MINIX NEO Z83-4 Pro, Intel Cherry Trail Fanless Mini PC Windows 10 Pro (64-bit) [Intel X5-Z8350/4GB/32GB/Dual-Band Wi-Fi/Gigabit Ethernet/Dual Output/4K] (4G+32G with Windows Remote)

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I bought this to replace a WIN XP machine running MACH3 for a CNC router. Mach3 communicates with the CNC via parallel (printer) port. I had heard about problems with "work around" devices being difficult to configure. THIS IS THE EASIEST COMPUTER I HAVE EVER SETUP!!!! Turned it on and Win 10 started, installed SSD on USB, Installed software from web, plugged in UC100 (parallel port device) and was on line working!! Second monitor plugged in and worked, no config!

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boots up with windows 10 pro. activates right away. after testing that everything works under windows 10 pro, I wiped out the storage drive and installed minu linux. I also tried debian linux. but mint does everything for you. some bios adjustments needed. in linux, I was able to extract the windows 10 pro license key from the BIOS. Im not reveling that information because I dont know the legalities of that. but it is very easy in linux. so after installing mint linux, I got everything but wifi working. sound works. videos play in full screen very well. Im using wired networking until I can get wifi working. the cpu temperature is very reasonable. runs warm to the touch. I took it apart. there are not easy upgrades on the motherboard. everything is soldered on. unless you know how to de-solder surface-mount semiconductors, there are no upgrades. You can add storage on a micro sd card. there are also four usb ports, you can add storage via usb. The box has a plastic cover and an aluminum bottom.

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Using it as a HTPC (home theater PC). Along with an air mouse/remote, works beautifully. Runs Kodi, Netflix, Hulu, VLC Media Player perfectly. Also have a hard drive connected to it with movies and other media. There is one CON, and thats the amount of internal storage space: 32 GB. Its not really enough to have anything installed, and be able to update Windows. This can be alleviated by: 1.) Uninstall any program or app (especially Windows bloat like Office 365) that isnt needed or used. Once done, there was enough space to update Windows. 2.) Install Windows to an external hard drive. 3.) Employ an SD card, external hard drive, or USB thumb drive to install any app or program to, so as to leave as much of the 32 GB internal storage that is left over to be available for updates. There are ways around the limited internal storage issue. But its not enough to remove a star. The device works perfectly for what it is. This company has excellent customer support, as well as great communication on their forums. They also have many other devices which include upgradeable hard drives if more internal storage is needed.

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We need a basic desktop for the house. Nothing amazing just for the kids to do school work on, check emails, or stream a video. We normally buy a generic Dell or HP. The fans always seem to crap out on those after a few years so I thought we would try a fanless pc and got this one. It worked as advertised at first and I knew the updating would be an issue from other peoples reviews. I had hoped that maybe they fixed that issue but it is still there. We got the update eventually to work. The problem now is that it wont stay on. It will randomly turn off and wont turn back on for days/weeks. Then it will work for a while and then its off for days/weeks again. If it wasnt a tiny fanless I would open it up and try and fix it but I doubt Ill figure this one out. I liked it up until it stopped being dependable. Buyer beware.

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Hooked this up to a large conference room tv we use a monitor. Works well and very small to hide. Nice that it came with Windows 10 Pro and mounting options. We ended up using Gorilla Tape for the mounting enclosure and slipped the mini pc in like normal. Not extremely powerful but gets the job done for Power point presentations, word documents, viewing Pdfs and pictures. We dont use it for much else, but for simple stuff and the price of this thing we were very happy.

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Bought this unit earlier in the year. The built in wifi adapter quit working maybe 2 months in. Gave up fighting with it and bought a usb wifi adapter. That worked for a couple more months and now even that is seeing weird disconnects specific to this mini pc (same adapter works fine in other machines, everything else in the house works fine). So I can only assume its a bad board or something funky with the USB port. I have to reset the adapter and disconnect
econnect everything to get it to work again and that gets reaaaaaallll old. This is not a powerful machine. It is adequate for streaming 1080p (my purpose) as long as everything is in tippy top shape. The second you hit something like a connectivity issue its game over. It cannot run Air Console games on its best day and thats a pretty low bar. Decent value for what it costs since it comes with windows 10 pro. And when it works, it works fine. But after all the time I have spent fiddling with it to keep it running I regret the purchase entirely. I either got a bad unit or theyre just mediocre overall.

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I really wanted to like this. The unit is small and appears well made. It instantly responded to the wireless mouse and keyboard I attached and then began loading windows. I went through the usual windows setup and then it began upgrading and upgrading. It got stuck several times during the Windows upgrade process and I patiently rebooted it and waited some more. After several hours the upgrade process failed with a message indicating that the unit needed more hard drive space. I performed a disc cleanup and removed unneeded system files and it then loaded the next windows upgrade and failed again. Its become clear that that the 32GB hard drive is just too small to allow the recent large Windows updates. .

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Excellent performance for the price. We use this on vacation, watching our favorite videos after a busy day of exploring and antiquing. Its small and easy to connect to hotel TVs. I have to be a little skeptical of the 4K spec because it cant handle HBO Go streamed at 1080p without getting chunky, but all non-Flash-based streaming sites seem to work fine at HD (Amazon, YouTube, Fox, etc.). Note that bandwidth wasnt an issue because it was sitting about 3 feet from my WiFi Router. Happy to recommend this unit to all my friends! Note that Amazon sells a great case for this Minix, the Sabrent Universal Travel Case for Gore or Small Electronics and Accessories (Medium size).

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So I purchased this box after checking a number of other options, but settled on this as it had a bit more power/RAM/Storage than some other boxes. I also liked that it was fanless, so it would be dead silent. I *was* happy using it with my older 1080 TV, while I saved up for a new 4k TV. However, after hooking it up to my new 4k TV I couldnt figure out why everything looked so bad After some digging, I found out it ONLY does 30fps at 4k! Now, I have to put everything BACK to 1080. That wasnt why I bought this, and while it technically is 4k, no one is going to use this for 4K unless its for a Powerpoint presentation. This seems very misleading, and I wouldnt have purchased this if I had known that fact.

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Good quality product, but it really needs more than 32 GB of storage space in order to receive major Windows 10 updates. In order to get the latest update I had to reimage the unit with an image from the manufacturer. Not a big deal since my unit was new, but if I had already "moved into" the unit I would have been bothered. If you want a second HDMI display, order this product as well, since passive adapters will not work. Plugable Active Mini DisplayPort to HDMI 2.0 Adapter (Supports displays up to 4k / UHD / 3840x2160@60Hz)

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