3 ms·

Does any potential buyer has given serious thought to Intel NUC products instead of a laptop? I see several advantage of owing it like 1. portability 2. conn

by aq3cn 10y ago

Does any potential buyer has given serious thought to Intel NUC products instead of a laptop? I see several advantage of owing it like 1. portability 2. connects to extenal GPU (it already has integrated Iris Pro GPU) 3. optical audio 4. upgradable/future proof 5. my choice of keyboard/mouse/os/display 6. Thunderbolt™ 3 www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/nuc/products-overview.html https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11908100 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11908100

brudgers 10y ago
Over the years, my basic operational distinction between laptops and desktops comes down to Uninteruptable Power Supplies. It's not just working in the coffee shop [though that matters]. Thunderstorms matter too. By the time I put a NUC on a UPS, and a monitor, keyboard, mouse, what advantage does it have over a regular desktop if I need computing power, or an rPi if I'm just noodling around in the terminal.
- aq3cn 10y ago
  As you can read my above response, it makes my life easier while transportation. I certainly will choose desktop tower in comparison to this miniPC but that just isn't possible for now for me. Some use it as their media center in living room instead of work station.
  - brudgers 10y ago
    That makes sense. It seems like a different use case than is typical for a laptop. Though one that I used laptop might readily fill...there's some nice kit available for the price of a new NUC.
peatmoss 10y ago
Yeah (not a NUC specifically, though I considered that), but a small formfactor PC. I really like having that little bit of friction keeping me tied to an actual workstation. If I'm feeling antsy like I should be sitting in a coffee shop or office lounge area, that's usually a good signal to me that it's time to take a break. A workstation isn't a computer form factor, it's a comprehensive suite of ergonomic and self mental conditioning decisions. As a side benefit, it's very easy to find / build a ludicrously performant computer, for not much money, that runs Linux (or even OpenBSD!) like a dream. I was genuinely sad when my most sign-on with a job didn't give me a non-laptop option. I'm increasingly of the opinion that kind, humane IT departments offer workstations and allow people to borrow chromebooks for rare travel or working from home. The alternative sets up a subtle expectation that you could / should be working outside work. Plus I have to schlep the stupid thing home or lock it up in a cabinet every night. If only I could epoxy it to the desk... You heard it here: 2017 is the year when startups, to demonstrate work-life balance friendliness, advertise big desktop workstation options for employees.
- aq3cn 10y ago
  I was talking from a point of view of a student and a light gamer. Due to issues of transportation, it would not be feasible for me to have a ludicrously performant computer or a gaming rig. I use portability in the sense of being able to move across country with my device. I have a loud speakers, Das mechanical keyboard and a gaming mouse along with ergonomic chair and desk to help me type faster. That's my mental conditioning which I cannot have on the move. After that there is always something on download/upload on my laptop, so I never like disconnecting my laptop from ethernet. So problem solved. You can do what I am doing, plus get multi monitor set up too. So unplugging your laptop becomes pain in ass. You can try love to hate your laptop touch pad and keyboard, so always crave using a mouse and mechanical keyboard set up. Uninstall wifi drivers too. That will help to keep your laptop locked in with an ethernet cable. I want a powerful PC which can be easily transported without any damage to it. Mini PC seems to be better option than a gaming PC. As it has the option of external GPU which allows me share it with others, instead of it being hooked inside my laptop/custom pc all the time. Sharing decreases the cost. I know about decreased performance of external GPU over USB C in comparison to internal GPU. I am not fan of so much power on the move. I don't even use a smart phone and I am fine with a flip phone. It has 16GB SD card and a headphone jack. Today, we see that in name of making devices thin and powerful companies are soldering RAM and SSD to motherboard. That's the reason I have decided to move away from laptops and depend on mini/custom PC. I can triple boot Windows/macOS/Linux. I also use persistence installation of Linux or even Windows using Windows to Go. So in case of emergency, I always have a way to get back to where I left off. Portable softwares, Teamviewer and SSH is always there too. It seems to me that carrying powerful machine all the time must make one feel obligated to get back to work and hence more hectic life. I just cannot afford to pay premium price for additional power in portable form factor while losing options of upgradability. I also welcome desktop workstation as long as I can hook a NVIDIA 1080 and play Crisis game. PS: I read the review of Intel NUC, and it has graphics driver issues. Sad. any opinion on this Cubi 2 Intel Kaby Lake Core i7-7500U DDR4 mSATA HDMI Wifi Bluetooth SFF Barebone PC (Cubi2-005BUS) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LXP5JZC/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LXP5JZC/
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
ProblemFactory 10y ago
I used a Mac Mini as my main machine some time ago when I was a student. Carried it between home and uni each term, and sometimes to offices where I had a monitor set up. My argument for getting one was similar: I spend 95% of the time with it plugged into big monitors and keyboards anyway, I can upgrade the disk/memory/etc, still portable enough, and much cheaper than an equivalent Macbook Pro. But when it was time to upgrade, I got a laptop again. Because even if 95% of the time you use it plugged into big monitors and keyboards, you really miss the 5%. You still need a laptop to go to client meetings, conference rooms, conferences, hotels, hackathons, airports, etc. And if you're getting both a portable desktop and a "basic laptop", might as well buy a good laptop for the same total price, and avoid the effort needed to keep all the data and configuration in sync on two computers. However, if you are sure that you can live without having a computer that is usable outside of places where you have previously dropped off a monitor, it might be the most economical option.

by aq3cn 10y ago

brudgers 10y ago

Over the years, my basic operational distinction between laptops and desktops comes down to Uninteruptable Power Supplies. It's not just working in the coffee shop [though that matters]. Thunderstorms matter too. By the time I put a NUC on a UPS, and a monitor, keyboard, mouse, what advantage does it have over a regular desktop if I need computing power, or an rPi if I'm just noodling around in the terminal.

aq3cn 10y ago
As you can read my above response, it makes my life easier while transportation. I certainly will choose desktop tower in comparison to this miniPC but that just isn't possible for now for me. Some use it as their media center in living room instead of work station.
- brudgers 10y ago
  That makes sense. It seems like a different use case than is typical for a laptop. Though one that I used laptop might readily fill...there's some nice kit available for the price of a new NUC.

peatmoss 10y ago

Yeah (not a NUC specifically, though I considered that), but a small formfactor PC. I really like having that little bit of friction keeping me tied to an actual workstation. If I'm feeling antsy like I should be sitting in a coffee shop or office lounge area, that's usually a good signal to me that it's time to take a break. A workstation isn't a computer form factor, it's a comprehensive suite of ergonomic and self mental conditioning decisions. As a side benefit, it's very easy to find / build a ludicrously performant computer, for not much money, that runs Linux (or even OpenBSD!) like a dream. I was genuinely sad when my most sign-on with a job didn't give me a non-laptop option. I'm increasingly of the opinion that kind, humane IT departments offer workstations and allow people to borrow chromebooks for rare travel or working from home. The alternative sets up a subtle expectation that you could / should be working outside work. Plus I have to schlep the stupid thing home or lock it up in a cabinet every night. If only I could epoxy it to the desk... You heard it here: 2017 is the year when startups, to demonstrate work-life balance friendliness, advertise big desktop workstation options for employees.

aq3cn 10y ago
I was talking from a point of view of a student and a light gamer. Due to issues of transportation, it would not be feasible for me to have a ludicrously performant computer or a gaming rig. I use portability in the sense of being able to move across country with my device. I have a loud speakers, Das mechanical keyboard and a gaming mouse along with ergonomic chair and desk to help me type faster. That's my mental conditioning which I cannot have on the move. After that there is always something on download/upload on my laptop, so I never like disconnecting my laptop from ethernet. So problem solved. You can do what I am doing, plus get multi monitor set up too. So unplugging your laptop becomes pain in ass. You can try love to hate your laptop touch pad and keyboard, so always crave using a mouse and mechanical keyboard set up. Uninstall wifi drivers too. That will help to keep your laptop locked in with an ethernet cable. I want a powerful PC which can be easily transported without any damage to it. Mini PC seems to be better option than a gaming PC. As it has the option of external GPU which allows me share it with others, instead of it being hooked inside my laptop/custom pc all the time. Sharing decreases the cost. I know about decreased performance of external GPU over USB C in comparison to internal GPU. I am not fan of so much power on the move. I don't even use a smart phone and I am fine with a flip phone. It has 16GB SD card and a headphone jack. Today, we see that in name of making devices thin and powerful companies are soldering RAM and SSD to motherboard. That's the reason I have decided to move away from laptops and depend on mini/custom PC. I can triple boot Windows/macOS/Linux. I also use persistence installation of Linux or even Windows using Windows to Go. So in case of emergency, I always have a way to get back to where I left off. Portable softwares, Teamviewer and SSH is always there too. It seems to me that carrying powerful machine all the time must make one feel obligated to get back to work and hence more hectic life. I just cannot afford to pay premium price for additional power in portable form factor while losing options of upgradability. I also welcome desktop workstation as long as I can hook a NVIDIA 1080 and play Crisis game. PS: I read the review of Intel NUC, and it has graphics driver issues. Sad. any opinion on this Cubi 2 Intel Kaby Lake Core i7-7500U DDR4 mSATA HDMI Wifi Bluetooth SFF Barebone PC (Cubi2-005BUS) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LXP5JZC/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LXP5JZC/
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]

ProblemFactory 10y ago

I used a Mac Mini as my main machine some time ago when I was a student. Carried it between home and uni each term, and sometimes to offices where I had a monitor set up. My argument for getting one was similar: I spend 95% of the time with it plugged into big monitors and keyboards anyway, I can upgrade the disk/memory/etc, still portable enough, and much cheaper than an equivalent Macbook Pro. But when it was time to upgrade, I got a laptop again. Because even if 95% of the time you use it plugged into big monitors and keyboards, you really miss the 5%. You still need a laptop to go to client meetings, conference rooms, conferences, hotels, hackathons, airports, etc. And if you're getting both a portable desktop and a "basic laptop", might as well buy a good laptop for the same total price, and avoid the effort needed to keep all the data and configuration in sync on two computers. However, if you are sure that you can live without having a computer that is usable outside of places where you have previously dropped off a monitor, it might be the most economical option.