Is it worth buying mini PC in the 60-120 dollar range? can it work as HTPC?

[arnprasad]

HI..have a chance to buy and ship to europe from Ali express and I see some mini PCs in the 60-120 USD. OF course they dont come with too many bells and whistles. But can they do the following?
(a) work as HTPC...basically able to play 4K videos flawlessly with whatever sound format to AVR
(b) Web browsing
(c) MS office - mainly Excel

I have a full form Intel 5th Gen desktop which not only is ugly and occupies a lot of space in my living room, Occassionally I get bootup errors...not sure if its Bios issue or having issues reading hard disk/SSD...etc. So if I get a decent mini PC for 100 dollars, would prefer it over say buying second hand office desktops from Dell Lenovo and HP from Amazon around the 15K mark.

What exactly do these mini PCs miss? I dont care about bluetooth and all..I am happy to use cables.

1) This one is under 100 USD plus comes with some coupons

Bmax b3 pro mini pc windows 11 intel n5095 8gb ram ddr4 256gb ssd intel uhd grafik 1000mbps ethernet - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

2) This one is below 70

Bmax mini pc b1pro windows 11 pro 8gb ram 128gb rom n4000 micro desktop computer dual-band wifi mini pc - AliExpress 7

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

3) Below 80

Bmax b2 pro neue mini pc windows 11 pc alles in einem hdmi intel n4000 8gb ram 256gb ssd intel uhd grafik - AliExpress 7

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

My house is fully automated with smart relays, plugs, bulbs..etc and I want to install home assistant. Have watched few youtube videos where they are saying these are better than raspberry Pis as once you start adding memory and storage...etc to a Pi...it comes close to mini PC territory and mini PC and way way faster than a Pi

 

[bobbyprajan]

it comes close to mini PC territory and mini PC and way way faster than a Pi

True. I removed all the SBCs I had and moved to Proxmox in a mini PC. Helps to reduce the wires, power adapters etc

 

[mathan]

HI..have a chance to buy and ship to europe from Ali express and I see some mini PCs in the 60-120 USD. OF course they dont come with too many bells and whistles. But can they do the following?
(a) work as HTPC...basically able to play 4K videos flawlessly with whatever sound format to AVR
(b) Web browsing
(c) MS office - mainly Excel

I have a full form Intel 5th Gen desktop which not only is ugly and occupies a lot of space in my living room, Occassionally I get bootup errors...not sure if its Bios issue or having issues reading hard disk/SSD...etc. So if I get a decent mini PC for 100 dollars, would prefer it over say buying second hand office desktops from Dell Lenovo and HP from Amazon around the 15K mark.

What exactly do these mini PCs miss? I dont care about bluetooth and all..I am happy to use cables.

1) This one is under 100 USD plus comes with some coupons

Bmax b3 pro mini pc windows 11 intel n5095 8gb ram ddr4 256gb ssd intel uhd grafik 1000mbps ethernet - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

2) This one is below 70

Bmax mini pc b1pro windows 11 pro 8gb ram 128gb rom n4000 micro desktop computer dual-band wifi mini pc - AliExpress 7

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

3) Below 80

Bmax b2 pro neue mini pc windows 11 pc alles in einem hdmi intel n4000 8gb ram 256gb ssd intel uhd grafik - AliExpress 7

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

My house is fully automated with smart relays, plugs, bulbs..etc and I want to install home assistant. Have watched few youtube videos where they are saying these are better than raspberry Pis as once you start adding memory and storage...etc to a Pi...it comes close to mini PC territory and mini PC and way way faster than a Pi

HTPC is long dead after streaming android boxes like Shield, Zidoo and firestick came into being. Definitely you will not be able to play 4K videos as it will max out to 1080P as you will need a MB that should support 4K and will cost more than the price point you have mentioned. Also HDR in windows is very unreliable. They are however good for web browsing and working on MS office.

 

[argho]

HTPC is long dead after streaming android boxes like Shield, Zidoo and firestick came into being. Definitely you will not be able to play 4K videos as it will max out to 1080P as you will need a MB that should support 4K and will cost more than the price point you have mentioned. Also HDR in windows is very unreliable. They are however good for web browsing and working on MS office.

Agree. Better to buy Nvidia Shield Pro or Apple TV.

Will last you 5+ years or more, without a single problem.

If you want a hassle free mini PC, do take a look at the M4 Mac mini. Base model is good value.

Cheap Windows PCs have limitations and issues.
I replaced my huge desktop PC with a good quality Windows laptop, hooked up to a monitor with USB C. Absoulutely problem free for last 2 years. And save a lot of space.

 

[vishalrao]

Not really a full HTPC setup but I have an Intel i3 NUC with 16GB RAM and 2TB SSD with ubuntu running on it... I run a few services/apps mostly on docker, like the Technitium DNS server (not really for ad blocking, more for custom internal DNS config for hosting local linux software mirrors etc) coz I'm not a fan of (and clueless how to) running proxmox etc.

I use rclone.org tool to serve a folder with a few media files (pics, vids, music) as DLNA which just shows up on my Google OS smart TVs default media players which is pretty nifty IMHO and suffices for my basic "HTCP" (streaming) needs.

Note that at first impression rclone.org is a cloud file sharing/syncing tool but I was pleased to discover it can server files as DLNA so I don't need/bother running a full HTPC solution like Plex, Kodi, OMV etc.

 

[arnprasad]

Some of your answers that have technical terms went over my head. Thing is I dont want to spend more than 12K. I already have two laptops and two desktops in the house. Unlike most of you who stream and want perfect image and all that - I am just a normal guy. Although I have subscription to all the major OTTs, I still download movies and TV series from piratebay as its easier, no glitches and works when internet is down - that too mostly in 1080P only as my projector is 720P.

I am a bit surprised it wont play 4K MKVs - the N95 ones should play I guess..will do some more research myself.

So if I look at the ugly desktop on the groundfloor, its usage is something like this:

(a) 4 hours of say Kannada OTT for mom catching up on daily soaps on Jiocinema and Zee5. Max resolution is 1080p anyways
(b) 2-3 hours spent watching youtube - again my default setting I think is 1080P although I watch it on my 75inch 4K TCL TV
(c) Playing downloaded TV series daily during food time. on vlc..something like big bang theory say...downloaded at 1080p
(d) Occassionally open an Excel file to tally up monthly expenses..once or twice a month.

I am still old school and like my wireless keyboard and mouse over fiddling with remote controls. As you can see from above - my usage is not like typical HTPC.

With this in mind, you think atleast the 100-120dollar N95/100 mini PC is decent enough?

 

[arnprasad]

This one kinda explains. Thx everyone for your help!!