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Question

Ultra Compact Computers

Sep 7, 2015 2:43PM PDT

So, has anyone had any good experiences with any of these? I see mixed reviews on just about every model imaginable (often related to the fact that the OS takes up pretty a massive chunk of the stock hard drives). I'd like to replace an 11 year old bear of a computer (in terms of size and temperament) in my office with something small to run the internet, a printer and a couple light programs (no games). Thoughts and suggestions are very welcome as I am just not as familiar with the latest tech as I used to be.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Yes and no.
Sep 7, 2015 2:58PM PDT

We've used nano computers like the Raspberry Pi and up. However you might be writing about a Windows PC. Those work but then you have the gamer that tries a nano case. That ends badly.

What is this about a massive chunk of the HDD? My 36 dollar 500GB drive has less than 100GB (far less) for Windows. I didn't get an exact number but that's under 8 bucks of disk space. What's the issue?

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Continued...
Sep 7, 2015 3:29PM PDT

I failed to mention I was looking at the pre-built units such as Chromebox, Dell Inspiron Micro, etc. These seem to be limited in hard drive space without some moderate upgrade dollars involved. Basically, I am asking if this type of unit is worth the money or if there is somewhere better I should be focusing my attention. (And I appreciate your reply. Guess I wasn't giving you enough info to work with there...)

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Small world (yes, a pun.)
Sep 7, 2015 3:38PM PDT

I have a few Chromebooks and they have miniscule drive space. Such isn't required because the design is to have your stuff in the cloud and local stuff is rare, not the rule.

About that usual 199 buck Dell Micro. It's far different than the world of Chrome. It's Windows so so disk space is for the OS, recovery and such but given drive space is so cheap, no one seems to give it much thought.

My wife travels with an Asus laptop that has what looks like the same dual core Celeron with 4GB RAM but I changed the HDD for a 79 buck 240GB SSD. That made it downright snappy. I boots in under 15 seconds from cold, resumes from hibernation in less than 5 and from sleep in under 4 seconds.

I wish I knew what the concern is about disk space. This model with teh 240GB seems to do what she needs and over half the SSD is empty.