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Unfortunately the article doesn’t really explain what is a MiniPC. Is it any small SoC system? Is there a specific size or price point? Is it these Ali express

Unfortunately the article doesn’t really explain what is a MiniPC. Is it any small SoC system? Is there a specific size or price point? Is it these Ali express things?

ThrowawayR2 1y ago
This STH article might be helpful https://www.servethehome.com/perfect-project-tinyminimicro-pushing-a-1l-pc-as-a-server-concept-intel-hp-sabrent-crucial/ https://www.servethehome.com/perfect-project-tinyminimicro-p...
freetime2 1y ago
This is basically the form factor: https://a.co/d/1Mll2aH https://a.co/d/1Mll2aH Price can vary significantly from under $200 for an Intel N150-based system all the way up to Ryzen AI Max+ 395 systems costing $2000. A lot of the mini PC makers have gotten pretty legitimate recent years, and some makers like Minisform can even charge a bit of a premium based on their brand name. More "traditional" hardware makers like Asus and ASRock also sell Mini PCs. And of course Apple is also a significant player in the Mini PC world with the Mac Mini. So definitely not just an Ali express thing - although Mini PCs can certainly be purchased there as well. These refurbished 1L "tiny" desktops from big vendors like Lenovo, HP, and Dell are also popular with the Mini PC server crowd. https://a.co/d/g1mgUnl https://a.co/d/g1mgUnl
- bsimpson 1y ago
  The Verge just wrote a love letter to the new Framework Desktop, running SteamOS on the thing as a gaming PC.
  - freetime2 1y ago
    IMO the Framework Desktop is too large to be considered a Mini PC due to its 4.5L case size. I'd call it a Mini-ITX tower. It looks nice, though. I'm impressed they were able to get 11W idle power consumption with a 400W power supply (most mini pcs have much smaller power supplies, which are supposed to be more efficient with smaller loads). [1] [1] https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2025/i-clustered-four-framework-mainboards-test-huge-llms https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2025/i-clustered-four-fram...
    - chaosharmonic 1y ago
      The (smaller) laptop mainboards, on the other hand...
- mrheosuper 1y ago
  Interesting, back in the day, we called PC with ITX motherboard miniPC.

Unfortunately the article doesn’t really explain what is a MiniPC. Is it any small SoC system? Is there a specific size or price point? Is it these Ali express things?

ThrowawayR2 1y ago

This STH article might be helpful https://www.servethehome.com/perfect-project-tinyminimicro-pushing-a-1l-pc-as-a-server-concept-intel-hp-sabrent-crucial/ https://www.servethehome.com/perfect-project-tinyminimicro-p...

freetime2 1y ago

This is basically the form factor: https://a.co/d/1Mll2aH https://a.co/d/1Mll2aH Price can vary significantly from under $200 for an Intel N150-based system all the way up to Ryzen AI Max+ 395 systems costing $2000. A lot of the mini PC makers have gotten pretty legitimate recent years, and some makers like Minisform can even charge a bit of a premium based on their brand name. More "traditional" hardware makers like Asus and ASRock also sell Mini PCs. And of course Apple is also a significant player in the Mini PC world with the Mac Mini. So definitely not just an Ali express thing - although Mini PCs can certainly be purchased there as well. These refurbished 1L "tiny" desktops from big vendors like Lenovo, HP, and Dell are also popular with the Mini PC server crowd. https://a.co/d/g1mgUnl https://a.co/d/g1mgUnl

bsimpson 1y ago
The Verge just wrote a love letter to the new Framework Desktop, running SteamOS on the thing as a gaming PC.
- freetime2 1y ago
  IMO the Framework Desktop is too large to be considered a Mini PC due to its 4.5L case size. I'd call it a Mini-ITX tower. It looks nice, though. I'm impressed they were able to get 11W idle power consumption with a 400W power supply (most mini pcs have much smaller power supplies, which are supposed to be more efficient with smaller loads). [1] [1] https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2025/i-clustered-four-framework-mainboards-test-huge-llms https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2025/i-clustered-four-fram...
  - chaosharmonic 1y ago
    The (smaller) laptop mainboards, on the other hand...
mrheosuper 1y ago
Interesting, back in the day, we called PC with ITX motherboard miniPC.