NUCs / Tiny PCs

hi all

rearranging the home office/business at home

current set up is:

Primary Desk

i5 4570
8gb RAM
250g SSD
1TB HDD
GeForce GTX 760 2gb
500w PSU
Mini-ITX case
2 x Dell U2410's

Secondary Desk (smaller desk space)

Toshiba Portege R930 i5 laptop
Dock
Dell U2413

have bought 2 new desks, so am looking to go dual screens on both desks, so looking at replacing laptop + dock with a NUC/small PC and a second screen

while i'm at it, i suppose i'd look at moving from my main rig to a NUC/small PC

use will be basic internet (cloud based software packages) and microsoft office type work, so don't need fancy graphics or fast processor

storage isn't a huge deal either, will be upgrading to a NAS or at least attaching an external HDD to my router

would prefer Windows 10

so are all NUC's created equal or are there any brands i should steer clear of?

i presume a Celeron based system with 2gb RAM should be enough for my needs? obviously faster processor and more RAM would be nice, but probably overkill for basic home use

do many monitors come with VGA input anymore? a few of the NUCs i've looked at only have HDMI + VGA, but at least can output to both

i assume a NUC would use less power than the main rig above? would it be by much? i work from home, so reduced power usage would be nice

any other suggestions?

thanks all

 

Hey mate,

I personally have a i5 16Gb Memory 1Tb SSD Lenovo tiny PC.
Able to output 4K, Fantastic machine, I would recommend this one.

Depends what your main rig is designed to do really, (gaming etc)

Are you handy, Can you build workstations? that's another question which you could save some $$$

 

NUC is a product line made by Intel, honestly mate for what you are doing you'd be fine with most of them just spec in an M2 and an i3 decent chunk of RAM (4GB+) and you'd be golden imo. I personally think Celery and 2GB is a tad under what i'd be comfortable with. As for display you can get monitors that will have whatever input you need.

eBay EOFY sale incoming at station sponsor CA i think later this week - bag something then.



https://www.computeralliance.com.au/barebone-chassis/!manufacturer/intel

 

I'd be looking at some secondhand Dell\Lenovo SFF machines from business.
Again, we don't know your workload\use-case or your budget.

 

shit, knew i forgot something

workload is light, like the only things i really use are:

Outlook
MS Office
Chrome (to access cloud software like Xero etc.)
Slack
Skype
Zoom

budget would be around $300-400 each, but it seems for my usage a NUC/Tiny PC is more a form factor/space saver

you're probably right that an SFF business machine is probably a better way to go, and just stash them under the desk instead of on top of

and i reckon $200 will get me a solid SFF PC

will do some hunting around, thanks

 

Yep, a second hand business machine from eBay would easily do the trick, also most have dual display port\HDMI.
You generally also get an OEM Windows 10 key which you dont get with a NUC.

 

cheers, thanks mate

 

I got a lenovo m92p tiny with i5 and dual dp output if that's enough?

 

Be aware some of the sff PC's with display port, don't do audio over display port, if that's relevant to you.

 

thanks, but not relevant for my purposes

 

I use two Intel NUCs for TV here. Both stream Foxtel, Netflix, and everything. One upstairs in our bedroom connected to a TV, and the other drives our Home Theatre. Both work great, even streaming in 4K.

Perhaps though a better option would be a SFF PC (if it's for business get something like the HP ProDesk/Elitedesk Small Form Factor Business Workstations). Some come with 3 year onsite warranties as well, as pretty much purchase and forget. Smaller ones fit on the back of monitors VESA mounts.

E.G:
https://h20386.www2.hp.com/AustraliaStore/Merch/Product.aspx?id=4VT99PA&opt=&sel=DTP $789 w 3 yr onsite Next Business Day Warranty
https://h20386.www2.hp.com/AustraliaStore/Merch/Product.aspx?id=4YH04PA&opt=&sel=DTP $1024

As a business you'll know you can write them off straight away.

 

yeah, now expanding the search to SFF and USFF PC's

wasn't really looking at new (cos i probly need 2), but something to think about

cheers

 

These suckers are all over ebay

https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/455534

 

'just web stuff', but chrome loves ram and cores. I'd be going i3 and 8gb of ram for sanity if it were me

 

thanks guys, am looking at 2 of the following:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Dell-Op...-2-5GHz-4GB-120GB-SSD-Win-10-Pro/162557385500
$148.50 delivered - which i'd have the option of dropping an extra 4gb RAM if needed. not sure if i get a tax invoice, could be $135 ex GST

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/EDSYS-S...SD-Nvidia-Quadro-K600-Win-10-Pro/163156339912
$207 delivered (tax invoice, so $188 ex GST) - never heard of this "brand", but specs seem OK? 30 day warranty

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HP-ELIT...GB-SSD-DVDRW-WINDOWS-10-PRO-AVIR/352599939407
$126.58 delivered (tax invoice, so $115 ex GST) - although SSD is a little small and also only 4gb RAM which i could upgrade

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/LENOVO-...8GB-SSD-TINY-FORM-FACTOR-FAST-PC/183607692232
$252 delivered (tax invoice, so $229 ex GST) - 12 months warranty!

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Refurbi...-240GB-SSD-Windows-10-Desktop-PC/254224131711
$247.50 delivered (tax invoice, so $225 ex GST) - looks pretty solid, 3 months warranty on the machine, 3 years on the SSD (as it's new)

i realise i'll need Wi-Fi cards or USB for these, although they'll be network cabled straight to the router

when my internet provider goes down (seems to happen once a year or so), i need to hotspot off my phone to continue working

leaning toward the Dell 9020, but considering the M93P for the wife approval factor

 

I'd go the lenovo or dell.

 

I'd avoid refurb if possible (in particular Dells and Lenovos). Dells have hit and miss models, whilst Lenovos post sales service/support is beyond woeful (unless it's changed in recent years). Never heard of EDSYS either.

Whilst the HP 8200s (8xxx) are awesome, because they have VGA and Displayport (no HDMI) they can be tricky to get working with dual displays, and aren't without their issues. Have fleet supported them before.

HP Prodesk and EliteDesk 8xx/6xx often have dual Displayports though (circa 2014 models so out of warranty now). You can use DisplayPort>HDMI adaptors with them.

Some SFF are the size of small desktop cases (not the size of NUCs), just be aware of that. They were more reliable though.

Keep an eye on GraysOnline as every so often distributors dump old stock on them (brand new older models), and you can pick stuff up at a decent price if you have a keen eye.

 

thanks lads

the Lenovo is being sold by a third party who will provide 12 months warranty, so wouldn't be dealing with Lenovo directly anyway

hopefully the DP and VGA on the Lenovo won't be hard to figure out

will check out GraysOnline, cheers

 

Absolutely, if you are considering a NUC, i3 or i5 is the way to go. I have Celeron based NUC, i3 and i5. The Celeron version does feel underpowered.

 

what do you use the Celeron for?