General: Mini PCs

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      CommentAuthorHuddy
    • CommentTimeNov 18th 2009
     

    I've been a bit quiet on here recently, so thought I'd volunteer a topic!

    I spent this weekend starting to sort out my bedroom at home (I moved back down from Scotland a few months ago, so all my stuff from both ends of the country makes quite a mountain of boxes)! I've managed to list a few things on ebay, and will hopefully list a few more after Christmas. But I thought I'd give myself a bit of incentive, to try and get through it all.

    The idea is that whatever money I make will go towards buying myself a new PC. I currently have a macbook, but no desktop (well...I do have a desktop back home, but I can't be bothered nursing it along any more).

    So the question is...what shall I buy?! I definitely think small is the way to go - I don't really need much in the way of processing power/memory. In an ideal world, it would be good to have Windows 7 and blu-ray, but the latter may be a bit too pricey.

    The options as I see it;
    Mac Mini
    The benefit of this is that I work at a university, so entitled to the apple educational discount. Could run dual-boot Mac OSX and Windows 7...but even with discount, a pricey option if I have to get Windows 7 separately.

    Asus EeeBox
    Maybe a tad feeble?

    Dell Zino HD
    Cheap and comes with Windows 7...definitely tempting

    Dell Studio Hybrid
    Bit pricier than Zino HD, and no Windows 7...

    What does everyone think? Any particular feelings either way? Have you perhaps come across any of these?

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      CommentAuthorcrazy pete
    • CommentTimeNov 20th 2009
     
    Posted By: Huddy

    Dell Studio Hybrid
    Bit pricier than Zino HD, and no Windows 7...

    Anything sold with Vista these days should be eligible for a 'free' upgrade to Windows 7. I had to pay $20 shipping for my disk and it won't be here for another couple of weeks. Still, it's one less reason to write this option off.

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      CommentAuthorLolly
    • CommentTimeNov 24th 2009
     

    Well, if you're willing to play with a screwdriver for a bit, you'll likely save some money by building a Micro ATX system inside a case such as the Antec NSK1480 - though it's somewhat larger than the others, it's still not enormous.

    If you still have access to a student email account you can buy a Windows 7 upgrade for £30 if you can find a valid XP or Vista key (any old computer would do), but it will install on a blank hard disk.

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      CommentAuthorHuddy
    • CommentTimeNov 26th 2009
     

    Don't really want to build myself...been there, done that, and it's not really for me. I like having the nice shiny box, technical support and knowing the set-up's been tested! :)

    What do people think about the mac mini dual boot option?

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      CommentAuthorLolly
    • CommentTimeNov 26th 2009
     

    Have you tried one? There will be one in your local Apple store. They're fairly fast for normal usage (on OSX) but it's not that much faster than an eee box so you're still rather limiting yourself (and spending a LOT).

    There is a new eee box though with nVidia's ION so it should be a little faster. Looks pretty good http://www.trustedreviews.com/pcs/news/2009/11/26/Asus-Announces-New-More-Powerful-eBox/p1 AND comes with Windows 7.

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