I researched the best mini desktop computers for the past few days because I need a compact but reliable device for both work and entertainment. I checked reviews on The New York Times Wirecutter, PCMag, and TechRadar, and they are marking these two as the best options right now:
The Apple Mac mini is praised for its fast performance, quiet operation, and smooth handling of multitasking, while the KAMRUI Essenx E2 is known for being a very affordable mini PC that still manages daily tasks quite well.However, I am having trouble deciding which one would best suit my needs and need your expert advice. My daily use includes browsing, working on documents, watching 4K videos, light photo editing, and running multiple apps at the same time. I want something that will stay fast for the next few years and work well with a dual-monitor setup. So which one should I buy? Any recommendation will be appreciated. thanks in advance
The title of your post makes it appear to be spam. Assuming that this isn’t spam…
So many cheap options will meet these requirements. My office computers are all 8-year-old refurbished mini PCs with Intel Core i5 or i7 processors, 32GB RAM, 1 TB SSDs, Windows 11 Pro, and enough HDMI or DisplayPort outputs to drive multiple displays. They each cost under $300 fully equipped (purchased a few months ago). What they will struggle with is photo and video editing. To keep those tasks quick and efficient, you want a computer with additional processing power and a power supply that can keep up with the demands. The CPU doesn’t matter nearly as much as the GPU or APU. For a basic overview of processing components, see here:
Don’t buy a Mac (Mini or note) with less than 32GB RAM if you intend to keep PhotoLab open and do any multi-tasking. 24GB is enough for light road work (travel laptop) but for your main desktop you should be looking at 32GB and more.
I’ve had M1, M2, M3 in every memory size: 8Gb (hopeless), 16GB (flashes of hope then endless paging), 24GB (usable with care), 32GB (fine but pay attention to what you have open), 64GB (start to breathe easy, but stick to two or three multimedia applications at a time, along with your browser and utilities).
Of course if this is a dedicated PhotoLab computer and you don’t use a bitmap editor (Affinity, Photoshop) at the same as PhotoLab, 16GB will get it done, at least for PhotoLab 8. Not sure about PhotoLab 9 as it appears to be a far less efficient animal.
Just as a counterpoint, I’ve yet to buy a Mac with more than 16GB RAM, don’t hesitate to run PhotoLab and Affinity (and more) at the same time, and have never had any issues: my M1 and M4 Minis work as smoothly as my Windows box with 4 times as much RAM.
This is with PL8 as my current version, but even the PL9 trial seems to work fine with 9.2.1. (Although I’m not really interested in the AI masks so have mostly steered clear after they worked poorly in the initial PL9 release. I’ll probably skip PL9 entirely for other reasons.)
It depends on how much multitasking you try to do - you can bring any machine to its knees if you try hard enough - but 16GB has never been an issue for my (hobby) usage with 2K monitors: a 30" 2560x1600 on one Mini, and a 24" 1920x1200 on the other. With 4K you might need more: Capture One recommends doubling their minimum specs and using Pro/Max chips, for example.
The unfortunate thing with Macs is that there’s no upgrade path, so if you underestimate then you either have to adapt or buy another machine.
There isn’t, but does there need to be? I’m a geek with no self control, so I tend to only use mine for 3-5 years, but I know several people using much older ones. One person I know uses a 9 year old Mac and says none of the new stuff has been enticing enough — despite the enormous leap in performance with Apple Silicon.
We have examples in this very forum of people using PL9 on a late 2020 M1-powered Mac. Notwithstanding masking performance issues (that even affect an M4 Pro) I expect those M1 machines will happily continue for years yet.
I still feel better about being able to reuse parts, as I’ve done to build the servers that house my image archive and more, or being able to stick more RAM in a computer if it turns out it could use it.
The Macs I’ve put out to pasture have pretty much just ended their useful working days.
My M1 Mini is one of them, albeit only a trial so far. I’m irked by the removal of PRIME (not changing the rendering over time is a fundamental property of any editor IMO) and the abandoning of cross-platform compatibility as a documented property of dop.
I used to be the sort of person who constantly tinkered and wanted everything “just so”. I grew out of it. I realised my hobby now is using computers, not tinkering with them. Most people don’t even have that as a hobby — it’s just a tool. We have someone here using an Intel MacBook Air. It’s slow to render DeepPRIME, but it works. Anything else is just cream.
I have no stats but I would bet it is mostly older guys still building (that is, assembling components into) computers as a hobby. They grew up during the early days of the personal computer when it made some sense. Once I switched to laptops, I stopped building. A component based system makes little sense to me today when I can get a highly integrated, miniaturized, rugged, reliable, design-forward, and affordable computing appliance.
EDIT TO ADD: Low power, too! Almost forgot about that.
I’ve been working with Macs at home and I kept all of them for at least 5-6 years. They never got slower, except in cases of mismatch of OS and App versions like the current issue with PL9 and macOS Tahoe.
If you get a 2024 Mac, I propose you install macOS Sonoma or Sequoia instead of Tahoe, if possible. According to recent tests I did on my 2020 M1 MacBook Air, PL9 performed well on macOS Sonoma and Sequoia. With Tahoe versions 26.0.1, 26.1.0, 26.2 Beta 3 and PL 9 builds 31 and 32, performance was lower in the cases, where AI masking (with preset items like flowers, persons etc.) actually worked.
macOS installers can be found with the CLI “softwareupdate” command or other sources listing the download URLs. I mostly use mrmacintosh.com. Firmware updates are a little bit more demanding in that they require a second Mac and Software called “Apple Configurator 2”.
Never forget that every interface design change that Apple has rolled out in the last 20-odd years has been controversial and had its detractors. Except for a mad few, everyone has moved with the times. It’s fine.
Also… your Mac bombed renaming a folder? I’ve renamed dozens since I installed Tahoe. Nothing has crashed my Mac in years and I always upgrade within a month or so of availability.
I’d not say that it’s been 20-odd years, but the last few years of changes including my getting older has brought me to the point where I have to engage some of the options that Apple has for people with disabilities (or whatever the politically correct word might be)
By and large min computers are virtually impossible to upgrade and are therefore literally disposable. If you are comfortable with that false economy and filling landfill, then they are a great deal.
As for Mac Minis…………………….. like other Apple products, if the company has to spend an absolute fortune on advertising, ask yourself why?
Human beings are truly fascinating. Many have evolved into beings that have little sense of reality and next to no critical thinking.
They blindly follow the flock buying very expensive products from a company that openly admitted that they deliberately crippled the same products to force customers to upgrade. Those same customers thought that was ok and continued buying their products. The human race doesn’t stand a chance.
When you’ve fill the last hole in the ground, what are you going to do with all those old Macs? In a day and age when we are trying to be more responsible and waste less you advocate buying a disposable computer. You couldn’t write it.
Hey there Gareth, you act like none of the billions of Windows PCs have ever ended up in a landfill?
Who was the pioneer in making their consumer devices out of metals that could be reclaimed and re-manufactured into new Apple devices? PC makers have copied Apple in this approach as well as much of Apple design over the years.
My Macs last me a long time, but when I’m ready to move on, I hand them down to younger relatives who love to get them or recycle them with Apple. You’re telling me that loads of cheap plastic PCs have not been disposable over the last decades?
E-waste is an enormous challenge for humans as we become more dependent on electronics for all types of uses, not just personal computers. With AI and robotics becoming a bigger part of our human experience.
A family member works in the electronic recycling business. It’s amazing to me what all can be recycled and a glimpse into how the “business” works. Most everything has some value but no brands, and certainly no OS is “better”. The biggest issue, as always, is individual behavior, not brand (or brand hatred).
When choosing from a non-upgradeable laptop to a large modular tower hopefully we all choose to recycle not dump e-waste.
Macs are a small but significant % of the computer world and are financially unviable to upgrade, by design. They are deliberately designed to make you buy the next one. Unlike Windows based PCs.
It’s like if you wave your right hand and shout “look at this”, we won’t notice what your left one is doing. This is why the human race is where it is.
The backdoor deal they did with the Chinese involving recycled metals lasted as long as my lunch. Apple have claimed this continued but can’t seem to tell anyone where this metal comes from.
As for recycling…………………………….. yep, Apple are well known for that. They are one of the greenest companies on the planet, jeez.
And let’s not forget that it is the same company that crippled your iphone to make you buy a new one. It’s like an abusive relationship or maybe Stockholm Syndrome, after all they got you locked in and now you have a relationship with the one with power.
