Review on ZOTAC ZBOX CI329 Nano Silent Mini PC Intel N4100 CPU UHD 💻 Graphics 600 OS Barebones System (ZBOX-CI329NANO-U) - Ultimate Performance, Compact Design, Ready for Customization by Drew Gengler

TLDR: The ZOTAC ZBOX Edge CI341 is a quiet little computer well-suited for low-power computing, as long as you don't mind installing the memory, SSD and OS yourself. Compatible with MX Linux. What I like most about the ZOTAC ZBOX Edge CI341 is its size. It's only slightly larger than a 140mm computer case fan (without the WiFi antenna), making it easy to hide behind a monitor or under a desk. Aside from the size, I like that it's quiet. Very quiet. Passive cooling means no noise from the cooling fans, and I didn't notice anything like coil whine under load. In terms of performance, it was what I expected. This is a passively cooled Celeron N4100 processor with integrated graphics, so have realistic expectations. This is a low power computer. It is good for web browsing and low productivity tasks. It is not designed for video editing, AAA video games, etc. Since this is a "base" system, you need to purchase and install SODIMM memory and an M.2 SATA drive separately, but installing the memory and SSD was easy. You must also install the operating system yourself. The CI341 passive heatsink works well and keeps the computer cool under normal loads. The outside doesn't get hot. You can easily lift it under load. The only downside I want to mention is the 4K video streaming. Yes, it can stream 4K, but at the same time don't expect anything else from it. Even mouse movements cause the video to stutter. Dropping it down to 1440p results in much smoother, stutter-free streaming if you're trying to get other things done on your computer at the same time. Now for more technical details. I installed 8GB (4GB x 2) Crucial DDR4 2400 (CT2K4G4SFS824A). Storage and for the M.2 SATA drive I'm using a 240GB WD Green M.2 SATA SSD (WDS240G2G0B). So far there are no compatibility issues and both work very well with this computer. For reference, contrary to what another reviewer said, this computer uses SATA M.2 and not NVME M.2 for the SSD. Out of curiosity I tried NVME and as expected it didn't work. With NVME installed, I encountered some strange issues when trying to boot from the USB stick I used to install the OS. I think the browser's other issues were related to trying to use NVME M.2 instead of SATA M.2. For the operating system, I don't have Windows 10 installed, but I have no doubt that Win 10 can be installed without any problems. I installed MX Linux 19.2 (Xfce). I've had no trouble installing MX Linux and haven't had any notable driver issues so far. Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Bluetooth, video and audio worked out of the box with the drivers included in version 19.2 (MX-19.2_September_x64.iso).