Mini pc or laptop?

[binarnett]

Hello,
I have one tricky question... I currently own full rig, but i intend to buy something that is more compact, that i can carry from home to dorm. So my question is, is it better to invest in mini pc like Intel nuc or some laptop... soo for nuc i would have to get separate screen, and i thought about high resolution asus zenscreen, but if i buy some budget laptop, i can only thing about 1080p... but on the other hand nuc dosen't have dedicated graphics card... so i'm in a dilemma hahah, please help!

 

[Dion__]

Hello!

I've worked with diffrent types of compacts computers but.. to be honest i would only recommend this for basic stuff like internet/mail/youtube.
And the transability is really poor with a compaq pc.

I would definitely go with a small laptop, the refurbished or second hand laptops are going around for some good prizes, so you can get a 4/5 gen intel laptop with dedicated graphics for 300/400, and to my opinion this is better then buying anything new for the performance.

If you really want something new you could go for a asus vivobook with a i5, or with a acer aspire.

https://www.newegg.com/global/nl/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100215661%20600004341%20600004343&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=36

Some examples.

 

[justin.m.beauvais]

Well, the real question with this is "Do I want a small PC or do I want a slightly larger PC with a build in screen that can run off a built in battery?"

Personally, I'd go with the laptop. In most cases a NUC is going to be a desktop CPU, completely supported by laptop level hardware. It is also going to be expensive for what you get compared to a laptop. The SFF tax is a real thing.

So, if I were you, I'd look at something in laptop land. There are plenty of good laptops in the NUC price range that have screens, batteries, and GTX 1050's, 1050Ti's, and even 1060's. Take something like the Acer Predator Helios 300. It has a reasonable i7 7700HQ for a CPU, which is a quad core with hyperthreading. It also has a 6GB GTX 1060 and comes with 16 GB of RAM and an SSD, with the possibility of putting your own 2.5 inch drive in it for additional storage. All of that for $1050-ish. Comparing to the Hades Canyon NUC, you get more CPU out of the NUC, but you don't get more graphics power. Also the NUC requires you to add storage and RAM. The top end Hades Canyon NUC is right around $1000... with no screen, battery, RAM, or storage.

Now, there are other options than the Helios 300. Very reasonable machines can be had in the $800 range with i5 and i7 CPUs and GTX 1050 and 1050Ti graphics cards.

So, if what you get for your money is an issue, go with a laptop.

 

[geofelt]

In school, you probably want a laptop that you can carry to class.
There are some strong gaming NUC type boxes that are compact, but then you need to also transport a monitor.

You can buy a laptop with high resolutions as well as strong dedicated graphics for gaming.