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United States of America, Washington
1 Level
713 Review
56 Karma

Review on πŸ’» Ultra HD Mini PC Windows 10 64-bit with Intel X5-Z8350, TX85 Fanless Cooling, 4GB RAM/64GB EMMC, 4K/2.4G/5.0G Dual Band Wi-Fi/BT4.0 Micro PC by Geoff Foster

Revainrating 1 out of 5

Mini Review: Intel Atom drags down the entire Mini experience. Wake-on-HDMI outputs

Let's face it. When you buy a processor, "mini" or not, for $100, don't sit down at the table with high expectations. Received this implicitly as a powerful Kodi box for my aging Samsung smart TV with USB mini KB wireless mouse remote. So the advertised box is about the size of a kid's pizza box. Specifications as advertised. "Cool" LEDs. I'd happily trade them in for a tiny display instead. Even if he just read the time. So problem 1, and I'm willing to admit it. can't get into bios, uefi. My girlfriend hates LED lights at night when she's trying to sleep. And assuming that's the only way to control them, even if they're disabled. I press f2, 6, 8 and 12 to no avail. I'm going to try a different keyboard alongside my wireless remote. Second issue: Brand new out of the box, in stock, this poor thing is really struggling. I completely forgot what the heck the Intel Atom processor is. It just keeps crashing when the CPU is running at 100% and the application or window isn't responding. If anyone can point me to any hacks that might help, play around with curiosity. Insta: djdubyah I'm considering installing Linux Lite just to try out a lighter OS. Because yes, it was with Windows 10, not with a Windows 10 license key. On the second day after all the latest OS 10 updates, the product key was used again on other computers. I got Microsoft to check me through their automated system, but Hope didn't actually steal the license from some poor guys. Look, I'm doing this horribly, and again the reality is that it's not horrible, it's a $100 mini PC. I was able to install Firefox and the plugins I use and watch a few movies without ads with no issues. I just want the person who is thinking about this or similar things to have the right idea of what you are buying. When I request a refund, it is because it could not successfully "wake up" from sleep mode on HDMI. The LEDs light up, the small fan spins, but my TV doesn't recognize the input signal until the box is fully charged. Then everything is fine. Tested with different cables and HDMI ports. Maybe a TV, so I'll test on a newer Visio and test with VGA. Still, it was a shame he literally pulled it right out of the box. The first successful connection to the TV was after a hard boot. So, all of this is to say, if you think you'll be using it for anything other than light web browsing or media streaming, don't buy it. And this is a suggestion not to buy assuming my HDMI issues are singular and not systemic to the device. You can get a "refurbished" laptop from Revain for the bare minimum, which I think is best for the book. As always, if I find out my issues aren't a product defect or that they'll be fixed with a patch or firmware update, or if I end up returning/exchanging and the process is painless, I'll earn more stars. 😊

Pros
  • Impressive
Cons
  • Boring packaging