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I got my Dad a NUC for Christmas...He hasn't really been using it yet. I think this might have been a more interesting and simple gift, wish it came out in time
by boyaka 12y ago
I got my Dad a NUC for Christmas...He hasn't really been using it yet. I think this might have been a more interesting and simple gift, wish it came out in time. I did get to play with the NUC because I wanted to have it all configured and ready to use. It was interesting to see how they got all of the components packed in and I was impressed by the performance. Main issue I had was graphics support, because I wanted to put Elementary OS on it to see if he'd be interested in trying out Linux. Ended up going with the latest Ubuntu instead (Elementary OS Luna is built on Ubuntu 12.04) which worked fine.
My Dad had gone through a couple of those Shuttle "Mini" computers (the motherboards were Flex-ATX, slightly bigger than Mini-ITX and obviously needed to be smaller than micro-ATX), so I thought the NUC (between Nano-ITX and Pico-ITX [1]) might appeal to him. They both died and he's currently using a standard desktop. I believe one or both of his Shuttle's died due to a PSU failure, so it's nice to have the external power brick on the NUC.
He and my Mom had previously been using a Windows Media Center desktop with a tuner card and Comcast cable, but they're using DirecTV boxes on all the TVs now so not much need for a HTPC. He said he was thinking about trying to use the NUC with Windows 8 and a touch screen somehow...Not really sure how he can accomplish that. Besides introducing him to Linux, I was thinking he could use it on his TV as just an alternate computer and wanted to show him how to use Synergy to control it with his desktop keyboard/mouse. He's currently switching his TV between the DirecTV box and his desktop as a second display.
At the very least it's a backup, and he could potentially take it on trips as a more powerful alternative to a laptop. There's just so many different options for computing these days. It's like information overload, but with hardware.
[1] http://www.anandtech.com/show/5800/slimming-desktops-down-intel-reveals-next-unit-of-computing http://www.anandtech.com/show/5800/slimming-desktops-down-in... (existence of Nano-ITX and Pico-ITX pointed out in the comments)
- toyg 12y ago> There's just so many different options for computing these days. It's like information overload, but with hardware. Yeah. I have two Dreamplugs lying there unused at the moment, plus a CuBox used as NAS/TimeMachine, and a MicroPython waiting for some free time... so many options, so little time. They are also getting so powerful, I'm seriously considering a few "enterprise" scenarios. Remember when IT meant mainframes, so individual departments would just bypass them and buy their own PCs? I think we're ready for a new wave of that decentralized approach: between mobile and these little bad boys, there's plenty of power around to run a number of applications that would have required a rack server 5 or 10 years ago. Now John Accountant could just buy a little silent box and put it on his desk, without having to go through hellish rounds of IT approvals.
- walterbell 12y agoSince the silent box can run multiple VMs, it can be the equivalent of a small rack from yesteryear.
- dragonwriter 12y ago> between mobile and these little bad boys, there's plenty of power around to run a number of applications that would have required a rack server 5 or 10 years ago. Now John Accountant could just buy a little silent box and put it on his desk, without having to go through hellish rounds of IT approvals. Which would be nice, if we had the hardware of today with the IT practices of a time when enterprises might exert centralized control of departmental server purchases but not exert the same control over individual desktop system purchases and even the software installation on those desktops.
- toyg 12y agoToday, I was working at the HQ of a major UK telco. I connected my personal MBP to a random ethernet cable and lo, I could RDP on servers and do everything I wanted, without any prior authorisation. If you think all enterprise networks are as locked down as the ones found in banks, you're sorely mistaken. BYOD is a reality.
- therealunreal 12y agoI suggest you put OpenELEC on it: dead simple distro for Kodi (XBMC) that just works! I used it to replace my WDTV Live that died recently and I couldn't be happier.
- rsync 12y ago"I got my Dad a NUC for Christmas...He hasn't really been using it yet." I never understood why he did that. It was a good NUC and he needed a good NUC. If he had used it or even honed it, or took it out of his pocket and looked at it -- that's all he had to do.
- keville 12y agoPretty sure this comment flew East of most readers' heads. ;)