Anyone put Mint on an Intel NUC?

[MurphCID]

The Nuc is due to arrive Tuesday or Wednesday and it will be installed shortly thereafter. I have all the accessories to do the installation, to include a very nice little rechargeable wireless logitech keyboard.

[MurphCID]

NUC arriving today. It should get installed either tomorrow or before friday.

[MurphCID]

Got it, installed, set up, and running in less time than it would take to read the Microsoft EULA! This inlcudes loading all my files, etc.

[Petermint]

R.PI3?

I have a Pi 3 and a Pi 4 2GB model. The older Pi 3 is ok for watching videos. The Pi 4 2GB worked out about the same price as the 3, has two HDMI ports, a GPU, USB 3, and the Ethernet runs at a full gigabit speed. For a file/video server or editing images, I would use the Pi 4. Add some small heatsinks. No need for fan. Can run two USB 3 disks at USB 3 speed. Editing 2K video would be better on the Pi 4 4GB or 8GB models.

I have spare notebook that was a high end non gaming notebook from when mSATA and USB 3 was first introduced. Worth less than $100 on the local second hand market. Good competition for the Pi 4 and the Intel NUC. You get keyboard and screen included. The battery is a free UPS. It does everything a NUC does short of the NVMe versions, which are way too expensive here.

Looking at NUCs a couple of years ago, they ones I investigated ran without a fan if you did not load them with any internal stuff. When you use things like internal disks, you end up with a whiny little fan far worse than my notebook. Are the new models different?

In the past, I put together ITX and mATX systems. The regular ATX components are usually cheaper because there are almost always good choices on sale. A regular ATX case has really good airflow and can be set up with 140mm fans that make almost no sound. If space is not a problem, a regular medium tower is quieter than any of the tiny boxes using a fan.

[dave0808]

Looking at NUCs a couple of years ago, they ones I investigated ran without a fan if you did not load them with any internal stuff. When you use things like internal disks, you end up with a whiny little fan far worse than my notebook. Are the new models different?

The later models take NVMe storage.

I use one as a HTPC and whilst the whiny fan comes on, the audio from what I'm watching drowns most of it out. However, as a computer to work on in a home office or bedroom, I can imagine that it would either get annoying or you'd just get used to it.

[MurphCID]

After months of using the NUCs, I have come to this conclusion regarding these devices. They are the functional equivalent of an expandable laptop and have the same limitations. I use two of them as content streaming devices attached to televisions. If I was in a dorm room and wanted a laptop equivalent for a non-gaming system, one of these attached to the back of a 27" monitor would be great to watch YouTube, NetFlix, and do homework. To prevent the Spouse Unit's head from exploding, both have Windows 10 Pro instead of Linux. I suspect that Linux would be just perfect on these devices. As long as you understand their limitations, and do not expect them to be regular do everything computers, you will get along fine. I like the reasonable price paid for the two I have, and would consider getting another if need be. System 76 sells one called the Meerkat, but for that price I could almost get two basic i3 NUCs from Amazon.

[Petermint]

expandable laptop

but no battery to keep them recording a movie when the power is out.

[MurphCID]

expandable laptop

but no battery to keep them recording a movie when the power is out.

That is a very true point. They do have their place however, I find them useful for Spouse Unit amusement time (she gets to watch her sewing videos on Youtube with no ads).

[Reorx]

As a Floridian, I understand that my electrical utility can be prone to occasional, seemingly random, short (5 seconds to 5 minutes) outages... as a result, every computer that doesn't have a built in battery is plugged into a UPS. This includes my cable TV box and my internet modem/router. For small devices, you only need a small capacity UPS. I prefer APC units that don't have fans as I have had a UPS fan die that resulted in the UPS itself dying as well!

[MurphCID]

As a Floridian, I understand that my electrical utility can be prone to occasional, seemingly random, short (5 seconds to 5 minutes) outages... as a result, every computer that doesn't have a built in battery is plugged into a UPS. This includes my cable TV box and my internet modem/router. For small devices, you only need a small capacity UPS. I prefer APC units that don't have fans as I have had a UPS fan die that resulted in the UPS itself dying as well!

Oh wow, I did not know that. Good idea.

[Reorx]

Oh wow, I did not know that. Good idea.

My ideas on this forum are open source licensed. You can have them for free and you may modify them any way you like to suite your purposes. You can also pass them along to others with the same restrictions but you may not charge $ for them!!!

Enjoy!

Good to see you again!

- Reo -

[MurphCID]

Oh wow, I did not know that. Good idea.

My ideas on this forum are open source licensed. You can have them for free and you may modify them any way you like to suite your purposes. You can also pass them along to others with the same restrictions but you may not charge $ for them!!!

Enjoy!

Good to see you again!

- Reo -

LOL!

A buddy was thinking about setting up a Beowulf cluster using inexpensive NUCs, either the AMD or Intel ones. I told him to ask around first.

[MurphCID]

I am considering getting another NUC and putting Mint on it (or POP!_OS) and giving it to my Mac using daughter to take back to college with her. Or just keep it at the house and use it upstairs on the old TV. The two I have are running Windows 10 Pro since I need iTunes on both. The one on the main TV has the iTunes library with all the movies on it. The one on the Spouse Unit's TV has her iTunes account with her music, etc. For right at $499 with a 10th gen i3, 16 gb of ram, and a 512 gb NVME drive, they are a bargain. This is the Amazon price. I have become very fond of the NUCs for the use I have for them. They are like a laptop with no screen, and a small footprint. I was going to look at the System 76 Meerkat, but they charge too much compared to the ones I can get on Amazon with Windows 10. The only downside is that Microsoft keeps nagging me to "upgrade" to Windows 11. Not going to happen.