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<p>Thanks Gavin </p>
<p>I did see the NUC come up in searches, so that's vote in favour.
I will be doing some photo editing tho nowhere near what you've
been doing. </p>
<p>Bruce.</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 14/09/2026 10:35 am, gavinwc via
plug wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAFMc0cWxejUdv-MQA-h3+50Pq5H+jivna5VrS=ogEnafjkSHhQ@mail.gmail.com">
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<div dir="auto">Hi Bruce,
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
<div dir="auto">I think you've been 'lurking' for around as long
as me. In fact, many, many years ago I'm pretty sure I bought
some used kit from you? Well done on your son getting to work
in his passion area!</div>
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
<div dir="auto">As far as the mini-PC, I'm going to issue a
caution, but it may not apply to your price-point. That is, I
wanted power with small size a couple of years ago because I
wanted to edit all those hi-res landscape shots I'd been
taking for years. The mini I settled on was the Intel NUC,
which i packed with goodies (of the time) in the shape of 12th
gen i7, 64Gb ram and 2Tb SSD. The same specs in a laptop would
have cost at least 3 times the price.</div>
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
<div dir="auto">However, here is the caution - the small form
factor with hard-working components works VERY hot. Often
super hot in fact. After a period of streaming with 100s (yes,
100s) of tabs open and working on a high res photo, the little
brick gets so hot that it goes into safety mode and seizes up
with its little fan trying to get the brick taking off into
orbit! Haha. </div>
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
<div dir="auto">So, I have all that power, but the form factor
is hobbling it. Just FYI, I did look into some fandangle
fanless cases for this board, but they're very steeply priced,
so I get by with a room fan blowing across the box as it hangs
on the back of the monitor 😕</div>
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
<div dir="auto">So, buyer beware depending on your application.
If my needs and practices were more restrained, though, I can
say that I'm well impressed with the nucs as an option.</div>
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
<div dir="auto">Gavin</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, 14 Sep 2026, 09:26
Bruce Axtens via plug, <<a href="mailto:plug@plug.org.au"
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">plug@plug.org.au</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
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style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>Hello Pluglings (for want of a better term)</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>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: <a
href="https://www.fastly.com/blog/author/daniel-axtens"
target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://www.fastly.com/blog/author/daniel-axtens</a></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>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.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Kind regards,</div>
<div>Bruce Axtens</div>
</div>
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</blockquote>
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<br>
<fieldset class="moz-mime-attachment-header"></fieldset>
<pre wrap="" class="moz-quote-pre">_______________________________________________
PLUG discussion list: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:plug@plug.org.au">plug@plug.org.au</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug">https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug</a>
Committee e-mail: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:committee@plug.org.au">committee@plug.org.au</a>
PLUG Membership: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.plug.org.au/membership">http://www.plug.org.au/membership</a>
</pre>
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