GMKtec G3 Mini PC, N100 8+256Gb, dual M.2 SSDs (2280 incl), upgradable RAM, 2.5GbE LAN, Wifi 6, BT 5.2, Win11, w/Code - Cutesliving Store

Yes but that's won't stop them spying you from chip/ BIOS level.

Yes, the AMD is FAR more powerful, if that's what you need. Be sure to get the 'H' variant, they are night and day more powerful than the U versions. By the time you take the RAM and larger SSD into account, Dual channel RAM support, decent on board VEGA Graphics, full speed PCIe lanes for the NVMe etc, they are much less more expensive than the prices might suggest, BUT, you are over the threshold for Duty (£135 usually), so there's that risk. I got caught for £66 on one the other day, which spoiled the day for me!! :-p
What I have been finding recently is that although Ali-E charges the Tax at checkout, as they are obliged to do nowadays, if you are being 'too clever' and change to a fee free card, like Revolut, and go for the $ version to save £2 0r £3, they often send them via Holland, which is in the EU. This auto attracts EU import fees again, so the parcel goes China, EU and back out of the EU to the UK, so potentially factor that in and maybe play it safe and just go in Sterling, where it goes China direct to UK, avoiding EU altogether. Apparently you can complain to Customs and beg for your money back, but good luck with that one. It has happened with FireBat, your link, hence I am mentioning it...

Firmware/UEFI/BIOS malware hasn't been detected yet tomshardware.com/des…ent - their entire industry would collapse in the rest of the world if it was ever discovered (I don't think they are 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 stupid).
A fresh install, etc will sort the other bits as detailed here hotukdeals.com/com…296 & other professional sources.
A dodgy charger made in the FE could burn down one's house, but there seems to be much less concern about those!

If anyone's concerned to the point of paranoia please refrain from buying - the only really 'safe' brands are Apple, Intel, Dell, Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, Lenovo, HP, Acer, ASrock & similar longstanding & reputable brands in the UK. (edited)

Linux master raaaaaace

Edit:
Turns out they're Intel 2.5Gbe

Which is good. (edited)

That's Cheap ?, for me its cheap when I can count the cost just using me fingers.

We're you running your server on windows or Linux? I tried Running it from windows desktop at first but windows 11 was just too intensive before even using it as a server. Got Linux server running now and while transcoding a few streams it sits at around 20% CPU usage.

This is useful information, thank you.

I answered your identical query over 2 weeks ago in the previous deal hotukdeals.com/com…052
Check your notification settings perhaps hotukdeals.com/pro…ngs (edited)

Yes quite a few. For reference, benchmark score/comparison for the most powerful 9th-gen i7-9700K vs a Ryxen 5 5600H cpubenchmark.net/com…00H

A 5600H-based mini PC was posted by @Arc recently for £170 hotukdeals.com/dea…383 & is still available to buy at Ae aliexpress.com/ite…tml - use new code 24CD15 for $20/£15 off.

Some listings offer more RAM & a larger NVME, or buy a barebones & source them yourself, as potentially cheaper secondhand RAM to be had & better quality new drives available here for similar money.
There are even more powerful ones, so all depends on your needs & budget. (edited)

Yes excellent.

If they don't include an SSD, they can't pre-install a trojan

I'm no expert but here's my tuppence worth (blimey it became long!):
I got a similar miniPC as media centre. There's no hardware reason why Atmos can't be output from the PC - its just a sound encoding format. It works over Dolby Digital Plus, which is reasonably old now. The trouble comes with other equipment, due to the high bandwidth requirement of Atmos and sound delays introduced by processing capabilities of the devices (and of course, need for capable cables). If you output directly to a Atmos capable soundbar/AVReceiver over HDMI (with Atmos coded sound source) I don't see why it wouldn't work. And, I'd recommend this direct output to soundbar/AVR - if you go via the TV, even if HDMI ARC capable, the TV might introduce an unfixable noticeable sound lag (which is OK if your TV includes a video delay capability, but few do). In addition, your TV needs to advertise to Windows that its Atmos capable for Windows to output Atmos to it over HDMI.

So, if your TV doesn't advertise Atmos (via the TV's EDID info) it won't work via your TV and, I believe, no TVs advertise Atmos because they don't have the needed Atmos speaker outputs. Even if they can passthrough Atmos to a soundbar/AVR. I.e. it doesn't have a Dolby/DTS surround amplifier. Therefore, its EDID does not advertise dolby/dts capability to Windows. So, Windows won't allow the PC to output that over its HDMI. Its just stupidness followed by greed of the TV manufacturers and Microsoft (greed because they continue to sell equipment with these well known flaws, so in future we have to throw away this stuff and buy the new whizzy 'format' stuff that fixes it). My TV, even though its got a dolby 5.1 capable optical output (compressed Dobly Digital) it doesn't advertise Dolby capability to Windows, so Windows wouldn't output anything but stereo to it over HDMI. I have an ancient Dolby/DTS AV Receiver with no HDMI, but it does have optical in. In order to get digital surround I had to force Windows to output 5.1 channel out of HDMI to the TV, then the TV passed that through via its optical output to the AVR. There's a tiny sound delay (just about noticeable if you look, but acceptable) because the TV has to convert the HDMI 5.1 in to compressed optical 5.1 out. If it was stereo it probably wouldn't be notceable due to less processing power need.

Below is the method I used to override the TV's EDID info and force Windows to output dolby 5.1 over the HDMI for my TV. The people who came up with it were only looking at dolby 5.1 so didn't discuss Atmos. It might work for Atmos as it does offer a whole list of formats to install, however, there are three issues to be aware of:

a) WARNING: THIS IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. This software is from UNKNOWN SOURCES and there's no guarantee it will work, and malware scanners will throw up one MALWARE WARNING with one file. Don't install it on any PC that has any personal info or important data on it or that is connected to your network. The malware warning is to do with one Realtek HD card file. My PC only has AMD sound output so I let the scanner quarantine it and it had no impact on this working on my PC, however, it might on Realtek cards. It shouldn't because we're not modifying any sound card drivers, but I don't know. Its not really malware, its a software key breaker tool, but Microsoft naturally has defined it as malware ("because its often found on PCs that have other malware on them").
b) this is only for forcing Windows to send surround format to the TV over HDMI.
c) Atmos won't work over optical AFAIK as optical has just about enough bandwidth to cope with compressed 5.1 and thats all.
d) the method involved installing Dolby sound processing windows tool (from Dolby - 'DolbyHomeTheater.msi') that I think is only 5.1. I haven't looked into its capabilities but its only giving 5.1 on my PC. So, you might have to find equivalent stuff that includes Atmos.

Here's the link (post 102):
tenforums.com/sou…tml

It's US & a US-EU adapter is included.
Get a simple & inexpensive US-UK plug converter (some stores do them for as low as £2 so shop around), examples...
- ebay.co.uk/itm…734
- amazon.co.uk/Sta…X56
- sainsburys.co.uk/gol…5-p
Or a UK-plug power supply instead...
- 12V-3A for £5.89 ebay.co.uk/itm…369 (make 12V/3A choice from drop-down list)
- The pin/barrel measurement is 5.5mm x 2.5mm, so buy a 12V-3A DC PSU with this connector from anywhere else if you find better/cheaper or from Amazon if preferred (edited)

Cases are typically silent.

Great price, what will you be using it for?
I tried to get a BCR card last year, but was refused dispite being a loyal customer since 2000.

For myself, I find the Series S worthless. I have a PS5 and PC, but for under £350 (can be had for around £160), I can't see it not being the best bang for anyone's buck, unless Windows is essential to them. You can pay £2 for the DEV mode from Microsoft which will allow you to install emulators and other homebrew games and ports. If I wasn't a PC user, I'd probably grab one just for that.

You also get backwards compatibility for original Xbox games like Splinter Cell, which still aren't emulated correctly elsewhere. (edited)

Yes

Have a read through their Buyer Potection Policy revolut.com/leg…cy/
PDF version to save for future reference cdn.revolut.com/ter…pdf
Also see this useful guide about buying from Ae moneysavingexpert.com/sho…ess - bit outdated though. (edited)

Not sure what you're meaning entirely, but related query here reddit.com/r/H…all

The post by dcabines may be of interest...
"I have an N100 Beelink for my 24/7 on home media server and I've been very happy with it. I also recently built a custom NAS with a bunch of hard drives in it using the Jonsbo N2 and it has been great too. I like to keep the Beelink on 24/7 and I shut the NAS off when not in use.
I suggest you do something like I did: get the mini pc now and maybe build a NAS if you want one in the future. A 2TB NVMe and a 4TB SSD in the mini pc is plenty to get you started. Save the NAS for when you want 5x20TB drives to hoard all of your videos.

USB is fine for storing files. You just don't want to run things that are constantly chatting over USB. Like, don't put a database on the USB drive and run your business off it. Don't install a video game to a USB drive and play off it. You probably don't want to make a RAID array with a bunch of USB drives. It is fine for storing backups. It'll be mostly fine for streaming video too, but it can be tedious to wait for the HDD to spin up when you want to watch something.

I've come to the conclusion that I don't want any HDDs in my daily workflow. The hardest operation for them is when they first turn on and spin up and I don't want to wait for them to do that every day and certainly not multiple times a day. SSD only for the daily stuff and use the HDD for backups and archiving."
_ _ _ _ _

Btw, I've gone for this NAS-miniPC for ~£165 3 weeks ago aliexpress.com/ite…tml (got the barebones for £130 odd, but I think duty will be charged on top when delivered).
More details with video reviews, etc here hotukdeals.com/com…187 (edited)