mini pc News - Page 2 of 147 - CNX Software

November 26, 2024November 27, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

GEEKOM Mini Air12 Lite Review – Part 3: Ubuntu 24.04 on a low-cost mini PC

GEEKOM Mini Air12 Lite Ubuntu 24.04 review

We have already checked the hardware of the GEEKOM Mini Air12 Lite mini PC in the first part of the review, before testing the low-cost Intel Processor N100 mini PC with its 8GB RAM and 256GB SATA SSD running Windows 11 Pro in detail in the second part. We’ve now had time to test the GEEKOM Mini Air12 Lite with Ubuntu 24.04 in the third and final part of the review. We’ll test the features in Linux, run some benchmarks, evaluate storage and network performance, play some 4K and 8K videos in YouTube playback, perform a stress test to check its thermal design, and finally measure the mini PC’s fan noise and power consumption. We’ll also compare the results in Linux to the earlier GEEKOM Mini Air12 mini PC with the same CPU, but better specs and a higher price. A challenging Windows 11 / Ubuntu 24.04.1 dual boot installation […]

November 25, 2024December 1, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Beelink EQ14 mini PC features Intel N150 quad-core “Twin Lake” processor, built-in power supply

Last month we noted the Intel Processor N150, Processor N250, and Core i3-N355 Alder Lake-N Refresh CPUs were found in the upcoming ASUS NUC 14 Essential mini PC family, but availability was unclear. The Beelink EQ14 is the first Intel N150 mini PC which can be purchased today on either AliExpress (with EU plug) or Amazon for $182 and up for Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2024. Beelink calls the CPU family “Twin Lake” instead of “Alder Lake-N Refresh”, but we can’t confirm that since the N150 has not been officially launched yet and it’s not listed on Intel Ark. The computer is equipped with 16GB DDR4 memory, a 512GB NVMe SSD, two HDMI ports, two gigabit Ethernet ports, WiFi 6, etc… It also comes with a more unusual feature: a built-in AC power supply, something we previously saw in the Beelink EQ13 with an Intel N200/N100 CPU. Beelink EQ14 […]

November 20, 2024November 23, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2024 – International deals and coupons

While Black Friday and Cyber Monday used to be a US-only event, it changed many years ago, and we’ve been writing about international Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals and coupon codes since 2014, since a large portion of our audience cannot benefit from promotions on Amazon’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday events that will take place from November 21 until December 2 this year. So I’ve gathered some international Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2024 deals and discount coupon codes from relevant manufacturers and popular online stores such as Aliexpress, Banggood, and others. Aliexpress Black Friday and Cyber Monday event Aliexpress’ Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2024 event has already started. There are three periods: Nov 19-21 PST – Warm Up event where users can find and add items to the cart before purchasing during the main event. Nov 22-30 PST – “On Sale” event with discounts up to […]

November 17, 2024November 26, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

GEEKOM Mini Air12 Lite review – A low-cost Intel Processor N100 mini PC tested with Windows 11 Pro

GEEKOM Mini Air12 Lite mini PC review windows 11

We’ve already checked the hardware of the GEEKOM Mini Air12 Lite mini PC with an unboxing and teardown in the first part of the review. It is a low-cost mini PC based on an Intel Processor N100 CPU, coupled with 8GB DDR4-3200 memory, a 256GB M.2 SATA SSD, dual Display output through HDMI and DisplayPort connector, GbE, WiFi 6E, and a 9-pin expansion header port – as found in some NUC model – to access an external power button, reset button, and LEDs when housed in a cabinet or kiosk. You’ll find the full Mini Air 12 Lite specifications in our previous article about it. We’ve now had more time to test the mini PC, so we’ll report our experience with the Mini Air12 Lite running Windows 11 Pro operating system in the second part of the review. We’ll go through a software overview, test most of the features, run […]

November 15, 2024November 15, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

BIOSTAR MT-N97 fanless Intel N97 industrial mini PC supports 9V-24V DC input, features RS232/RS485 COM port

BIOSTAR MT-N97 is a fanless not-so-mini PC powered by an Intel Processor N97 quad-core Alder Lake-N CPU and designed for industrial applications with features such as a wide DC input (9V to 24V), an optional RS232/RS422/RS485 COM port, as well as dual GbE, and support for M.2 wireless and 4G/5G cellular modules. The mini PC supports up to 16GB DDR4 SO-DIMM memory, M.2 NVMe SSD and SATA storage, and triple display setups through two HDMI interfaces and a USB-C port. It also comes with Line-out and earphones audio jacks, and a total of seven USB ports including one with 100W USB PD support. BIOSTAR MT-N97 specifications: SoC – Intel Processor N97 quad-core Alder Lake N-series processor up to 3.6 GHz with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD Graphics Gen 12 @ 1.2 GHz; TDP: 12W System Memory – Up to 16GB DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM memory (Note: Some companies have tested SO-DIMM modules […]

November 15, 2024November 14, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

DC-ROMA RISC-V Mainboard is designed for the Framework Laptop 13 modular laptop

DeepComputing’s DC-ROMA RISC-V Mainboard is designed for the modular Framework Laptop 13 and powered by a StarFive JH7110 quad-core RISC-V processor running either Ubuntu 24.04 Desktop or Fedora 41 Linux distribution. The Framework Laptop 13 was initially offered with Intel Core i5-1135G7, Core i7-1165G7, or Core i7-1185G7 processor, but the advantage of a modular laptop is that you can replace components, and that’s exactly what the “DC-ROMA RISC-V Mainboard” does by allowing users/developers to do by switching to a less powerful RISC-V processor for software development. Framework Laptop 13 specifications with DC-ROMA RISC-V Mainboard: SoC – StarFive JH7110 CPU Quad-core 64-bit RISC-V SiFive U74 (RV64GC) processor @ up to 1.5 GHz with 32KB D-Cache, 32KB I-cache Single-core 64-bit RISC-V SiFive S7 (RV64IMAC) monitor core with 16KB I-cache, 8KB DTIM Single-core 32-bit RISC-V SiFive E24 (RV32IMFC) real-time control core with 16KB I-cache Up to 2MB L2 cache GPU – Imagination BXE-4-32 […]

November 14, 2024November 14, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Giveaway Week 2024 winners announced!

We’re now ready to announce the winners of CNX Software’s Giveaway Week 2024. We offered some of the review samples we tested (and some we did not test) in the last year, and for the fourth year running, RAKwireless also gave away two IoT development kits shipped directly to winners. This year’s prizes also included a RISC-V motherboard, a 3D depth camera, a few Arm development boards, two touchscreen displays, and an Alder Lake-N mini PC/router. All those products can be seen in the photo, minus some accessories. You’ll find more than seven devices because we organized the third Giveaway Week on CNX Software Thailand simultaneously with four prizes. We had seven winners on CNX Software: Jupiter RISC-V mini-ITX motherboard – François-Denis, Canada Orbbec Femto mega 3D depth and 4K RGB camera – Reifu, Japan RAKwireless Blues.ONE LoRaWAN, LTE-M, and NB-IoT devkit – OldCrow, Portugal Mixtile Core 3588E development kit […]

November 12, 2024December 5, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

GEEKOM GT1 Mega Review – Part 2: An Intel Core Ultra 9 185H Meteor Lake “AI” mini PC tested with Windows 11 Pro

I’ve already gone through the specifications, an unboxing, and a teardown of the GEEKOM GT1 Mega AI mini PC powered by an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H “Meteor Lake” processor with 32GB DDR5 RAM and a 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD in the first part of the review. I’ve now had more time to play with the GEEKOM GT1 Mega, so I will report my experience with Windows 11 Pro operating system in the second part of the review testing features, running benchmarks including an AI benchmark, evaluating networking and storage performance, testing the thermal design while under stress, and taking measurements for fan noise and power consumption. Software overview and features testing Going to the System->About window in the Settings confirms we have a GT1-Mega mini PC powered by a 2.50 GHz (base frequency) Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor with 32GB of RAM running Windows 11 Pro 23H2 build […]