I was very impressed when I set up this 'little' computer box in record time with no glitches.
I've built (and repaired) dozens of desktop and tower computers over the past 30 years and this was insanely easy.
Good specs:
AMD Ryzen 5 6600H(8 Cores, 16 Threads),
16GB DDR5 RAM +
512GB PCle SSD,
WiFi6.0,
BT5.2,
And lots more.
Room to add more RAM
Lots of 'current' ports, fast (and not-as-fast) 'standard' USB ports, 2 in front, 2 in back
USB C front and USB C 4 in back
Dual monitor capable, HDMI and Displayport
Dual NIC ethernet rg45 capable, one 1 G LAN, 1, 2.5G LAN
And best of all, IMHO, it comes with an external power supply! I instinctively distrust any tiny box computer with an integrated internal (and invariably heat-producing!) power supply. Crowded tiny box with hot power supply is just an invitation to eventual problems. Nothing kills electronics more than overheating.
Speaking of heat, their is an internal fan in the computer enclosure, which I can hear going on and off occasionally.
A licensed copy of Windows 11 Pro was included in this item's startup. Always appreciated if you're working in a windows environment.
Setup:
As mentioned above, this computer was a set-up dream for me. Easiest and least painful routine I've had in years.
Plugged in a standard HDMI monitor, plugged into my ethernet network (remember to give your router or network software permission to let your new baby into your network, if necessary). Threw a logitech dongle for run of the mill wireless keyboard and mouse into the front panel and pushed the 'on' button.
Like we always want to expect (but often don't see), the computer turned fired up the monitor and silently went through standard device setup, automatically phoning home through the internet connection and updating whatever the manufacturer had improved (or fixed) since the computer was shipped. Generic keyboard and mouse did their jobs without complaints.
Following the computer's initial update, windows startup began and ran me through all the usual MS set up steps, allowing me to configure some windows preferences on the fly. Registered the software with microsoft, no glitches, and set up as member of one of my ms365 licenses (not included, of course.)
Have been playing with it for a few days, now, no glitches, no surprises. TM WFBS software installed, happily cohabiting with the W11 Defender security, just like all my other desktops and notebooks.
Installed the MS Office 'desktop' basic suite from the 365 online license. No problems. Joined the office network resources I wanted to use. No problems. Added it to the network backup. No probs.
As you might guess, this was the easiest new computer setup I've bothered with in a few years.
And a heck of a lot easier than all the joys and hassles of designing your own machine from scratch.
How does it feel?
Obviously, this is not a 5 or 10K lightning gaming machine or video editor. The CPU is not the newest, but the manufacturer's design and supplied internals make this one of the better workstations in my somewhat aging fleet of computers.
Initial scan from corporate level security software showed no bloatware on this machine. Just the basics.
This is not the least expensive mini computer you can find online, but it has almost everything I need in a fairly powerful business environment. While I'm no expert on the nuances of various AMD Ryzens, one of my tech people mentioned that PLADN uses a very decent Ryzen 5, somewhat more power hungry (and capable) than a similarly Ryzen 5 equipped laptop. For whatever that's worth. Beyond my paygrade, as they say.
Good machine, somewhat expandable (not necessary for our applications), external power supply, absolutely no setup complications. Does the job we need.
Recommended for all details mentioned above. Sure beats the headaches of setting up and building your own machine with all the vagaries that usually accompany that exercise.
We're happy.
