512GB for $229
1TB for $247
Real shame Apple can't charge these prices for their storage upgrades.
CamelCamelCamel.
but why? Is there a threshold?
I don't need one, but would like to upgrade from my raspberry pi one day.
Holding out for a better deal, or better spec?
Everyday I see random deals that spark my interest and everyday I remember I bought something that I didn’t need and I’ve forgotten about it after 3 days.
Hi my name is thepigs and im a shopaholic
My name is havequick and I'm a shopaholic.
What's the 12 step plan?
As much as I hate Apples upgrade model the SSD's used in these is not even remotely on par with Apples SSD options.
for something of this spec it hardly matters, the SSD is more than adequate.
On the plus side these compensate for that lack of bleeding edge apple performance by being priced slightly lower…
can you game on these, like play Dota and LOL?
Haven't tried myself but if you look on youtube for n100 + Dota , seems the chipset can handle it fine.
ok, that works for me. thanks mate
Oh god damn it, I just got the Beelink S12 PRO with same specs for 330. By the way excellent CPU for Plex and 4k transcoding
Can you return it at all?
I could. But now that I’ve just finalised my “downloading” setup again I can’t be bothered lol.
i was gonna buy one, then realised the unused laptop we have worked just fine for my NVR needs. Yay thrift.
What software do you run and how many cameras?
an old laptop with i7-4600u. 16gb of ram
running frigate NVR
with 'openvino' as i'm too cheap to buy a coral tpu.
i have 4x cameras tp-link tapo
running detect for persons on all four
record 24/7 on one
record motion only on the other three
cpu is about 10-15% on idle.
ofc once something moves then the cpu spikes a bit.
the key is to mask things out that you dont care about like trees.
i hope to one day have the same laptop doing the same thing on 10 cameras, But if that's too much for it, then - grab another old laptop off fb and split the load.
records to my nas, on a volume that is replicated to onedrive. so all recordings effectively go to onedrive.
the 24/7 camera looks out to the front, and when it sees someone near my front door, the camera make an alarm sound. So . it's an automatic doorbell.
it also sends me a snapshot to my phone. These last two bits are cos there's home assistant connected too
Got mine for $159 and its fantastic for the meeting room.
Wow! That's an amazing price- reckon it'll ever be back?
Unsure, was 1/6/24
Buying a cheap laptop for 400 may be better?
Looking for a n100 to build a nas, and run some containers. But I am guessing these lack the sata connectors the generic n100 motherboards have, so not realy ideal for my use?
Many of these actually have a standard sata ribbon inside for you to mount a 2.5 inch drive. Don't know about this specific model though. But yeah, not multiple SATA so you won't be able to direct connect the number of drives needed for NAS use case.
thanks!
You can get a NAS style ITX board on Aliexpress with the N100 on it, generally 6 sata slots and also a single PCIE slot, perfect for a little NAS build.
link?
with 4 x 2.5G NICS:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006374631897.html
or if you want 2 x 2.5G and 1 x 10G NICS:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007204418865.html
You can attach a DAS, or use an M.2 to 5-port SATA PCIe expansion card.
The SSD is SATA, so you could put in a bigger one (1TB/2TB) and remove the one the unit ships with.
It's not what you asked but some generations of SFF HP EliteDesk have 2 x 3.5", 1 x 2.5" drive bays and M2 slots. Much bigger than these things but AFAIK nothing else that cheap (used) has so much space. I reckon with a 3D printer and some ingenuity I could fit another 3.5" drive too.
Any used NAS type device is very exxy because everyone wants one.
These most certainly have some form of malware preinstalled, right? Or does this not come with an OS?
Comes with windows. If you buy you should do a full format and reinstall windows, although I am sure most people don't.
Is it possible to have malware that survives a full format and reinstall? The specs on these seem too good to be true?
Yes, there is a possibility there is malware in the BIOS/UEFI, however I know nothing about this particular vendor.
Always good to do full re-install regardless of brand or country of origin, as many vendors try and "value add" buy installing extra utilities, came with my HPE laptop and MSI laptop, did clean install.
I have the Firebat AK2 one of these - got it from Ali for $181 delivered. These are clean - first thing I did was run malware bytes and ever other virus scanner I know on it and it's not shown any issues.
This is an awesome box - I run it as a nas with 2 x 5tb usb 2.5 inch drives on usb and have never had any issues. Came with Windows 11 Pro.
Perfect for playing 1080p x264/x265 media on a bedroom TV?
PS4 can be a bit finicky with codecs etc.
Absolutely.
Will work perfectly fine for that case, I did the same when I got tired of the plex app on PS.
A quick few notes from my experience with n100 mini pcs:
1. The n100 chipset is generally an awesome little workhorse. Like @justkev said, Plex with hardware transcoding at 4k has no problem. (Make sure you get the right gpu drivers installed if you run a linux distro)
2. Unless you're in a hurry, you can get these things cheaper from AliExpress.
3. When picking your iteration (there are many flavors of the same thing), consider: Ram DDR4 vs DDR5 , soldered on vs. swappable RAM and SSD, NIC speed (1gb vs. 2.5) and number of ports, available port types (usb3, USB C, displayport, hdmi).
4. Fan vs. Fanless (great for pfsense routers)
FYI TexHoo makes an awesome unit with the most versatility I've seen (DDR5, USB C ports, 2.5gb x 2 port, easy to open and access RAM/SSD, audio jack port, etc.)
On the topic of AliExpress it's worth considering the Intel N97 variants of a lot of the popular N100 mini PCs. Despite the lower name it's better than the N100 when it comes to the TDP and core clock speeds
Oh man, thank you for pointing that out. I can't believe they named them in reverse of performance.
how much of a noticeable difference in real usage though?
and how much difference in price
the n100 does have advantage in the watts TDP (half of N97)
Hey @philotex,
If you don't mind, can you please share the link for that TexHoo unit? Preferably from a seller you have bought before.
https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005005468230829.html , be aware that the default bundle is barebones (no ram/ssd).
Should I buy this or a Refurb Intel 9500T Mini PC as a home server?
The key benefits of this mini pc are:
1. It's cheap.
2. It's tiny.
3. It packs a punch for such a low power / heat profile.
If you don't care about those things, the 9500T will win in most other categories.
Serving……….?
unifi controller, bitwarden, transmission, plex, calibre-web, adguard, pyload, heimdail, home assistant, open media vault, etc.
I bought one of these a few months ago because it's lower power consumption than 9500T and much smaller footprint.
Would this be ok for running LibreOffice and 'R' or SPSS?
Yes
wow amzing deal. thanks for sharing op
❤️❤️❤️
Excellent, I was about to push the button on the 1TB for $300 last night but held off.
I'm planning on moving video processing heavy containers (Scrypted & Frigate) from my NAS and onto this. Scrypted's own docs call this the N100 specifically as good value for this use case: https://docs.scrypted.app/buyers-guide/servers.html#server-r…
Hey mate. I run frigate atm. Just wondering if you could explain scrypted a little more?
Does it basically just remove the delay on asking your home assistant to stream your cameras ??
Scrypted can do a lot of things, but I use it for:
a) Re-streaming all my cameras. So Frigate and anything else that needs to look at my camera feeds is pointed at Scrypted, not the source device. This keeps the load on my devices constant + low.
b) Bridging all my cameras + doorbell to HomeKit with HKSV (also works for Google Home or Alexa if you're in those ecosystems).
Thanks for the reply, currently using go2rtc for that, I'll look into scrypted. Thanks
Excellent, was waiting for a N100 under $250 to replace my old Windows 10 i5 plex server.
Would this be a better option? 16GB for $259.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/858160?page=1#comment-1557…
I do have a MiniPC (Minisforum UM773) as well as this laptop and love them both.
And yes I think it is:
https://www.cpu-monkey.com/en/compare_cpu-intel_processor_n1…
I suppose it comes down the use case and if you just want to hide the unit.
For $10 more, this is faster : https://www.amazon.com.au/GMKtec-Computer-Business-Nucbox-G5…
Albeit slightly less ram.
I have a KAMRUI brand, amd 5800u based, Mini pc and would not recommend it.
The realtek wifi struggles to get above 20mbit speed, and dropped out constantly for a couple seconds when playing starcraft 2. I'm using a USB dongle for wifi now.
Sound also has issues in Linux.
The gmtec branded one I have has none of these issues and is the rock solid, so I think it's something KAMRUI has cheaped out on.
Do these actually come with "Windows 11 Pro"?
mine had Win11 home edition.
I feel like this is a better N100 mini PC at a lower price point: https://www.amazon.com.au/GMKtec-16GB-1TB-Nucbox-G3/dp/B0CW3…
4x USB3.2 ports vs. 2x USB2.0/2x USB3.0
Wifi 6 vs. Wifi 5
2.5 GBE ethernet vs. 1 GBE ethernet
BT 5.2 vs. BT 4.2
Yes, this has less RAM and SSD, but these can be easily and cheaply upgraded, the other ones not so easily.
^ 16GB DDR4 1TB is $369.99. With $70 coupon comes down to $299.99
how much power do they use?
Where's the 1TB one for $247? Can't see it, maybe it's sold out?
Yeah it sold out, I think I got the last one.
is this the brand that comes with malware / spyware? I know there was a discussion about this a while ago with these mini PCs.
I re-installed my N100 mini PC (different brand) pretty much right away. See my comment below. I was able to at least download a zip file with all the driver files (had to enter serial number before the site would let me download the driver zip bundle). It's easier than manually hunting for missing drivers online. Had to fiddle with the Windows 11 install USB stick to have it let me choose which version of Windows 11 to install (otherwise it just re-installs Windows 11 Home).
Before I re-install, I did quickly check, I found the pre-installed Windows 11 installed extra device drivers (I checked hidden devices for extra drivers installed) for network cards, wireless cards. Basically the default image / install has all the drivers installed so when they change network chips in various batches, they don't need to prepare a new image.
Is win11 a choice?
About these cost effective N100 Mini PCs:
These are good value for money, but you do get what you paid for.
Thanks netsurfer, good to know.
Will it run a 4k 32" display? or two 2k 27" displays?
Mine suppose to do 3 x 4K60Hz (all with HDR). This one should do 2 x 4K60Hz fine. I am not sure about high refresh rate on 2K though… but I don't think we get these to play high refresh rate games.
Can't you just massgrave from home to pro ?
How would one of these go for streaming games from my gaming PC in the back room to the living room?
For the long term HTPC and mini-PC user, might be worth waiting for an NPU update to this kind of hardware for upscaling and task work acceleration respectively.
Will games like total war Troy, total war pharaoh run ok on this?
is there anyway to run 2 screens with these?
It has 2 HDMI ports. If you need more, there are some other N100 Mini PCs supporting 3 displays (technically, N100 can support up to 4 4K displays, but the Mini PC makers need to wire all 4 displays out in order for you to do that).
how to get DP working some HDMI to DP adapter?
Maybe this:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Cable-Matters-DisplayPort-Adapter-…
It's best not to use converters (even if it is an active converter). That one will work, but you might have issue accessing BIOS (because some of the BIOSes have unusual resolution which these active adapters don't really support).
@Poor Ass: Yes, DP can actually do more. If the GPU supports dual-mode DisplayPort (DP++), you can use a passive DP to HDMI adapter (and the GPU does the conversion to HDMI).
I have the N95 version of this one been fine for Home Assistant, the case is plastic crap, but for the price point you can't argue too much.
Me too.
I was of one the few that got it for $55.99 AUD and it's been fine for me at home running as an HTPC. Nov 2023, 24/7 to this date.
I would NOT give one to a customer but that said, all those 7th and 8th gen Intel NUCs I've supplied have had to have thermal compound replaced along with a few cooling fans so even they didn't get it right. My customers generally leave them on 24/7 so that's a factor.
How would something like this hold up just being ran as a private Minecraft server 24/7 for maybe 5+ friends
This seems like it would be fine for a parents web/office stuff pc? or would one of those refurbs that often come up be better
This or a raspberry pi? Looking to run HA and maybe a Plex server. Not critical, just more a hobby setup.
If you don't care about HDMI CEC, then this might be better (since it includes an SSD and power adapter). With Pi 5, you need to get the adapter and a case. If you want to use SSD, you then need to get an add-on. The integrated GPU in N100 supports more hardware accelerated video decoding / encoding.
Pi 5 dropped a lot of the hardware acceleration features regarding video, since they just expect people to push through with the cpu. (I think it just has HEVC accelerated decode now)
That combined with the need for a hat for a SSD makes it a bit questionable for a Plex server.
The power adapter weirdness will hit you as well since you're likely to be plugging in an external drive in that case too.
Thanks for the info @netsurfer and @Namidairo. Looks like this is a winner. I'll probably use a cheap external HDD for Plex storage depending on how much I need.
I used to be a skeptic, but then I got a GMKtec G5 (Intel N97) and now I'm a convert. Better value and more capable than a RPi. It's a no-brainer, go for a mini PC. You can even tune the BIOS settings to make the N100/N97/N95 series fairly power efficient, they will then typically sip between 5-8W of power at idle, which is only a little bit more than a Raspberry Pi 5.
RPi only makes sense for very narrow/niche use cases these days.
For US$91.86 (~A$141.67) and coupon AUAG12 you can get this barebones "ESUS" N100 Mini PC if anyone wants to take a stab at something cheap from Ali.
M.2 NVMe + SATA SSD slots
1x DDR4 SODIMM
1x HDMI + DP (no USB-C)
1x USB 2.0, 4x USB 3.2
Gigabit LAN, WiFi + BT
microSD slot
3.5mm audio
AU Plug
It's worth mentioning there's only 5 left and not enough feedback to be allowed on OzBargain, as it's a new store.
what is missing if it is barebones?
Must resist.. been holding out for these for a while