Since then, larger NUC models have even offered support for full-size GPUs, but in a notably larger form factor. Some of the Extreme Kit NUCs make room for a dual-slot graphics card up to 12 inches long. That opens up some serious productivity and gaming power, but the NUC Extremes really take you out of the true "mini" size category. It's all relative. Whether you want to build your own home theater or just learn more about TVs, displays, projectors, and more, we've got you covered. If the MicroPC battery falls to 0% charge it will NOT recover. That is: it will not charge again. New battery needed. Device only works when connected via USB Type-C power cable.

The only other point that needs making about the K1 is that while it comes with a USB 4.0 port this isn’t one that is also Thunderbolt compatible.Overall, for the asking price, this is an amazing mini PC and has the performance scope to handle numerous tasks in the home and office. This gets the same kind of 11.6-inch touchscreen display and the same convertible format, but slightly different hardware with a Mediatek processor, and a larger 42 Wh battery that allows it to last a little longer on each charge. My co-editor and I have tested a number of the laptops on this list, but as for the ones we haven't used ourselves, they have been vetted by industry experts across publications like The Verge, CNET, PC Mag, and Laptop Mag. So, you can be confident they will help you accomplish whatever it is you need to get done — whether you're using them for work or play. Thus, if a premium ultracompact laptop is what you’re after, there’s hardly any compelling option in this 11-inch segment anymore. Perhaps you can still find an HP ProBook x360 11 Education or perhaps a refurbished version of the popular MacBook Air 11, both available with SSD storage and 8GB of RAM.

Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast Kit (NUC12SNKi72)

The hardware inside this mini-laptop is an efficient Intel Core i7-1130G7 platform running at 7-15 W, paired with up to 16 GB of LPDDR4x memory and SSD storage. There’s room inside for an M.2 2280 drive, so the storage can be upgraded if you want to. There’s also a fan on this laptop, and a 38.5 Wh battery. That’s not bad for a 10-inch design, but don’t expect more than 4-6 hours of multitasking and 7+ of video here. Yes, we know that when you're looking for the best mini PC you might not think of a Mac, but with the ability to install Windows on the Mac mini with ease, the hardware specs are hard to overlook. The abbreviation "micro" was common during the 1970s and 1980s, [4] but has since fallen out of common usage.

Moving up in screen size, with 12-inchers you’re mostly getting Windows tablets with 3:2 and 16:10 touchscreens, premium designs, and different kinds of hardware specs, based on your budget. The Microsoft Surface Pros and HP Envy X12 lineups come to mind as recommendations, and all of these are covered in this detailed separate article. As with desktop computers and laptops, the best RAM is a lot of RAM - as much as you can get. Especially if you’re using the mini PC for a lot of tasks. We recommend a bare minimum of 8GB memory, although 16GB and above is better. Are mini PCs good for gaming? Lenovo's smallest desktop, the ThinkCentre Nano, comes in two flavors. One boasts up to a Core i7 CPU and other high-end components, but its constantly spinning cooling fan may annoy you. Available with Intel Celeron or Core i3 power, the fanless Nano IoT is as silent as the grave, making it an ideal living-room streaming device or public kiosk PC. Who It's For Virtually all early microcomputers were essentially boxes with lights and switches; one had to read and understand binary numbers and machine language to program and use them (the Datapoint 2200 was a striking exception, bearing a modern design based on a monitor, keyboard, and tape and disk drives). Of the early "box of switches"-type microcomputers, the MITS Altair 8800 (1975) was arguably the most famous. Most of these simple, early microcomputers were sold as electronic kits—bags full of loose components which the buyer had to solder together before the system could be used. In early 1973, Sord Computer Corporation (now Toshiba Personal Computer System Corporation) completed the SMP80/08, which used the Intel 8008 microprocessor. The SMP80/08, however, did not have a commercial release. After the first general-purpose microprocessor, the Intel 8080, was announced in April 1974, Sord announced the SMP80/x, the first microcomputer to use the 8080, in May 1974. [17]This setting works similarly in Windows 10 and Windows 8, but there is no corresponding setting in Windows 7. Skip this step if you are using Windows 7.