Mini PC Purchased and Delivered

[TReischl]

Taken a few months to get around to this but I finally did.

Bought an AcePC from Amazon. 4gb ram, 64gb internal storage, added a 256gb SATA SSD to it. 4 USB ports, 2 3.0, 2 2.0, hdmi, vga, ethernet, wifi.

Pretty good machine for $150. First thing I did was load Rhino6 on it. All the "experts" in the reviews claimed this machine was only good for things like streaming, light spreadsheet work, blah, blah. It works fine. I sorta knew it would because my laptop was 4gb and it ran it fine. Sure, it is slower than something that costs a heckuva lot more but I am not all that fast to begin with, LOL.

The price is really not all that surprising. No screen, no battery, no dvd drive, no keyboard, no touchpad. Bare bones, exactly what I needed for the shop to run the machine, Aspire and Rhino. I was using external screens, keyboard anyhow. I cannot remember the last time I popped a DVD into the laptop. Touchpad? Those things just plain annoy me.

One thing I really, REALLY liked is that it came without all the usual garbage installed. Just plain old basic Windows 10 Professional. Which also makes sense since it only has 64gb internal. Their less costly model only has 32gb.

So tomorrow I will be setting it up to run the machine. Windows update: OFF. Sleep:OFF, etc.

I posted a few months ago about this and want to thank everyone who tossed their two cents worth in, it helped.

[RhoTu]

Thanks for the info. Please post again after using it for while for both design and running a CNC.

RT

[jarm2]

Congratulations for finding simplicity. I have been running my machine with a mini pc since February and am very pleased with it. I use a control program called Command CNC which is Linux based and works very well. I just updated to their latest update and it works even better. The mini has USB ports for flash drive file transfer and runs the machine with an ethernet cable. I can also run my plasma cutter with the same system when needed although I do mostly carving these days. I have a VGA monitor connected and use a USB mouse and keyboard.

[Adrian]

I've been using one for years and they're fantastic. No fans to suck in dust. Instant boot and quiet as a mouse.

[rtibbs]

Ted,
I too am looking to replace my control computer with something With less bells and whistles that I am currently using. To get started I’m using my laptop but sure don’t need the touchscreen, touchpad, dvd,etc,etc.
Just like most of us I have a closet full of peripherals available.
I’m currently looking at the AcePC T11
Be interested in hearing more on your setup

Ron

[TReischl]

Ron, the T11 is exactly the one I purchased.

All went well today for the most part. Now have Rhino, Aspire, Corel, and Mach3 installed and running.

There was one slight issue, the wifi. It works fine but. . . my laptop had no problem accessing the router extender in the shop. Evidently I am right out at the very edge because the T11 would drop in and out. Brought it in the house and it works just fine. The router extender is at least 6 or 7 years old and is quite a distance from the house. So I am thinking I will need to look around for a more powerful one.

Adrian +1 on the dust issue. I try to keep dust down but it is sneaky stuff. Spent a few days this week going over my shop from stem to stern. My shop is usually pretty clean or so I thought. YIKES! The amount of dust that had crept in, over, around and under things was amazing. I run a whole shop air filter that changes over the air about every two minutes to collect the fines. I have a small shop 14 X 28 with 9ft ceiling and the unit is made for a shop about twice that size.

[RhoTu]

Anyone of you running Mach4 on one of these? Touch screen monitor?

RT

[Adrian]

Anyone of you running Mach4 on one of these? Touch screen monitor?

RT

Used to run a touch screen on mine but it broke after a few months (nothing to do with the PC) so I went back to a mouse. I still don't run a keyboard though, just the mouse.

[Tigerflyer]

i have Mach4 running on mine. Works a champ.

[powair7s]

So just to clarify, these mini PCs are capable of running aspire with no issue?

My tower bit the dust (pun intended). I am looking at replacing it with a fanless mini pc, but just want to be sure I get something powerful enough.

Thanks!

[Tailmaker]

Earlier this year I bought an "all-in-one" desktop for the machine. Nice thing is the 23" touch screen that allows using the controller software buttons quicker than with the mouse.
A bit more expensive than a mini-PC at $800 but after all the monitor and keyboard are included, no fan, no sepate box and everthing is inside the monitor enclosure. Works well for me, but obviously no DVD, or expansion slots. All I need is the wifi connection and the USB for the machine controller.
I do have Aspire installed and the machine is more than capable to run that but I use it mainly for quick corrections of the projects I do on my office computer. Both machines use the same Dropbox folder for seamless work.

[powair7s]

Could you send a link to your machine please? Interested in the touch screen.

[Adrian]

So just to clarify, these mini PCs are capable of running aspire with no issue?

My tower bit the dust (pun intended). I am looking at replacing it with a fanless mini pc, but just want to be sure I get something powerful enough.

Thanks!

I use mine for running the CNC. I don't run Aspire in the workshop only in my study/office so I have a much more powerful PC there.

However the specs for Aspire aren't that high so finding a mini pc to match and exceed the specs shouldn't be an issue if you do want to run Aspire in a dusty environment - https://www.vectric.com/support/system-requirements

[powair7s]

Where I'm getting confused is the cpu speed. Most mini PCs list speed as base and turbo. For instance bSd speed of 1.7 ghz, turbo of 3.6. vectric wants a minimum of two, but are they referring to a base speed or overclock?

I do 95% of me design outside my shop, but love my shop pc to make small corrections.

[powair7s]

Where I'm getting confused is the cpu speed. Most mini PCs list speed as base and turbo. For instance bSd speed of 1.7 ghz, turbo of 3.6. vectric wants a minimum of two, but are they referring to a base speed or overclock?

I do 95% of me design outside my shop, but love my shop pc to make small corrections.