Hands-On With Intel's "Next Unit of Computing" Mini PC

crookedvulture writes "Intel's Next Unit of Computing has finally made its way into the hands of reviewers. The final revision is a little different from the demo unit that made the rounds earlier this year, but the concept remains the same. Intel has crammed what are essentially ultrabook internals into a tiny box measuring 4" x 4" x 2". A mobile Core i3 CPU provides the horsepower, and there's a decent array of I/O ports: USB, HDMI, and Thunderbolt. Users can add their own memory, storage, and wireless card to the system, which will be sold without an OS for around $300. Those extras raise the total price, bringing the NUC closer to Mac Mini territory. The Apple system has a bigger footprint, but it also boasts a faster processer and the ability to accommodate notebook hard drives with higher storage capacities than the mSATA SSDs that are compatible with the NUC. If Intel can convince system builders to adopt the NUC, the future of the PC could be a lot smaller."

Mac Mini wannabe

[Kergan]

After pushing PC makers into going after the MacBook Air, Intel wants them to also go after the Mac Mini. News at ten...

Seems a bit too pricey to succeed, though.

Re:No wired...

[SolidAltar]

Holy shit. I just realized you're right. There's no wired network port.

You kidding me, Intel? You want me to pay ~$500 for a computer without a network port? Who do you think you are, Apple?

Re:lol wut

[hairyfish]

What didn't we like about the Mac Mini? I haven't used an expansion port on a PC about 15 years other than a 3Dvideo card. And if I want a gaming rig I'll get something big and airy with lots of fans. If I need a grunt box, I'll run up a VM on my servers at work. For everything else the Mac Mini is perfect. I never understood why PCs we're so big these days. 90% of them are simple Web/Email/Word processors, the Mac Mini and new this Intel thing are all most of us need.

Re:Price?

[ikaruga]

Not only these devices are significantly weaker, but Google is selling them for the manufacturing cost. Google wants you to use them so they can make money through advertisement and selling content. Intel is trying to provide a stand alone computer platform. They are selling hardware and if they don't make a profit on hardware sales, they won't make profit anywhere. The problem of these devices is not the price, but the lack of basic audio output ports and ethernet. Even for a device that I guess is supposed to be marketed towards the Average Joe Grandpa, this is unacceptable.

Re:lol wut

[Rockoon]

I haven't used an expansion port on a PC about 15 years other than a 3Dvideo card.

We could translate your argument as "I splash money around like its going out of style so things like expansion ports are stupid"

Many of us use those expansion slots about halfway through the life of the machine in order to upgrade them inexpensively (like adding SATA 3.0 to a machine purchased when SATA 1.0 was still new), repair them when a specific component goes tits up (The NIC died? Thats a $15 card for full-on b/g/n wireless), or to add specific functionality that only comes standard on much more expensive machines..

Re:lol wut

[Rockoon]

I see you saying that you will buy a whole new computer if you need SATA 3.

I see you also saying that you blow reams of money on Apple hardware.

You have just proved that you too will splash money around like its going out of style, so for you things like expansion ports are stupid. In my world, its not expansion ports that are stupid.. its needlessly wasting money like a complete retard thats stupid.