Well they're only charging me 10 bucks. Would the audio still pass through a DisplayPort => HDMI converter?
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Lenovo M900 Tiny or Mac Mini
- Thread starter markjv
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Well they're only charging me 10 bucks. Would the audio still pass through a DisplayPort => HDMI converter?
[doublepost=1459198251][/doublepost]Using Ubunti 15.10 on the m93p with wmware running windows 10 . Everything working perfectly and fast. Have another M900 on order which is currently to 'new' for Linux., so that will be for windows 10 until Linux works on Skylake CPUs reliably. For me the Lenovo Tiny is the perfect PC format.
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Overall, I'm very pleased with it. When it's at idle, it's virtually silent. I did have it processing pretty hard the other night transcoding multiple Plex streams, and I could hear the fan from the other room. It was a higher pitched whistling sound--and somewhat annoying. It only did this when it was under heavy demand, and as I said I was transcoding multiple HD streams at that time.
Since I use the M900 for more as a home server, and not connected directly to my TV, I stuck it in the closet where all my home Ethernet cabling runs back too.
I considered connecting it directly to my TV and placing it in my entertainment center, however if it were under heavy load, the noise would be kind of annoying while watching TV.
I will say that I've never heard the fan kick on during normal use, or even when playing a stream or two from Plex. I deliberately loaded it up to see how it would perform under heavy load--and that's when I heard the fan really kick on.
I've never owned a Mac Mini, so unfortunately I can't provide you a comparison on noise levels.
Pulled trigger on one of these today. Lenovo site is having a nice holiday sale.
--Added link as requested.
--Added link as requested.
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I had an m900 on order (about $550, but w/o the m.2 drive installed) taking advantage of their BF sale. But I cancelled the order as I realized I would still have to replace the 500gb drive and buy a separate m.2 drive, adding around $400 to the cost. Lenovo forum also has multiple users saying that it runs hot. I'm looking at the ASRock Beebox instead, as it's barebones (saves a couple hundred dollars) and fanless.
[ eh, well after reading some Beebox reviews, it looks like they still has kinks to work out
]
[ eh, well after reading some Beebox reviews, it looks like they still has kinks to work out
]I got the one with the 256 internal SSD, then bought another. I've got enough spare HDD's and housings to meet all my non-OS needs. SSD unit should run cooler, but if too hot, I can always drill some holes and slap a big slab of aluminum on the casing.
I bought an Intel dual-core i5 NUC (Broadwell) and made a hackintosh out of it. Runs nicely and drives 2k resolution on my 27" display. Had to buy an 802.11ac/Bluetooth card through Amazon, but all else was pretty easy to get. It has 16 GB RAM, 250 GB m.2 and 2 TB Samsung 2.5" hard drive. Total cost was about $600.
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There's a simple enough guide for the m900, but the hackintosh game isn't for me. I followed a similar guide for a stock HP tower build and it worked great. Until it somehow updated and I could no longer get back in. If I just needed as a secondary computer and I could keep all the files backed up (or only on Dropbox), I might be ok with it. But from my experience, I just can't trust a hackintosh as one of my main computers.
Yeah, I get that. They're certainly not for everyone. But if you start with the right parts (logic board and cpu), it's pretty easy to maintain once set up.
Well, my 2011 Mac Mini finally this weekend - Apple care expired in August. Seems I've fallen foul of the unacknowledged AMD GPU failure. Quote for the repair is pretty close to the cost of the entry level 2014 mini.
I'm in the market now for small-ish box I can use as a home server and Apple doesn't seem to want my business anymore.
I'm a little wary now of proprietary SFF PCs with non-replacable components. So I'll look at Lenovo and Dell and compare them to building my own mini-ITX box
I'm in the market now for small-ish box I can use as a home server and Apple doesn't seem to want my business anymore.
I'm a little wary now of proprietary SFF PCs with non-replacable components. So I'll look at Lenovo and Dell and compare them to building my own mini-ITX box
Even though I am happy with my Dell below, it is very quiet and fast, I HATE that it is proprietary parts re fans, PSU, etc. So I am seriously looking at this case for my build: https://www.dan-cases.com/dana4_img.html
Looks like a great case for a mini workstation. Good find!
The more I think about it, the more I dislike proprietary parts.
I say, bring back modularity and the ability to repair our own hardware!
Trouble is, proprietary parts get more common as the case gets smaller. I do not want something as big as filing cabinet sitting under my desk, taking up foot room and being a PITA to connect anything to.
Cape Dave's 8X4X13" case is pretty small.
My goal is to never ever have a computer that will not sit on my desk. I assure you, the one I mentioned will look very sharp on the desk. I hate crawling under desks. It takes non proprietary parts except it must take an SFX or SFX-L PSU. This is a size restriction rather than a company/proprietary limitation. Plenty of SFX PSU's out there, and more coming, as people like small
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This is what happened to me. I simply got bored with my previous iMac 5K. Sure, awesome monitor, no issues at all, and yet... I got bored
And quickly realized that I could only do two things. Nothing or wait I waited years for a new mac mini to arrive to no avail. Then checked out macbookpro's, then Mac Pro. Nada, nothing, zip. Too long a wait for too little. Sure, the current MacBookPro would probably suffice, but I really did not want a laptop as my main computer.Take a look at the mini-STX motherboard related stuff. It's an industry standard MB, 5"x5", that allows cases the same size or a little bigger than a Mini. I recently got a Asrock Deskmini 110 and it's working great. It allows full S-series processors to a max of 65W. The MSI Cubi 2 Plus gets the size down to the same volume as a Mini while still allowing T-series (35W) processors up to a i7-6700T
There are plenty of mini-ITX cases that will fit on a desk.
Others have mentioned the mini-STX format
There's the Nuc too, which is much more user serviceable than a Mac mini.
Others have mentioned the mini-STX format
There's the Nuc too, which is much more user serviceable than a Mac mini.
Am I missing something with the Tiny. A couple of posters have said the Tiny if anything appears smaller than their Mac Mini. Theses are the measurements for the Tiny - 3.46" x 14.05" x 13.31.
A Mac Mini measures - 7.7" x 7.7" x 1.4". Please explain.
A Mac Mini measures - 7.7" x 7.7" x 1.4". Please explain.
Am I missing something with the Tiny. A couple of posters have said the Tiny if anything appears smaller than their Mac Mini. Theses are the measurements for the Tiny - 3.46" x 14.05" x 13.31.
A Mac Mini measures - 7.7" x 7.7" x 1.4". Please explain.
Footprint perhaps, the Lenovo stands vertically like a bookend.
***
Further to my own dilemma (my Mac mini died this weekend). My wife tells me she wants a family room computer for my son to use now that he's starting school next year.
If his school is heavily into Windows (or by that same token is not invested in the Apple ecosystem), then I may bite the bullet and get a Windows 10 machine with a touchscreen. The Surface Studio is crazy appealing to me as a creative hub for the family.
Just measured my Tiny M900. It's 175mm on each side and about 34mm tall. Mac Mini runs 190X190X30mm.Am I missing something with the Tiny. A couple of posters have said the Tiny if anything appears smaller than their Mac Mini. --- Please explain.
Some of the numbers on the Lenovo Tiny specs page appear to come from the non-tiny version of the machine.