[plug] miniPC recommendations?

[Gregory Orange]

When I was considering a plug PC or some other low power thing well over ten years ago, Dad gave me an Intel NUC i5 - quite a fine birthday present. I replaced the failing 2.5" spinner with a 2.5" SSD maybe four years ago, and otherwise it's been great. Maybe I could put in a M2 or U3 or whatever they're called but I'm lazy.

It has done a fine job of running Syncthing, Pi-hole, rdiff-backup and a couple of other odds and ends.

--
Gregory Orange


On Monday, 14 September 2026 at 3:46 PM, Byron Hammond via plug <plug at plug.org.au> wrote:

> I have had success with Intel NUCs personally for home usage.I started with a 6th gen NUC and then upgraded to a 13th gen.
> Asus and others manufacture them now for Intel.
> They perform well for my needs, which are home server based...
> Media server (Jellyfin), Web Server, Audio Server (Navidrome) and various others.
> They are pricey imo, so you can get lesser brand chinese ones to save a few bucks, although I don't know if I'd place as much trust in them in terms of spyware/malware.
> Some brands I know of include Beelink, BossGame, GMKTek.
> There are other ones as well and they often will all advertise as on special very often, but again, be careful.
> They often like to advertise that, but do your own cost comparisons.
> eBay is a known marketplace for a lot of hardware. Aliexpress is Chinese based marketplace you might want to check, that has a lot of these things.
> 
> Best of luck
> Byron
> 
> On Mon, 14 Sept 2026 at 13:40, Bruce Axtens via plug <plug at plug.org.au> wrote:
> 
> > > I am curious what are you trying to achieve or the type of work you will do with your miniPC?
> > 
> > -   Assorted bits of dotnet development in C#
> > -   I'm a maintainer and language track developer for exercism.org (helped with COBOL, 8th, and Euphoria tracks and working on SNOBOL4 track)
> > -   I have three Substack accounts I write into occasionally:
> > 
> > -   https://calvingicebergs.substack.com/
> > -   https://playingwithmyfood.substack.com/
> > -   https://skipdipper.substack.com/
> > 
> > -   Microsoft Teams and PowerPoint (I'm the "Order of Service" builder for my church (Three Crosses WPC))
> > 
> > That's the top four of lots of other miscellaneous activity.
> > 
> > -Bruce.
> > 
> > On 14/09/2026 11:07 am, Juneidy Wibowo wrote:
> > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > Hi Bruce,
> > > 
> > > Before getting deep into the weed, I am curious what are you trying to achieve or the type of work you will do with your miniPC?
> > > 
> > > My office will usually cycle employee laptop every 3-4 years and I usually collect discarded office laptops and repurpose them by installing linux. I would dare say those office laptops will most likely outperform most if not all miniPC in the $450 range.
> > > 
> > > I know you seem to suggest you want to get a new machine instead of using a second-hand laptops. But if you're simply looking for a machine with higher performance than your current one, maybe you could try asking your son to see if there are any good condition laptops that are being discarded.
> > > 
> > > Regards,
> > > Juneidy
> > > On Monday, September 14th, 2026 at 09:26, Bruce Axtens via plug <plug_at_plug_org_au_rqgvlrjawc at simplelogin.co> wrote:
> > > 
> > > > Hello Pluglings (for want of a better term)
> > > > 
> > > > I'm still lurking here in the shadows. Have been for years, my son Daniel having been the impetus. He's now Principal Engineer for Fastly: https://www.fastly.com/blog/author/daniel-axtens
> > > > 
> > > > But I didn't come here to do that. My question is more mundane: after years of having various second-hand laptops as my home setup for Linux I'm now seriously considering laying out real money for a miniPC. Does the group have any suggestions re manufacturer and vendor? I'm thinking something in the $300-$450 range.
> > > > 
> > > > Kind regards,
> > > > Bruce Axtens
> > 
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