I have used other mini-PCs before but they have all been budget priced, low specced units designed for use as TV boxes or for simple web browsing and word processing. Be assured this is not one of those. Rather than the low-end Atom processor this o…
I have used other mini-PCs before but they have all been budget priced, low specced units designed for use as TV boxes or for simple web browsing and word processing. Be assured this is not one of those. Rather than the low-end Atom processor this one runs a quad-core Intel Apollo Lake Celeron N3450 CPU with 4 GB of RAM, dual band wifi, Gigabit Ethernet, USB-C, expansion bay, and has full legal Windows 10 Home pre-installed. This no i7 but it is much more than just a TV Box and is capable of processor intensive computing tasks spread over two displays
In the attractive mid-market product box was the mini PC itself, a power supply with UK plug, 80mm HDMI cable, 20mm HDMI cable, mounting bracket and two nicely printed and well-written User Guides. I include a scan of the User Guide at the end of my unboxing video. Switch to full screen and pause as needed to read it.
There is no more setup required than with any other new computer. Connect the power supply and the monitor cable to your monitor and switch on. The device has both VGA and HDMI outputs which can be used together or separately. Sadly, there is no Displayport socket. You will then be presented with the standard Windows 10 setup screen which walks you through getting the computer up and running. You will need to connect either a normal keyboard and mouse or a wireless mini keyboard with USB dongle as I did. Windows recognised the dongle at once and so all setup could be done wirelessly. Once configured you can then activate and update Windows 10 to the latest build and security version. A fully legal licensed version of Window 10 Home is pre-installed and no licence needs to be purchased.
The computer has a good range of ports and connectivity for the size and price: two USB 3.0, two USB 2.0, USB-C, HDMI, VGA, Gigabit Ethernet, audio in/out, TF card, 5Ghz/2.4Ghz wifi, Bluetooth 4. It has an easy access expansion port capable of housing an additional SSD (a 64GB SSD is already fitted) or a 2.5" hard dr..
