What Do You Think Of This Mini PC?

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Doctor Varney

Cave dwelling Luddite
I was looking in the window of my local PC store yesterday and saw this second hand Dell mini computer running Windows XP going for £150 GBP. I've done business with these guys a few times and I've done a bit of DTP and leaflet distribution for them in the past. So they're great friends of mine and I trust them.

Anyway, when I asked about it, the chap said, "Have you seen the little Acer we've just had come in?" He dug it out. It hasn't been given a price yet. It was smaller than a shoe box and came with wireless and Windows 7 installed. It has 1GB RAM, which I know isn't a lot and probably can't be easily upgraded - but it set me thinking...

Two things. First I said earlier, I want to go Macintosh but for several reasons, I have to stick with the PC platform a while longer. Secondly, I've never really rated Acer as a brand. That said, I've been advised of the advantages of going with branded PCs over a home build, because of the build consistency.

So - judging by his prices, I could probably just afford this little thing. I already have monitors and peripherals to connect. It's completely silent, which for my voice recording would be an absolute boon.

It's highly portable. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to build a little portable rig, to incorporate a small monitor, keyboard, trackball and my Korg Nano controller. You could say "Just get a laptop" but building the custom case I have in mind, with an extendable mic boom and fold out 'lectern' for my reading material would bring me a lot more pleasure.

It only has 1GB RAM at present - but it is dual core, I believe. Surely, that could be upgraded in a mini PC? Yes/ no? I only want to run my recording/ DAW software on it, which is FL Studio and Audacity.

Of course, I'd need to purchase an outboard USB audio interface - which again, could incorporate nicely into my custom case idea. Until I can afford that, it might be possible to get away with using the onboard sound...?

So, given that I'm asking you guys to put aside your normal 'big studio' requirements for multi-tracking musical instruments and vocals; to remember that all of my 'music' is made 'in the box' with virtual synths and that the main requirement is just recording my voice and mixing a few tracks... what do you think? Could this be a goer in your opinion?

Many thanks

Dr. V
 
Hey Varney. Can you find out what the CPU is? The specific chip number, or at least architecture.

There's a big different between core duo, core2duo, dual core etc.

If it's possible to get the motherboard model number too, we can find out for certain about the ram speed and max capacity.
 
I can do that, Steen. First thing Monday morning, I can pay a vist (only round the corner, in spitting distance).

I honestly was not aware there were any differences between core duo, core2duo and dual core. That's probably saved me a buying mistake. I'll have to research that. Thanks for mentioning it!
 
For all my troubles, I really like using Windows 7 so far. When it works. After using XP for years, it's more like using a Mac. Lovely interface which I've felt hardly any need to customise. If I can learn to get this working well for me, I might stick with it.
 
Doctor Varney said:
I was looking in the window of my local PC store yesterday ...
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Just sitting here in the middle of the night and I'll toss out some (probably incoherent) thoughts.

There are dual-core...
  • Atom
  • Celeron
  • Pentium
  • i3
...processors. In and of itself the phrase 'dual-core' doesn't tell you much. A single core Pentium might kick a dual-core Atom's ass.

The power supply on the Acer is most certainly anemic. My latest (Lenovo, $270, i3 3.4GHz dual-core, 4GB RAM, 1TB HDD) only has a 280W power supply. So while the motherboard on my Lenovo box would support (for example) a relatively kick-ass graphics card, the power supply will not. Your Acer is most certainly even more constrained then that.

1GB of RAM (by contemporary standards) is barely suitable to surfing the internet. Even a Chromebook I was looking at (HP, $205, Celeron 1.1GHz dual-core, 2GB RAM, 16GB SSD) has more RAM. I'd look long and hard at any box that doesn't have at least 4GB of RAM.

HP Pavilion Celeron Dual 14" Chromebook for $205 after rebate + free shipping

In any event, good luck. I'm packing it in.
 
"Just when I think you couldn't possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this…and totally redeem yourself!"

Nice one Wheelybin. ;)
 
Build your own computer dude. anything else is a waste of money, plus what an awesome experience.. my computer cost me $1600 to build probably worth $2500 in the store.. think about how much more quality u can afford when you cut out the middle man. and if anything goes wrong with it I can fix it b/c i built it ...
 
wheelema said:
1GB of RAM (by contemporary standards) is barely suitable to surfing the internet.
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I understand, but I don't intend to surf the internet with it. I'm thinking purely as a mini-recording and tracking box. The wireless internet would come in handy for just updating drivers or downloading the odd sound effect, if needs be.

wheelema said:
The power supply on the Acer is most certainly anemic... So while the motherboard on my Lenovo box would support (for example) a relatively kick-ass graphics card, the power supply will not. Your Acer is most certainly even more constrained then that.
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I see what you mean, but are we talking about a full-sized tower system there? I do not expect the mini-PC to be as upgradable. As a factory designed system, I'd hope the PSU will have been chosen to meet the demands of the components.

All it really has to do for now is run my recording software as a single track recorder. I could upgrade the the audio IO to a USB interface later on, if I find I really am desperate to multi-track.

Jay C said:
Build your own computer dude. anything else is a waste of money, plus what an awesome experience.. my computer cost me $1600 to build probably worth $2500 in the store.. think about how much more quality u can afford when you cut out the middle man. and if anything goes wrong with it I can fix it b/c i built it ...
Click to expand...

I appreciate what you're saying but that's precisely what I've already done and in the end, it's not turned out great. A home build isn't a complete product, it's a project.

I don't believe it's a waste of money. I'm investing in products and services, where the responsibility for every little thing that might go wrong does not fall on my shoulders.

I'm not as talented as you in that respect - and just don't have the time. If you can fix your own computer, then I take my hat off to you. Just because I can throw some parts together into a box doesn't mean I know enough to fix it. I just need something that works. I need a warranty and support. Not another science project that can turn into a hideous monster if I put a foot wrong. I'm out of my depth, mate - and, thank god I'm bright enough to recognise it.

And how could I build something as small as this mini-PC anyway? I've fallen in love already with the possibilities this miniaturistion implies.

Do you realise, I've probably spent more time on forums like this than actually using the thing? If I could afford a Mac, that would be a dream come true.
 
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sorry dude, i do have way too much time on my hands. lol.. i just learn what i can from google. i live in the middle of the friggin forest so i don't have a lot to do other than work. yeah a small pc would be harder to build..
but Wheelema is right. 1 gb of ram is just not enough for anything these days., especially not for audio recording.
 
Doctor Varney said:
I understand, but I don't intend to surf the internet with it...
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You misunderstand me... if you were to rank all of the things a PC can do for you surfing the internet is the absolute bottom of the list. Even word processing requires more horsepower.

Audio processing (DAW) isn't the most power hungry app out there, but it's a lot more demanding then word processing!
 
wheelema said:
You misunderstand me... if you were to rank all of the things a PC can do for you surfing the internet is the absolute bottom of the list. Even word processing requires more horsepower.

Audio processing (DAW) isn't the most power hungry app out there, but it's a lot more demanding then word processing!
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True true.
I just upgraded from 4gb 1333MHz cos it wasn't quite cutting it! :eek:
 
Doctor: In short the specs of the machine exactly need to be known. As steeno said which chip makes a huge difference. Yes the ram should be upgradable with little effort (depending on what the board supports/etc). The others are dead on with the upgrades to powersupply and such but I don't think it applies to what you're trying to do.

As for building one that size it's not any harder than a regular computer. You pay a little more attention to the parts and you have to use special parts. You usually want parts that run cooler as there is not much room for cooling in these cases, on less energy as the PSU is normally smaller, and obviously ones that fit. They can all be purchased online just as easy as parts for any other desktop computer.

All that being said your posts seem to imply you are looking for a finished product at the best price you can get. You could easily go to the dell website right now and get a brand new dell with windows 7 64 bit, 4gb of ram and and intel core i-3 chip for $399 and that's without even shopping around for their deals or in their outlet (which is a GREAT place to get a quality machine at a discount, normally it will have a scratch or a dent in it, purely cosmetic). Also in that same range you could probably pick up a mac mini (used).

Everyone on the forum has posted sound advice and I can't say anyone is wrong, it's just different opinions on how to go about getting your finished product. For some of us, when we finish building a machine you can't tell any difference from mine to any major brand and it's all about planning honestly. I'm still available to help you anytime I can 7 days a week (I no longer work IT but in my industry we work 7 days a week).

If you want to do this as cheap as possible, I can help you setup the machine you have with little to no cost (depending on if you have dying parts of course). And if you want to scrap the project and just be done with it, we can help find you a machine at a bargain. You tell us the rules and we will figure out how to help you play by them

-Will
 
Steenamaroo said:
True true.
I just upgraded from 4gb 1333MHz cos it wasn't quite cutting it! :eek:
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I was in the PC game when you could choose between PC-DOS 1.1 and CP/M for your new 8MB IBM-PC and every once in a while I'll sit down with my 16GB dual-core tablet, my 500GB dual-core laptop, or my 1TB dual-core desktop and just marvel at the technology I take for granted.

It'd be a kick to take the tablet back to 1976 and blow the minds of my FORTRAN programming buddies working on that massive UNIVAC 90/60 mainframe!
 
wheelema said:
I was in the PC game when you could choose between PC-DOS 1.1 and CP/M for your new 8MB IBM-PC and every once in a while I'll sit down with my 16GB dual-core tablet, my 500GB dual-core laptop, or my 1TB dual-core desktop and just marvel at the technology I take for granted.

It'd be a kick to take the tablet back to 1976 and blow the minds of my FORTRAN programming buddies working on that massive UNIVAC 90/60 mainframe!
Click to expand...

I guess I'm a bit younger than you but I remember my first computer.
4 MHz CPU Amstrad. It's still more than enough difference to make the mind boggle! lol.
 
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