Mini PC - Unboxing

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(Edited)

It was just a couple of weeks ago that I shared my latest mini pc that I was going to use as a node runner. Sadly that one had a cooling liquid leak and I sent it back for a refund. I have ordered a new one that I will do an unboxing when it arrives.

In the mean time, I ordered this little puppy as a media PC to replace my last mini pc that I actually put together myself. When compared to each other, it looks HUGE now compared the current range of mini PCs.

I didn't even have a built in Wifi, so had this horrible dongle thing that I was using. I could have bought something more modern actually but used it mostly over LAN anyhow. What will I do with this now HUGE older mini PC. Can I make a home server out of it or something?

The new Blitzwolf seems really cool, powered with 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD drive that loads very fast. It currently has Windows that I am considering to wipe for something more secure. The CPU is an Intel N100, which is pretty crappy when you think of processors, but for some basic stuff should be fine.

The first thing I did was unscrew this little puppy and have a look under the bonnet. I have my special PC screw set, although the electric ones are quite popular right now, this manual one works so well, I didn't feel the need to upgrade it. It also comes with these handy plastic things to help get difficult to open plastic parts open which is so handy and avoids me damaging anything.

Inside it looked quite different to the Beelink and even seems to have space for a 2nd SSD upgrade. I would not need to use it though as storage is hardly needed these days with subscription services and everything.

It comes with a lot of useful slots and can power everything that you might need. Funnily it comes with a larger RAM and HD than Apple delivers in their standard models and this unit costs less than getting any upgrade too! LOL

It's amazing how little space it will take up and I noticed already how much quieter it is too. The fan was driving me crazy on the old one. I saw there was plenty of heat absorption on the SSD and chips, so hopefully it will manage to stay cool enough during usage.

With no upgrades or anything needed out of the box, I felt abit useless. I can't think of anything that I would need to upgrade it at the moment, but maybe something will come along.

Thanks for reading.

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33 comments
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Still thinking about getting one like that but just gave myself a new laptop for my bday 🎈 😂😂

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Congrats! Happy Bday! A new laptop is always nice, it came at the right time with BTC over $100k! I didn't replace my broken laptop yet, but am considering to get something at somepoint.

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Mine was broken inside and outside but it still worked but since I got this Asus Expert book convertible for 600 as black friday offer I am glad I did.

I just use it too much to get annoyed by little defects

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Good choice!!

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Thanks and after a week of use, it feels I got a lot of quality for a good price.

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What node you're running?

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This is just a media server this time. 👊

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I have one Sinology NAS for that, 6 TB (2x3TB discs) + two 3TB USB connected. I thought you ran some miner/witness node :)

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I like the mini pc form factor. Less heat generation, and they take up only a tiny space compaired to a traditional full tower setup. I have not heard of this brand. I have three mini pc boxes, 2 of the K2 Plus models and a Cybergeek.

The biggest upgrade for me (besides the proc), was the increase to 32GB of RAM , which allows me to do so much more without worrying about running low on memory. Going forward, that will be the minimum amount necessary for me with any new build. You can never have too much memory or fast SSD storage.

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I totally agree. I have heard of those brands and they are pretty good.

I also think you can't have enough RAM or SSD. I am so happy with these smaller PCs, I am thinking to replace my desktop too, it's so big.

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Looks great. My father also bought mini pc for home couple days ago. So I'm waiting when it'll be possible to check it by myself ;)

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They are awesome pieces of kit, so compact it's amazing!

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So for me it all is waiting ahead. And I think in one of upcoming HH shows I can to share my experience! ;)

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That thing looks cute... I was playing with Raspberry back in the day, but I have no idea where it is atm... lol... When the mining thing went off, I stopped poking around the hardware... :)

Sorry to hear that the node runner had issues, but will you pursue that thing forward? I mean, when you get it, you will use it as a node?

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It is a good looking piece of kit and I've got it nicely set up already. So happy with how little space it takes.

Yes I will be setting up my node still, there was a black Friday offer to order the kit directly from the Devs and I am so excited to see when it comes. It looks really awesome and has the node already setup on there, so sadly no installation and hardware upgrades for me to do this time, but was cool to support the team behind it and get their customised gear. They also based in Germany. Will do a post when arrives. 😀

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You had to send the BeeLink back or a different one? That is a pretty sweet little machine. It's amazing what they are packing into small packages these days!

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I had to send the Beelink back as it had a cooling liquid leak. I ordered something better to replace it, once it arrives I will make a post! So now I have no Beelink, even though it seemed generally good quality, perhaps I was just unlucky.

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I guess I didn't realize the BeeLinks have liquid cooling. It all looked pretty passive to me. Very interesting. I hope the new one works out well for you.

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You're diving more and more into the tech side of things, I like that :-)
Would be happy to read a post of what OS and software you put on it eventually. Keep us updated.
!SLOTH

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That is pretty cool! I'll have to look into those, less expensive and smaller are a huge plus. I know what you mean about noisy fans, they drive me nuts too!

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Definetly worth looking into, there are some great options available right now.

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