For years Ive wanted to build a retro-gaming console to play NES, SNES, PS1, etc. games from my childhood. Originally, I had planned to do this with a Raspberry Pi, but research suggested that the relatively weak hardware specs cant handle certain PS1 games (let alone anything more modern), and even upscaling some older consoles can be a problem. I decided to try this mini PC instead, as the specs were better, the price was right, and its actually a much more turnkey solution (it already has a case, more ports, etc.).

You get the mini PC and power supply - thats it. Add your own keyboard, mouse and screen.

This is my 3rd Mini PC on less than 2 years. The first worked perfectly fine until I shut it down using the power button, wiped the drive and couldnt recover it. It lasted a year and 3 months. I purchased a $100 Mini PC but found it slower than trying to walk with a toddler. I returned that, and purchased the KAMRUI Mini PC Windows 11 Pro, N5105 Mini PC! This thing is fast! It works just as good as my 1st Mini PC. I use exclusively use it with Google Chrome, and Ive had 0 issues. Im beyond happy with this Mini PC.

This mini PC is fast and had no issues handing multiple windows playing videos or web base games. I use a program to play games via cloud and had no issues running it at all. It comes with a wireless wifi built in so no need to have a lan cable connected directly to the system. The boot was extremely fast and did have any issues booting up. The unit is small but packs a powerful punch. Word document words like a charm and I can stream video apps with no problem. If you need a PC and dont want to spend alot of money this unit is great for the price and what it can do.

Quick, responsive and super easy setup! I’m still trying to figure out what the catch is. It has a 4 core Celeron processor, 16 gigs of ram AND a 512 gig SSD with all the bells and whistles (Windows 11 Pro, wired & wireless LAN, Bluetooth etc.). Time will tell (if it doesn’t break) but as long as it keeps running, I think that this small form platform just might be the future of desktop computers!

Despite we are seeing a tons of smart tv/tv sticks on the market, but it seems non of them, including the gorgeous apple tv, could actually do what I wanted -- playing 4k recordings off an external hard drive. The tv sticks were either not powerful to render those high-quality videos, or lack of USB 3.0 ports to mount my hard drive. So I ended up thinking, why not getting a mini PC and use that as a tv stick? The best thing I like about this product is the two mounting point on the back of the case -- the designer has already thought about mounting the pc on the back of the monitor for you. And because I am actually using a pc monitor stand for my 32 inch tv, the stand itself has compatible holes for the mounting gear of the pc already. So without much difficulties, I attached the mini pc to the back of my tv, nice and tidy. And making the scenario more ideal, the mini pc itself comes with a internal spot for 2.5 inch sata hard drive. So I could easily put in a 4tb ssd that contains most of the recordings that I would love to watch. The pc has both lan and wifi for internet. And because of the case of the pc is all plastic, I feel that the wifi signal seems better than my intel nuc. And the lan port is also a huge advantage for this pc over other tv sticks. Stable internet connections means everything, especially when watch live sport streams. The pc has 3 usb ports and bluetooth, so I have no problem connecting my bluetooth mouse and keyboard to it, or a logi unify receiver. And also because of its full set of ports, I am actually thinking of installing some ps2/ps3 emulators and play those legacy games off my xbox controller. And given its a computer, the cloud gaming that has been advertising everywhere for those other gaming-oriented tv sticks should also be possible. Of course, the hardware of this pc is probably from 5 years or even 10 years ago, but if we look it as a tv box, then it probably becomes the biggest killer in this category on the market. And all of these were made possible thanks to its mounting capability and the full set of peripheries as a PC, the usb ports, the wifi, the bluetooth etc. I am even thinking of getting another one and run a small NAS out of it. So that in the future, one would work as server that manages all of my video collections, and the other would be a tv stick that reads the files stored in the NAS and show them on TV. In general, I would consider this pc as a great replacement (tho more expensive) to tv stick and raspberry pi.

I think this is a pretty good Mini PC that will be more than enough for most casual users. However, there are a few issues I have with it as well.

This little PC is a powerhouse! I love it. Took over running our POS with CC system. Running two moniters, one VGA one using a HDMI to DVI cable. Runs 3 printers. Label, receipt and full paper printers. Syncs with blue tooth wireless speakers, Connects with 5G wireless. Wireless mouse and keyboard. I had to add a USB port extender because I am running way more the 3 USB devices. You can see it in the pic to the right of the box. I velcrod it to the moniter as well as hung the Micro PC there too. Makes zero sound. Runs plenty fast with Office and our POS software. Very happy.

This is a very capable mini pc that is powerful enough to run dual display. This is a Mac Mini on a budget. Comes with a metal bracket so you can mount it on the back of the monitor which is where I have mine set up.

Ive had the pleasure of using and reviewing a lot of different mini PCs, so I have a pretty good baseline of what they should be capable of. This is definitely upper level for the price.