Earlier this yr, I impulse-bought a tiny, cheap desktop PC for analysis functions. I didn’t anticipate it to vary my complete computing setup.

But right here I’m now, utilizing the $300 Beelink SER5 Mini PC as my every day workhorse, powering an ultrawide 1440p 100Hz monitor and easily dealing with any productiveness process I’ve thrown at it. This little laptop has been so pleasant to make use of that I’ve relegated my full-sized desktop tower PC to the basement tv, the place it’s now serving completely as a gaming rig.

Consider this a lesson on technological overkill. Outside of some specialised use instances, the required compute energy for getting issues performed is likely to be so much lower than you suppose.

Further studying: Don’t build an ultra-tiny small form factor PC without reading this first

Sizing up the mini PC

Beelink sells an array of miniature computers, however the one I purchased at the moment costs $274 (or $244 for Prime members) with the next specs:

• AMD Ryzen 5 5500U processor
• 16GB of RAM (DDR4)
• 512GB of storage (M.2 NVMe)
• Windows 11 Pro
• Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
• Front ports: Two USB-A 3.2, one USB-C, 3.5mm audio
• Rear ports: One USB-A 3.0, one USB-A 2.0, two HDMI 2.0, gigabit ethernet

Jared Newman / Foundry

Spec-wise, that is roughly on par with laptops within the $500 to $700 worth vary, besides after all you’ll have to produce your personal mouse, keyboard, and display screen. The 5×5-inch body is sufficiently small to select up with one hand, and it comes with VESA brackets for mounting the pc to the again of a monitor or tv.

The Beelink SER5 additionally hides a neat characteristic on its underside: Removing the underside plate reveals a slot for a 2.5-inch storage drive. I purchased a 1TB solid state drive to retailer all my OneDrive information regionally, and the PC acknowledged it with out subject. (The gadget’s RAM and M.2 storage drive are upgradeable as nicely.)

Jared Newman / Foundry

How it fares

Going in, my plan was to briefly mess around with the SER5’s default Windows 11 Pro set up earlier than going again to my common desktop for work. Even if I didn’t use the mini PC commonly, I figured it’d be helpful for experimenting with different working techniques comparable to Linux or Chrome OS Flex.

In the tip, the transition to every day work was so seamless that I by no means went again to my outdated laptop in any respect.

As a tech journalist, my work sometimes includes writing in Obsidian, chatting in Slack with colleagues (and my newsletter readers), juggling a number of dozen browser tabs in Brave, and attending video calls in Zoom or Google Meet. The Beelink SER5 dealt with all these duties with out ever noticeably slowing down, and it’s a lot quieter than the full-sized desktop I’d been utilizing earlier than.

I threw some extra formidable duties on the mini PC as nicely, comparable to digitizing some old VHS tapes, recording streaming video sources through PlayOn Home, and operating a Plex media server. Even with Plex’s business detection and PlayOn’s recording engine operating within the background, I continued to work with none noticeable efficiency setbacks.

And whereas built-in Radeon graphics are not any match for a devoted graphics card, the Beelink SER5 has fared nicely as a low-end gaming gadget. Yakuza Kiwami runs at a clean 60 frames per second on excessive settings at 1080p, and each Fortnite and the post-apocalyptic cat simulator Stray are playable at 1080p with framerates nearer to 30 frames per second. I’ve additionally used it to play less-demanding video games such because the Quake II remaster and The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, whereas leaning on Nvidia’s GeForce Now for extra intensive fare.

All this led to a realization that my hulking desktop PC was simply losing house whereas additionally being excessively loud and energy-intensive, and after a pair weeks I moved it out of my workplace for good. I gave it a manufacturing facility reset, configured it exclusively for gaming in the basement, and now solely flip it on as wanted.

Lesson discovered

Jared Newman / Foundry

When searching for computer systems, it’s all the time tempting to purchase for each potential use case, each actual and perceived, now and sooner or later.

The Beelink SER5 is a reminder that we’ve reached a degree of diminishing returns for many computing use instances. Despite having only a mid-range processor (one designed for laptops, at that), I used to be by no means wanting for extra energy or wishing I’d splurged on a pricier laptop.

But principally, I’m simply pleased to have a quieter workplace and a greater place for the gaming PC that after occupied it.

This story first appeared in Advisorator, Jared’s weekly tech recommendation publication. Sign up to get new ideas each Tuesday.