that I could also turn off my cable tv and just stream the tv or movies I was wanting to watch. They were all based on Android computers which I was familiar with and had already been impressed by on my smartphone. The cost of one of the cheapies was less than a month's CATV bill... just over two months worth if you got an actually good quality one. So there certainly was a good incentive to at least check these out.
Well... the first unit I got... I'd say was a let down but it actually was just as I expected... poor... but it actually did some of the stuff a lot better than I'd expected. The second once doesn't count... I ordered one thing, they sent another and then just ended up refunding me without asking for me to return the unit even because it wasn't even what they had thought... The third one was a solid system and local content worked well but streaming video was not up to snuff, so it wasn't even a CATV replacement not to mention a basic PC that I could recommend. I finally got a fourth unit and didn't skimp... got one of the if not the top of the line devices at the time. Everything on it worked as I'd wished the only let down... was the Android OS itself. It worked as a MediaPC great... but I couldn't expect an average user to be able to set it up themselves and there are simply not enough good mature programs on Android yet... So I stopped looking but if nothing else I had a great working MediaPC that allowed me to cut my CATV off. Don't get me wrong, I love my Android phone... there are just not any great email programs, word processor, spreadsheet programs... even the internet browsers weren't up to PC uses even if they are fine on a smartphone with a small screen.
The changes that make it finally possible... Intel and to some degree even AMD has been rushing to catch up in the tablet and smart phone areana's... Intel now has a quad core 1.83Ghz CPU/GPU that has low power requirments and a lot of folks have been impressed with ( I haven't researched AMD's line but I've heard good things there also ). Intel came out with a MiniPC line a few years back called the NUC, the lower end consisting of their smaller dual and now quad core processors... their upper end ones even use their higher end i7 processors. The cost on these, once you've gotten all of the parts... were still higher than a standard good quality PC but their form factor, being so small was certainly enticing to a lot of users.
Then Microsoft made licensing changes to their Windows 8.1 that finally brought everything else together and made it affordable. Before this change... to install the Home version... the PC maker may be paying up to $100 just for the OS ( quantity licensing does bring that amount down some ). Now, with this new licensing for tablet and smaller screen devices ( 10.1" or less )... that becomes between $10-$25 depending on the device it's going into. The regular PC market's pricing didn't drop... just these smaller devices license pricing did.
So... Intel has recently released a low cost good performing CPU/GPU and a chipset for it... MS has dropped it's OS cost down... then the Asian market came into it and took the ball and ran. Most are fixed system memory and fixed internal storage. These are pretty nice as they are... they blow away what I got last year that was one of the top Android devices and they do it with a well known OS that has much more mature programs and hardware devices available.
Zotac is one of those companies... only they were also providing units that have expandable memory and storage similar to what Intel NUC's have but at a much nicer price point... recently, they released a few complete with Win8.1 installed. So again... I decided to check one of them out.
I selected the one I thought was the best bang to start off with and allowed expansion. An Intel dual core 1.4Ghz processor, 2Gb of system memory upgradeable to 16Gb if needed, and an included 64Gb SSD drive with room inside for another SATA 2.5" laptop drive ( SSD or HDD ). It has 4 USB3 and 2 USB 2 ports... a media reader and HDMI and DVI ( yes dual video output ) video out ports. For networking... it only includes a 1Gb Ethernet adapter so if you want WiFi, you'll be using one of the USB ports for it. All in the area of the size of a good book. These can be had for as low as $180 but typically go for about $235-ish
To briefly ( I don't do briefly well btw if you haven't noticed ) go over the one I didn't get that is a step up in most areas.. It's an Intel 1.83Ghz quad core processor with 2Gb of system memory upgradeable only to 8Gb, the same 64Gb SSD drive along with an internal SATA port for a laptop hdd if needed.... this one includes the same ethernet network adapter but also includes a built in dual band WifI with it. It also comes with Win8.1 included. These are only about a 5"x5" device actually and can be fitted directly to the back of many HD monitors and TV's. These run around the $250 mark or there abouts. I didn't find this one until after I had already ordered the other... but as it turns out the other works well for what I was looking for.
Boot time on Win8.1 with the unit I got ( the dual core one )... around 10-15 seconds with an antivirus program installed. Playing local high definition video is just outstanding, streaming it from the internet isn't bad after you wait for it to buffer in ( HD content is currently huge files that just take time to download/stream ). The picture output is excellent with bright vivid colors and great contrast allowing even details in the shadows to show up well ( providing you have your output setup properly of course ). The audio from the music is full and everything you'd expect from a really nice audio system. Office programs such as word processors, spreadsheets, database stuff... work without even breaking a sweat.
The last thing I tested, as I mentioned... was RealFlight v5.5. When I first installed it... it setup using lower quality settings... so I went through and turned up all of the important detail qualities and a few of the lessor important ones... everything is now set at the default settings or to their highest setting. As I taxied down the runway... it exhibited the typical stutter that RF on this version always had... but I sort of held my breath at that point anyway. Once it was in the air... it was as smooth as I remember. The video signal was a little lower quality but I had this hooked up to a HD TV and not a computer monitor... so that is actually typical of HD TV's and not a fault of the device.
These devices... plain and simple... work great for most home pc and many of the smaller needs that a business would require. If you are planning to do high end gaming, 3D graphics rendering, CAD work or similar type or things... this isn't for you... but for most other basic needs including HD multimedia playback and general computing... they fit the bill nicely without breaking the budget.
What this post is about... is my own search for a decent basic Mini PC that most home users or even some business's could use that were easy to use and solid enough to count on as well. Recent changes in the last few months have finally made it possible without breaking the bank.
I started looking into the MiniPC's well over a year ago. For my business, it was in hopes to provide a basic and affordable computer that could do some multimedia and be good for the internet, email and other basic computing tasks. For my own needs, I was also hoping they worked well enough that I could also turn off my cable tv and just stream the tv or movies I was wanting to watch. They were all based on Android computers which I was familiar with and had already been impressed by on my smartphone. The cost of one of the cheapies was less than a month's CATV bill... just over two months worth if you got an actually good quality one. So there certainly was a good incentive to at least check these out.
Well... the first unit I got... I'd say was a let down but it actually was just as I expected... poor... but it actually did some of the stuff a lot better than I'd expected. The second once doesn't count... I ordered one thing, they sent another and then just ended up refunding me without asking for me to return the unit even because it wasn't even what they had thought... The third one was a solid system and local content worked well but streaming video was not up to snuff, so it wasn't even a CATV replacement not to mention a basic PC that I could recommend. I finally got a fourth unit and didn't skimp... got one of the if not the top of the line devices at the time. Everything on it worked as I'd wished the only let down... was the Android OS itself. It worked as a MediaPC great... but I couldn't expect an average user to be able to set it up themselves and there are simply not enough good mature programs on Android yet... So I stopped looking but if nothing else I had a great working MediaPC that allowed me to cut my CATV off. Don't get me wrong, I love my Android phone... there are just not any great email programs, word processor, spreadsheet programs... even the internet browsers weren't up to PC uses even if they are fine on a smartphone with a small screen.
The changes that make it finally possible... Intel and to some degree even AMD has been rushing to catch up in the tablet and smart phone areana's... Intel now has a quad core 1.83Ghz CPU/GPU that has low power requirments and a lot of folks have been impressed with ( I haven't researched AMD's line but I've heard good things there also ). Intel came out with a MiniPC line a few years back called the NUC, the lower end consisting of their smaller dual and now quad core processors... their upper end ones even use their higher end i7 processors. The cost on these, once you've gotten all of the parts... were still higher than a standard good quality PC but their form factor, being so small was certainly enticing to a lot of users.
Then Microsoft made licensing changes to their Windows 8.1 that finally brought everything else together and made it affordable. Before this change... to install the Home version... the PC maker may be paying up to $100 just for the OS ( quantity licensing does bring that amount down some ). Now, with this new licensing for tablet and smaller screen devices ( 10.1" or less )... that becomes between $10-$25 depending on the device it's going into. The regular PC market's pricing didn't drop... just these smaller devices license pricing did.
So... Intel has recently released a low cost good performing CPU/GPU and a chipset for it... MS has dropped it's OS cost down... then the Asian market came into it and took the ball and ran. Most are fixed system memory and fixed internal storage. These are pretty nice as they are... they blow away what I got last year that was one of the top Android devices and they do it with a well known OS that has much more mature programs and hardware devices available.
Zotac is one of those companies... only they were also providing units that have expandable memory and storage similar to what Intel NUC's have but at a much nicer price point... recently, they released a few complete with Win8.1 installed. So again... I decided to check one of them out.
I selected the one I thought was the best bang to start off with and allowed expansion. An Intel dual core 1.4Ghz processor, 2Gb of system memory upgradeable to 16Gb if needed, and an included 64Gb SSD drive with room inside for another SATA 2.5" laptop drive ( SSD or HDD ). It has 4 USB3 and 2 USB 2 ports... a media reader and HDMI and DVI ( yes dual video output ) video out ports. For networking... it only includes a 1Gb Ethernet adapter so if you want WiFi, you'll be using one of the USB ports for it. All in the area of the size of a good book. These can be had for as low as $180 but typically go for about $235-ish
To briefly ( I don't do briefly well btw if you haven't noticed ) go over the one I didn't get that is a step up in most areas.. It's an Intel 1.83Ghz quad core processor with 2Gb of system memory upgradeable only to 8Gb, the same 64Gb SSD drive along with an internal SATA port for a laptop hdd if needed.... this one includes the same ethernet network adapter but also includes a built in dual band WifI with it. It also comes with Win8.1 included. These are only about a 5"x5" device actually and can be fitted directly to the back of many HD monitors and TV's. These run around the $250 mark or there abouts. I didn't find this one until after I had already ordered the other... but as it turns out the other works well for what I was looking for.
Boot time on Win8.1 with the unit I got ( the dual core one )... around 10-15 seconds with an antivirus program installed. Playing local high definition video is just outstanding, streaming it from the internet isn't bad after you wait for it to buffer in ( HD content is currently huge files that just take time to download/stream ). The picture output is excellent with bright vivid colors and great contrast allowing even details in the shadows to show up well ( providing you have your output setup properly of course ). The audio from the music is full and everything you'd expect from a really nice audio system. Office programs such as word processors, spreadsheets, database stuff... work without even breaking a sweat.
The last thing I tested, as I mentioned... was RealFlight v5.5. When I first installed it... it setup using lower quality settings... so I went through and turned up all of the important detail qualities and a few of the lessor important ones... everything is now set at the default settings or to their highest setting. As I taxied down the runway... it exhibited the typical stutter that RF on this version always had... but I sort of held my breath at that point anyway. Once it was in the air... it was as smooth as I remember. The video signal was a little lower quality but I had this hooked up to a HD TV and not a computer monitor... so that is actually typical of HD TV's and not a fault of the device.
These devices... plain and simple... work great for most home pc and many of the smaller needs that a business would require. If you are planning to do high end gaming, 3D graphics rendering, CAD work or similar type or things... this isn't for you... but for most other basic needs including HD multimedia playback and general computing... they fit the bill nicely without breaking the budget.
