Cheap PC
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I switched my $1,000 desktop to a $300 mini PC and regret nothing
Beelink sells an array of miniature computers, but the one I bought currently costs $274 (or $244 for Prime members) with the following specs:
AMD Ryzen 5 5500U processor
16GB of RAM (DDR4)
512GB of storage (M.2 NVMe)
Windows 11 Pro
Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2Front ports: Two USB-A 3.2, one USB-C, 3.5mm audio
Rear ports: One USB-A 3.0, one USB-A 2.0, two HDMI 2.0, gigabit ethernetSpec-wise, this is roughly on par with laptops in the $500 to $700 price range, except of course you’ll have to supply your own mouse, keyboard, and screen. The 5×5-inch frame is small enough to pick up with one hand, and it comes with VESA brackets for mounting the computer to the back of a monitor or television.
The Beelink SER5 also hides a neat feature on its underside: Removing the bottom plate reveals a slot for a 2.5-inch storage drive. I bought a 1TB solid state drive to store all my OneDrive files locally, and the PC recognized it without issue. (The device’s RAM and M.2 storage drive are upgradeable as well.)
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That's very cool. It's cheap enough so you could buy it just for fun, although admittedly 'fun' might be somewhat subjective here.
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Apple’s cheapest comparison: M2 silicon entry level Mac mini @ $600 with half the RAM and half the SSD storage capacity.
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Apple’s cheapest comparison: M2 silicon entry level Mac mini @ $600 with half the RAM and half the SSD storage capacity.
Apple’s cheapest comparison: M2 silicon entry level Mac mini @ $600 with half the RAM and half the SSD storage capacity.
Yes. However, Apple claims that 8GB is more than enough for the M2 processor. Mrs. George has a MacBook Air with 8GB and it's fine. My current Mac is a Mini with 16GB, and I never have a problem.
It's all about what you want to do with it. This is not a tool for video professionals. It's an everyday computer.
But...I agree with you on the storage. 512GB should be the absolute minimum. Granted, cloud storage helps, a lot, but it's nice to have things local should you have connectivity problems.
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Would never work.
@Aqua-Letifer said in Cheap PC:
Would never work.
Which? The Mac Mini, or this little thing?
Would never work for what?
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@Aqua-Letifer said in Cheap PC:
Would never work.
Which? The Mac Mini, or this little thing?
Would never work for what?
@Aqua-Letifer said in Cheap PC:
Would never work.
Which? The Mac Mini, or this little thing?
Would never work for what?
The thing you posted. I could never use it.
You were right that it's a good everyday machine, but I'm still stuck having to use somewhere between a MacBook air and pro.Please love yourself.
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Apple’s cheapest comparison: M2 silicon entry level Mac mini @ $600 with half the RAM and half the SSD storage capacity.
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Turn the $300 PC into a Hackintosh.
Is that still a thing?
I considered it, a long time ago, but the lack of approved software updates from Apple made it quite the gamble.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@Aqua-Letifer said in Cheap PC:
Would never work.
Which? The Mac Mini, or this little thing?
Would never work for what?
The thing you posted. I could never use it.
You were right that it's a good everyday machine, but I'm still stuck having to use somewhere between a MacBook air and pro.@Aqua-Letifer said in Cheap PC:
@Aqua-Letifer said in Cheap PC:
Would never work.
Which? The Mac Mini, or this little thing?
Would never work for what?
The thing you posted. I could never use it.
You were right that it's a good everyday machine, but I'm still stuck having to use somewhere between a MacBook air and pro.You might not use it, but a lot of people like me would. What do most people do with a computer at home? Remote learning or school projects, shopping, social media, and light productivity applications. It's not robust enough for gaming or graphic work, but that's not its intended customer.
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@Aqua-Letifer said in Cheap PC:
@Aqua-Letifer said in Cheap PC:
Would never work.
Which? The Mac Mini, or this little thing?
Would never work for what?
The thing you posted. I could never use it.
You were right that it's a good everyday machine, but I'm still stuck having to use somewhere between a MacBook air and pro.You might not use it, but a lot of people like me would. What do most people do with a computer at home? Remote learning or school projects, shopping, social media, and light productivity applications. It's not robust enough for gaming or graphic work, but that's not its intended customer.
@Aqua-Letifer said in Cheap PC:
@Aqua-Letifer said in Cheap PC:
Would never work.
Which? The Mac Mini, or this little thing?
Would never work for what?
The thing you posted. I could never use it.
You were right that it's a good everyday machine, but I'm still stuck having to use somewhere between a MacBook air and pro.You might not use it, but a lot of people like me would. What do most people do with a computer at home? Remote learning or school projects, shopping, social media, and light productivity applications. It's not robust enough for gaming or graphic work, but that's not its intended customer.
Oh yeah, great idea. I'm just bummed I can't downgrade.
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You could write a Great American Novel on it...
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Turn the $300 PC into a Hackintosh.
Is that still a thing?
I considered it, a long time ago, but the lack of approved software updates from Apple made it quite the gamble.
It works well if you buy hardware that is known to work with Mac OS. If you have just a random PC and try to install Mac OS, you are asking for problems.
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Plus it chops figs as an extra feature.
The thing GK posted is cool, like a Raspberry Pi on steroids. Not sure it could handle decent graphics though, unless I missed the graphics card component.
