Wanted: Cheap Computing 💸

Hey all, welcome to Boxed News, which plans to be a weekly source for all things mini PC. There are plenty of reasons I wanted to start an ultra-niche news outlet like this. But one of the big ones is that I’ve suddenly found myself with a bunch of them … and kind of realized I found them downright exciting.

They’re powerful enough to power your home entertainment system, and your TV, and maybe even replace a cloud subscription or three. And they don’t siphon power; they sip it.

And if I’m excited about this little scene, other folks probably are, too. Of course, the problem is that right now is not exactly the best time to get into a space like this, in part because the prices are so out of whack. (Need an example? See the $300 leap in Mac Mini prices this week.)

My goal with this newsletter, which I’ve decided to run separately from Tedium, is to help folks who want another machine figure out the best way to use it. We’ll take quick glances at emerging software that’s targeted towards these machines, such as self-hosting tools and the occasional AI agent thing. But we also think through what it means to have a machine that might not be your main device, but still plays an important role in your computing life. Should this be a box grinding away on stuff 24/7? Should this be a set-it-and-forget it machine? And is it enough for your computing needs that you can hold off on that big gaming PC build you’ve been thinking about?

And can you get away with something a little older over something that’s bleeding edge?

Those are just a few starting points. For this weekly newsletter, we’ll go over some of the topics you’re likely to hear about as you dig into this world and are just looking for a device that works.

Got a nerd in your life who’s thinking about getting a mini PC? Send ’em this way. We’ll send them on the right path.

Hot-Plugging

Driver dilemma: The risks of trusting the default install

For a lot of people, one of the first things they do with a mini PC is wipe the preinstalled copy of Windows in favor of something else. Usually, that’s Linux, but if you’re even thinking of running Windows by default, should you start fresh anyway?

A recent story involving Geekom suggests that the answer to that question might be yes. Last week, a user on Reddit spotted that the NVMe driver for their Geekom mini PC was flagged as malware by Windows Defender. And other malware scanners also flag the software as being malicious, a bad sign for that particular driver. It’s not the only tale of this nature, either: Acemagic ran into a similar kerfuffle a couple years back after a few of its machines shipped with spyware.

Which seems like as strong a case as any to maybe grab your drivers from the official website … and avoid the potential for drama. Or maybe just grab a fresh copy, because you never know what’s gonna happen.

Mini-Links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O0IoHSm0qw

» Low-end processor, high-end networking: Beelink’s recent EQi device ($469 on Amazon) has a mere five cores on its Intel Core i3 304, making it a generational upgrade from the N150. But unlike most lower-end models, it has fast networking and Thunderbolt 4, which is why TechRadar gave it a pretty strong review.

» Turns out you can use a Mac Mini accessory with a Windows mini PC just fine.

» YouTuber ETA Prime is totally enamored with the Piston V mini PC, which rocks a large screen and stands upright. But he has no idea who makes it.

Jargon Watch

WTF is MCIO?

If you are even possibly thinking of getting an external GPU for your higher-end mini PC, you have probably heard of OCuLink and Thunderbolt. (For the layperson: OCuLink is faster and extremely stable, but not hot-pluggable; Thunderbolt is more common and more versatile, but slower.) But some recent mini PCs, notably a high-profile entrant from GPD, sport a Mini Cool Edge IO® (MCIO) port. WTF is that? Well, like OCuLink, MCIO essentially a server interconnect technology that found a use case in the consumer realm thanks to the emergence of the eGPU.

Deal Watch

» The Minisforum refurbished store is always packed with great deals. One highlight is the AtomMan G7 Ti, which is selling as a barebones kit for $799. Its standout feature? A built-in 5070 laptop GPU.

» Serial ports for days. Old embedded PCs have a lot of potential as makeshift retro machines. That’s especially true if they have a lot of serial ports, like the Celeron 3215U-based Qotom Q310P does. It has six (count ’em, six) serial ports, which means you could theoretically run six serial mice to scroll around on up to two monitors. Plus, they go for less than $100 a piece, perfect for an impulse buy.

» Speaking of embedded machines, one of the cheaper options around these days for mini PCs is the Ryzen Embedded R2544, a low-end model that blazes well ahead of the Intel N100 in terms of raw performance. (Though word of warning that Intel has better video transcoding capabilities, so that’s a better option as, say, a Plex server.) This Kamrui unit is selling on Amazon for less than $300.

Mini PCs in History

One of the first answers to the question, “How do we compete with the Mac Mini?”

The Mac Mini might have revolutionized the mini PC by fitting the whole thing into a flat rectangular case way back in 2005, but that meant there was a ton of room for catch-up after the fact. One of the earliest to try was AOpen, which announced its first mini PC back in 2005. Sporting an Intel Pentium M, a processor that would appear in the original Apple TV set-top box the next year, the micro aimed for the same market that the Intel NUC would develop half a decade later.

Reviewers were enamored. While raising concerns that Apple might attempt to sue AOpen, Maximum PC wrote that the machine was “an amazing balance of miniaturization and user-friendliness.” And unlike the original Mac Mini, which infamously required a putty knife to open, mere mortals could make their way into the AOpen.

“We expected the Mini to be horrible to wrench on, but it’s an easy unit to crack open,” the outlet stated.

By the way, AOpen is still at it today, by the way, mostly focused on embedded systems. And its early DNA appears to have seeped through; its modern-day AOpen Ace Mini continues to rock the distinctive on-button-in-the-middle design of its first mini PC.

Got a weird mini PC in your archives? Send a pic to us, and we might feature it here.

OK, we’re just getting started with this—and would love your feedback! Bug us at ernie@boxed.news and let us know what you’d like to see here as we get going. Cheers!