Review of a new Mini Pc thats got me cranked up....lol.

Caveats//Intro.

before someone 'yaps' at me having tried a mini pc in the past…
your needs might be different to mine. we all have different pc performance needs. some need a ton of traks and plug ins that need huge computing resources , and others dont.. like myself.
i subscribe to thinking of a producer i met once in a studio that said to me 'remember once great songs were done using very little'. so the type of pc i need supports up to 40 traks in a song with various/a smattering of low cpu plug ins.
(pg dx/reaps jsonic/some from computer music mag/the net)
so YMMV …youll have to do your own testing to see if a mini pc IS FOR YOU.
please NOTE i didnt want my lovely wife to spend lots of moolah (twas a delayed bday present from her cos i was still mulling various configs over.)
one reason i didnt want a lot of money spent by her was usb and cpu and other tech is advancing at a great rate now, and i'm watching carefully what apples strategy is with its 'M' cpu's (which excite me) cos i might get a mac mini in the next couple of years.
in summary this was a short term buy…but actually as it turns out has actually
'knocked my socks off'.... and might turn out to be a long time keeper.
(depending on day in/out dependability.)
in fact i will say 'im a chump' ..lol…and i completely underestimated its power.
its the 'bees knees' imho for little money.

Review of the mini PC.

after looking at loads of mini pc's…i ended up taking a chance with a…...
BEELINK SER 3 MINI PC. (see the net for detailed specs/reviews etc etc).
frankly its astonished me, and i dont get excited easily.
it cost just over 400 buckeroos on amazon.
brief specs.. are RYZEN 7 3750 H, 500gb m2 inside with a spare empty bay inside for sliding in a second drive.
16 gigs memory.
PROS ARE.
..i cant hear the fan. its quite.
..its a powerhouse. anything i throw at it,... its sorta mocking me..
'is that all ya got'...lol. my old stalwart refurb i5 laptop , realband reported 155 traks max. now with the mini pc , rb reports 255 traks.
..comes with win 11 pro installed, and boots fast.
(note…any recording pc i set up, doesnt see the net.)
..no probs so far running reaps/biab/rb.
..reapers and task mgrs performance views so far report the most minor pc resource usage ie just 'ticking over'. amazed me. but more testing to do.
..NO MAJOR BLOATWARE etc.
CONS ARE.
..would have liked a couple more usb ports, but no prob i just used a usb extender. my external dock (with 2 ssd's) runs like a 'bunny rabbit'.
..maybe this is a minor win 11 issue…dunno..but when i installed my audient drivers ,i was searching for the little audient user applet that lets various audio settings be changed , and couldnt find it. it turned out to be hiddon on the taskbar under ^..
so i pinned it to taskbar for easy access.

in conclusion , so far all is grrreat. i'm a happy lad.
but whether the mini pc can last years , i have no idea.
it was either this or a custom built for recording studios 2k pc, or a build it myself pc (parts price total isnt cheap) or another refurb. (my go to in the past).

whether a mini pc is for you..only you can determine that.
for me this solution offers great price/performance so far.
i'll report back if i get any probs.


happiness to all.

om


Last edited by justanoldmuso; 10/28/22 03:28 AM.
New Song "PRETTY GIRL" for my wife...Dec 2023
(my vocs....mixed for good earbuds.)
https://soundcloud.com/alfsongs/prettygirlrbfinalcalfsongsdec2023mp3
(and rock song THE STALLION and bluegrass song... BANKER MAN....90 songs useing bb/rb.)