I switched my $1000 desktop for a $300 mini PC and regret nothing

Earlier this Twelve months, I impulse-offered a runt, cheap desktop PC for research purposes. I didn’t search data from it to substitute my total computing setup.

But right here I am now, utilizing the $300 Beelink SER5 Mini PC as my day-to-day workhorse, powering an ultrawide 1440p 100Hz video display and smoothly handling any productiveness job I’ve thrown at it. This little laptop has been so luscious to utilize that I’ve relegated my fleshy-sized desktop tower PC to the basement television, the put it’s now serving completely as a gaming rig.

Have faith this a lesson on technological overkill. Out of doors of some definitely expert utilize cases, the the predominant compute energy for getting things achieved might well also very effectively be plenty less than you watched.

This tale first appeared in Advisorator, Jared’s weekly tech advice e-newsletter. Check in to learn unique tech ideas every Tuesday.

Additional reading: 5 causes to safe a mini PC as an alternative of a laptop laptop

Sizing up the mini PC

Beelink sells an array of minute computers, however the one I offered at the moment costs $359 with the following specs:

• AMD Ryzen 5 6600H processor
• 16GB of RAM (DDR4)
• 512GB of storage (M.2 NVMe)
• Home windows 11 Pro
• Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
• Front 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 ethernet

Jared Newman / Foundry

Jared Newman / Foundry

Jared Newman / Foundry

Spec-wise, this is roughly on par with laptops within the $500 to $700 model fluctuate, with the exception of of route you’ll must supply your bear mouse, keyboard, and camouflage. The 5×5-proceed frame is runt ample to safe with one hand, and it comes with VESA brackets for mounting the laptop to the aid of a video display or television.

Additional reading: Basically the most productive shows we’ve examined

The Beelink SER5 moreover hides a natty feature on its underside: Casting off the backside plate reveals a slot for a 2.5-proceed storage pressure. I offered a 1TB solid state pressure to retailer all my OneDrive recordsdata domestically, and the PC known it with out venture. (The instrument’s RAM and M.2 storage pressure are upgradeable as effectively.)

Jared Newman / Foundry

Jared Newman / Foundry

Jared Newman / Foundry

The way it fares

Coming into into, my blueprint used to be to in brief play around with the SER5’s default Home windows 11 Pro set up sooner than going aid to my in model desktop for work. Even if I didn’t utilize the mini PC on an everyday foundation, I figured it’d be helpful for experimenting with other operating techniques equivalent to Linux or Chrome OS Flex.

Within the pause, the transition to day-to-day work used to be so seamless that I by no components went aid to my primitive laptop in any admire.

As a tech journalist, my work once quickly entails writing in Obsidian, chatting in Slack with colleagues (and my e-newsletter readers), juggling a pair of dozen browser tabs in Courageous, and attending video calls in Zoom or Google Meet. The Beelink SER5 handled all those tasks with out ever noticeably slowing down, and it’s noteworthy quieter than the fleshy-sized desktop I’d been utilizing sooner than.

I threw some more bold tasks at the mini PC as effectively, equivalent to digitizing some primitive VHS tapes, recording streaming video sources via PlayOn Home, and operating a Plex media server. Even with Plex’s industrial detection and PlayOn’s recording engine operating within the background, I continued to work with none noticeable performance setbacks.

And whereas integrated Radeon graphics are no longer any match for a true graphics card, the Beelink SER5 has fared effectively as a low-pause gaming instrument. Yakuza Kiwami runs at a soft 60 frames per second on high settings at 1080p, and every Fortnite and the submit-apocalyptic cat simulator Stray are playable at 1080p with framerates nearer to 30 frames per second. I’ve moreover outmoded it to play less-stressful games equivalent to the Quake II remaster and The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, whereas leaning on Nvidia’s GeForce Now for more intensive fare.

All this led to a realization that my hulking desktop PC used to be fair correct wasting home whereas moreover being excessively loud and vitality-intensive, and after a pair weeks I moved it out of my space of work for magnificent. I gave it a manufacturing unit reset, configured it completely for gaming within the basement, and now only turn it on as wanted.

Lesson discovered

Jared Newman / Foundry

Jared Newman / Foundry

Jared Newman / Foundry

When looking to search out computers, it’s continually tempting to buy for every likely utilize case, every valid and perceived, now and in due route.

The Beelink SER5 is a reminder that we’ve reached a degree of diminishing returns for most computing utilize cases. Despite having fair correct a mid-fluctuate processor (one designed for laptops, at that), I used to be by no components attempting for more energy or wishing I’d splurged on a pricier laptop.

But largely, I’m fair correct contented to bear a quieter space of work and the next space for the gaming PC that once occupied it.

This tale first appeared in Advisorator, Jared’s weekly tech advice e-newsletter. Check in to learn unique tech ideas every Tuesday.

Creator: Jared Newman, Contributor