Now if you want to buy a computer, you basically have only two options, you want performance to buy a desktop console, and if you want portability, you buy a notebook. However, there are still some compromises between the two, and the mini pc we are going to talk about today can meet the needs of specific users with both portability and performance. Computers have been developed for decades, the form has been changing, once, the desktop is the boss of the PC field, but limited by its bulky and dull shape, it has been ended up by convenient notebooks.
What is a mini pc?
As the name suggests, a mini pc is small, like a book or router, saving space. Mini pc, also known as mini pc, mini pc host, thin client (HTPC), minicomputer, cloud terminal, there are also people like to call it a desktop computer, it is a small size, low power consumption, ultra-quiet, strong performance, fashion, and beautiful computer host, mini pc has the basic attributes and performance of the traditional desktop host.
Its original application scenario was HTPC (Home Theater Computer), which can be used as living room entertainment, resource sharing, and expand the function of the TV. Because the installation and use threshold is relatively high, after the popularity of the TV box, its sense of existence was weakened a lot. However, in the past two years, its advantages in performance have become more prominent, and the scope of use has also gone out of the living room and has more application scenarios.
Speaking of this problem, we first have to understand several computers on the market, the mini pc mentioned here is relative to the traditional bulky desktop to define, in fact, the mini pc can also be said to be a miniature version of the desktop, it has all the functions of the desktop. But to avoid the traditional desktop being dirty, chaotic, and noisy, because the mini pc is light and small, a few places even reached the size of only a large head, so it is a small power, without a small fan, relying on the scientific ice spike box heat dissipation, small and portable, stylish and beautiful, energy saving and environmental protection, mute and other words are the best summaries of the mini pc, mini pc to make up for the shortcomings of the traditional desktop host, but also very suitable for the use of modern people’s experience, Making the mini-host market hope for desktop manufacturers and DIY manufacturers to seek a breakthrough in recent years,
But don’t look at this kind of mini pc mainly portable, they are also quite good in performance and scalability, some of which carry desktop-level processors, and the performance is not weaker than the performance of large chassis. However, this type of host is not completely without shortcomings, and its limited internal space limits its performance, heat dissipation is a major problem, some mini pc in order to save space and reduce noise, will also use fanless heat dissipation design, further limit the performance of the play.
Advantages and disadvantages of the mini pc
Cons: Graphics card
The current weakness of the mini pc is undoubtedly the problem of the graphics card, as we all know, the single display running heat is large, because the mini pc is born to be positioned in small, in the control of heat generation when naturally sacrificing the performance elements of the host part, most of the mini pcs on the market are using integrated graphics cards instead of solo displays, the reason is this. Therefore, the mini console with a set display will be a little difficult to deal with large gun battles, of course, there is no pressure on small stand-alone games and playing 1080P HD video.
Merit: 1, cost-effective
In addition to the high price of several micro-PCs of Intel itself, the price of other brands of mini pcs is very close to the people, generally within 1000 to 3000 yuan, and the price is generally not more than 5000 yuan, which to a certain extent frees up a lot of pre-space for DIY users.
2, Light
Desktop computers are known for their bulky, towering machines that take up a lot of desktop space and aren’t fun to transport. In terms of volumetric footprint, mini pcs change this, just less than 8/1 the size of a desktop, while fully implementing the essential features of a desktop computer that makes it easy to run all your favorite applications, but small in size, lightweight, and can be carried wherever you go. It’s perfect for students, business professionals, and everyone in between. If you need portable computing power, a mini pc is exactly what you’ve been looking for.
Of course, many friends will also worry about the mini pc does not have the configuration of the desktop, the mini pc according to the requirements of any combination of the system, choose the low and medium-high configuration, generally choose with a built-in Intel quad-core processor, 2GB of memory and a pre-installed version of Windows 10, so you can easily complete the daily to-do.
Mini pcs also have other desktop features such as built-in HDMI, VGA, LAN, three USB 2.0 ports, and a built-in Micro-SD card slot. This way, you’ll be able to easily connect your mini pc to monitors, phones, printers, and seamlessly. It’s even possible to have built-in WiFi without the need for additional adapters.
What’s more, the mini pc is so small that it doesn’t require a fan to keep it cool, which means you can work all day in sweet silence. If you’re looking for portable computing power, but don’t want to skimp on performance, a mini pc is one of your first choices
The difference between a mini pc and a desktop computer
With the rapid development of science and technology, many electronic products are not only more and more powerful in performance, but also more and more compact, such as smartphones, various household appliances, computers, etc., which can not only meet the market’s demand for product performance but also take care of those who pay attention to product design, size and other aspects of the user. If you measure the computer according to the size, weight, portability, and other aspects, it should be such a level: thin and light> game > integrated desktop > ordinary desktop, in fact, there is a computer host on the market, portability is invincible, that is, mini pc host. This mini pc host, the appearance is very small and exquisite, does not occupy a place, suitable for placing in the TV cabinet, living room desk, bedroom computer desk, and other places, but you do not look at its size so small, but the function is exactly the same as the ordinary computer, you can plug in the network cable, you can also connect to WiFi, browse the web, chat, watch live video, and even play games.
The biggest difference between the mini pc host and the ordinary desktop computer should be the gap in performance, due to the limited internal space, so this mini pc host basically uses the architecture of the laptop, look at the CPU parameters to know, many mini pc host CPU is U, M, MQ, HQ end, these CPUs, are intel mobile platform CPU, performance is much lower than the desktop version of Core. Everything has advantages and disadvantages, the mini pc host uses a low-power processor, thermal design power consumption TDP is generally around 10W-17W, compared to desktop computers more energy-saving and power-saving.
Part of the mini pc host due to the use of fanless heat dissipation design, the whole machine in operation can achieve zero noise, it brings a quiet experience of work and life, and has been loved by people. Of course, there are also some models of mini pc host desktop VERSION CPU, but also mostly concentrated in intel Pentium, Core i3 this model, and then basically no, because to consider the big problem of heat dissipation, the internal space is not large, if the CPU is Core i5, i7, power consumption is relatively large, CPU temperature is difficult to suppress, the computer is prone to blue screen, crash these problems, affecting the stability of the product. In addition to the weak CPU performance, the graphics card performance is also general, or the reason mentioned above, the internal space is not enough, heat dissipation problems, there is no way to match the independent graphics card, can only use the CPU comes with the core display, the game performance is general.
In addition, compared with ordinary desktop computers, the integration of mini pc hosts is higher, and the failure rate will be lower than that of desktop computers, but maintenance and upgrades are not so convenient, such as CPU, mobile platform CPU are directly welded to the motherboard, and they cannot upgrade at will. Or say hard disk, ordinary desktop computer if the hard disk space is not enough, you can add another hard disk, and mini pc host, there is no new space, can only replace the larger capacity of the hard disk. All in all, the advantages of the mini pc host are that it is small in size, exquisite in appearance, does not occupy space, is easy to carry, and can meet daily office needs, and general audio and video entertainment functions. The disadvantage is that the internal space is small, the heat dissipation problem leads to weak performance, can not be matched with a discrete graphics card, and the game performance is average. However, since it is a mini pc, it is naturally a mini usage, and it cannot be use on ordinary desktop computers.
Mini pcs are good, but not everyone uses them, and the following are common usage scenarios:
1, light office scene For some lightweight offices, such as text and simple picture processing, the performance requirements are not high, like the ordinary large chassis occupies a lot of office space, and the notebook is not suitable for people sitting in the office because of the small screen and poor keyboard feel. Because of this, the mini pc has a place, which can not only save a considerable part of the space but also facilitate users to take it to the conference room at any time for display or take it home to work;
2, family scenes, on the one hand, the home can be used as HTPC in the living room as we said earlier, and it is better than the TV box in terms of video decoding and expansion functions. In addition, there are many mini pcs that are not bad in appearance, whether placed in the living room or room can be counted as a good decoration, do not want to see it, it is also very convenient to hide.
3. School education (cloud terminal)
The modernization of teaching methods needs more modern teaching equipment to help! In recent years, in the process of realizing the digitization, networking, intelligence, and multimedia of teaching, colleges and universities have been using mini pcs as multimedia classrooms or cloud desktops.
The interface of the mini pc is rich, the expansion is convenient, and it can be used as an access terminal device for cloud desktops, saving more maintenance costs for users and ensuring the security of user data resources.
4. Other industry applications
Supermarkets, government and enterprises, medical, military, industrial control, and other fields, can also make the mini pc have a lot of uses, such as supermarket cash register computer, hospital outpatient computer, etc., can be replaced by mini pc.
In fact, there is not much difference between mini pc selection and ordinary computer, we only need to pay extra attention to the two dimensions of volume and scalability. Appearance and volume have nothing to say, on-demand choice, and scalability should pay more attention to the interface of the fuselage, such as whether there is a thunderbolt interface that supports external graphics cards, whether it supports multi-screen output, whether it is a desktop-level processor, which determines the potential that this machine can eventually play, if you are not satisfied with lightweight office, these elements are best to pay attention to.
How to choose a mini pc
The use can be roughly divided into business, e-sports, video editing, graphics creation, and other categories, so we should first determine the main use, and then look for the specifications of the model, so that it is not difficult to find satisfactory use and budget products.
1. Confirm the style of the CPU processor
Cpu specifications will directly affect the operational performance of the system, of course, will also determine the range of operation of the computer. Due to the limited size and thermal performance of mini pcs, notebook computer grade Intel Core i3 to i5 low-voltage version OFC; Some brands offer esports or creator-specific mini consoles with processors ranging from Intel Core i7 to i9 to edit movies or play games smoothly.
For a wider range of uses, it is recommended that you should at least choose a processor grade of Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen R5 or above.
2. Affect the core number of processing efficiency
The number of CPU cores represents its multi-tasking processing power, and the more cores there are, the more people can divide labor, and multiple data operations can be performed at the same time.
In the Intel Core series, from the i3 two-core to the 11th generation i7 and i9 eight cores, the more cores, the stronger the multitasking performance. If it is a general daily use, having four cores is more than enough, but if there is a drawing design need, it is recommended to choose six cores to make the operation smoother.
In addition to the number of cores, CPU processing speed is another important performance indicator. The processing speed represents the operation period of the processor (commonly in GHz), and the higher its value means that the faster it operates. Even if it is also the 11th generation i7 octa-core CPU, according to the product classification, there will be a performance difference of 1.4GHz ~ 3.6GHz, these data will be clearly marked on the product specification sheet, as long as you grasp these key numbers when selecting, you can select a CPU with appropriate performance.
3. The independent display card makes the screen operation smoother
Graphics card is a microprocessor that performs drawing operations, mainly displaying the results of the system’s operations correctly on the screen, which can be divided into two categories: integrated display processor and independent display card. Commonly integrated display processors such as Intel UHD and Iris Xe series and AMD Vega 8, while the display chips on standalone graphics cards are mainly from NVIDIA and AMD. If you need to play AAA games, 3D drawing or advanced creation, you still need a standalone display card to have sufficient computing performance. High-end graphics cards often need to come with their own cooling fans for cooling, so they cannot be installed in a particularly small mainframe. Models that require discrete graphics, such as gaming or graphics, can only be reduced to a “relatively mini” size, so you need to consider the performance and host size when purchasing.
Pay attention to the design of the heat dissipation. In order to save space, some mini pcs will adopt a fanless design with low heat components, which have the advantage of being completely silent when operating, but whether their passive heat dissipation design can effectively exhaust heat with the help of no active heat dissipation is extremely important.
Common passive heat dissipation methods include adding heat sinks, porous design of the casing, and increasing the number of ventilation holes to help the hot gas be discharged as soon as possible, but these methods can only cope with the needs of low-heat operations. If you choose high-specification components or perform complex computing operations, it is still recommended to choose a model with a cooling fan on the inside or in the chassis to ensure the stable operation of the system. Therefore, when purchasing, the heat production status of the internal components, its own heat dissipation design, and whether a fan can be installed should be considered for integration
Confirm the type and number of ports supported by the airframe. Whether it is work or leisure, many people will now use dual screens to improve efficiency. Whether the host can provide multi-screen output depends mainly on the display chip or the specifications of the independent display card. Some computers provide Dual HDMI output, and there are also mDP plus HDMI configurations, and those who prefer high-quality screens need to further confirm whether they support 4K image transmission. Other commonly used I/O interfaces, such as USB, Thunderbolt 3, RJ45, etc., can increase ease of use. In general, the larger size can provide more types and quantities of connectors.
Put it in your pocket and take the entire console with you, something that only a mini pc stick can do. Only larger than the pen drive, from the processor, and operating system to wireless network chips are readily available, as long as the HDMI cable is connected, you can make any monitor instantly transformed into a Windows computer.
Support wireless keyboard and mouse connection, if you feel that the above accessories are too troublesome, you can also purchase the same factory production of “wireless voice keyboard mouse”, which is a cursor control key on the front and a small keyboard on the back, which is simple and practical. However, because its effectiveness is only at the level of mobile devices, it can only cope with simple uses such as drama chasing, surfing the Internet, and broadcasting briefings. However, if it is used in mobile classrooms, travel trips, business briefings, and other occasions, it is still a fun and convenient product.
Mini pc main small size low energy consumption, the appearance is like a one-handed can hold up the box, placed on the table does not take up space, but also can be placed behind the screen with a stand, give full play to the advantages of the mini body.
