We have a tiny, Haswell-powered PC from Intel—what should we do with it?

There's a lot of potential inside this dinky box.

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[elizibar]

What kind of wattage does it draw?

 

[DrPizza]

It seems amusing that it doesn't include Thunderbolt any longer.

 

[Stone]

Put OS X on it and call it a mac mini mini.

 

[stopher2475]

What kind of graphics power does that thing have? Can you game on it at all? Could be usefull as the guts behind a MAME cabinet.

 

[Dilbert]

Make a robot. One that reacts to, not just light and dark, or random sounds; that can be (and has been) done with an arduino; but has speech recognition and facial recognition. Do everything in the x86 software and use USB attached peripherals. That'd make it a lot easier to accomplish.

Give the robot sensors, tank tracks, and arms of some sort. Let's say to hold a..... flashlight with. If someone, not you, but someone else, decided to replace the flashlight with a stun gun or a 1W laser, well that would not be your liability. Amirite?

 

[dylane]

I've been wanting something of this size, but hopefully much less expensive, to use as a dumb terminal to log into my virtual work desktop and maybe to use as an HTPC. My budget is more like $200 or less though, so looks like I've still got some time to wait.

 

[Midnitte]

How many bitcoins can you generate per minute? =p

I'd suggest benchmarking it as a steam machine but Steam OS isn't out yet...

 

[FrankTheHuman]

Put it on a tiny desk. Feel like a giant.

 

[comingInFromCold]

I was gonna say home file server but for 700$ it would be a tad expensive.

 

[flunk]

$600 is way too much for this sort of basic system. You can get something similar in a mini-itx format for half that.

 

[HellDiver]

Not all "last year's NUCs" had Thunderbolt - there were 3 models that didn't and only one that did. The Celeron 847, the i3 and an i5 - all Ivy Bridge powered with dual full-sized HDMI. The Celeron and i3 only had 3xUSB2.0, the i5 had 2x USB2.0 and a single USB3.

I've got both the Celeron and i3 NUCs - they run fine, especially with the latest BIOS which makes the fan run much quieter. I run my i3 with 4GB Corsair Vengeance RAM and a 256GB Toshiba SSD - it's really qite fast for what it is. The Celeron I use 2x2GB Crucial low-volt RAM and a 64GB M4 SSD, it runs as a little Linux box, and is fitted to a Tranquil PC passive case.

 

[EmeraldArcana]

Put your latest programming project on it and use it as a way to quickly demo your latest work. Carry it around with a pocket sized projector (something like this thing) and you can instantly discuss whatever you're doing with colleagues or show people a movie on the fly.

 

[steelghost]

flunk[/url]":3alqjr17]$600 is way too much for this sort of basic system. You can get something similar in a mini-itx format for half that.

Really, where?

 

[pyecat]

Make the best entertainment experience you can with it. That means it should support content from (at least) iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and Google. It must use content stored locally (where "locally" means any device on the home network or the computer itself). It must have peripherals that let you control it from across the room. It should have a reasonable 20-foot experience. It must use cont

Yes, I know there are purpose-built devices like Chromecast or Apple TV that do something similar today. The problem is a large segment of content won't play on those devices because it's only licensed for a PC (I gritted my teeth when that message first appeared on Hulu, and got really frustrated when it started appearing on Netflix).

It's a bit of an extreme solution for many users, but when we start considering 4K displays the NUC may be the only way to go.

 

[steelghost]

+1 on the SteamOS suggestion, even if you have to keep hold of the NUC a bit to wait for it to be released....

 

[shav]

I'd like to know how many monitors and at what resolution you can push out before you see performance degradation.

 

[murst]

Does this thing have any movable parts?

 

[Arlondiluthel]

Get a 13" monitor, attach to an R/C model car. Mobile computer.

Jerry-rigged to use a 12V car battery, maybe? Or a high-capacity UPS, and use it electric-car style? Though at that point you may need a beefier R/C car.

 

[DoomHamster]

UltraEverDry testing

 

[steelghost]

murst[/url]":2xu1z2in]Does this thing have any movable parts?

Blower cooling fan like a laptop. Other than that, no.

 

[motytrah]

HTPC is the target I would look at. At least that's what I did with mine. The problem with most of the HTPCs in the $99-199 range is they lack support for a number of formats. For instance 10-bit encoded video is pretty common in the Anime Fan-Sub community and it's just not something baked into any of the SoC out there used in media devices. You need an i3 or better to do a soft decode.

For a story look at using pre-packaged XBMC distros like openelec. For bonus points you could go hand rolled and try out Netflix via Linux Desktop. You should have enough power to do a variety of MAME emulators too.

 

[bflat]

HTPC with XBMC, Steam(box?) and MAME. The all in one entertainment computer hidden behind a TV.

 

[minibeardeath]

I would be really interested to see how well it works as a PLEX server with HD transcoding to something like a Roku or RPi.

 

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

I'd be interested in how hot the thing actually gets, especially in various enclosures (i.e. where one might cram a mini computer).

 

[elspud]

Reminds me of the Gigabyte Brix unit I bought not too long ago. That came with a VESA adapter so you could mount it on the back of a flat screen monitor. Zero footprint FTW. It had fewer USB ports, but the same MiniDP and HDMI video and gigabit ports. It also came with the wireless already on it.

 

[dmacpher]

+1 for HTPC applications. I'd be particularily interested if this thing can be made to run totally silently somehow (i.e. ZERO fan noise).

 

[genomecop]

Put it in your Barbie Play House.

 

[EvilDawg]

I would use it for your own Steam Box type of appliance or a Media Center / NAS.

 

[abj]

Try installing Esxi or Hyper-V on it for a mini lab?

 

[riverlaw]

Integrate it into a bicycle and give it GPS and other cool stuff.

 

[LIGC]

Curious about the HD 5000 performance since in Macbook Air reviews it appeared to be heavily thermally bound. How high can the power draw be pushed in this system and how loud can it get?

 

[edrowland]

I'm curious about the power draw as well. My dream device: a brick-like device that sits in your satchel or man-purse, and connects via WI-DI, or RDP, and wifi-direct to a 10" tablet when you're on the road; or connects via a single plug (or no plug at all) to an assortment of desktop peripherals, if you're not. Sort of like a personal cloud that goes with you, instead of having to rely on people we don't trust. So the critical question would be whether there's a way to attach a portable power supply. Bluetooth would have been nice, for keyboards and mice.

 

[qasimq]

XBMC ?

... I am terrible at this.

 

[Neb001]

steelghost[/url]":10ett1z5]

flunk[/url]":10ett1z5]$600 is way too much for this sort of basic system. You can get something similar in a mini-itx format for half that.

Really, where?

I'm curious as well, seeing as how the Core i5-4430 processor retails for $189 and the M500 120gb ssd is $120, it'd be hard to find a complete mini-itx box containing those two items and motherboard, intel wifi, case, and ram, for $300.

 

[SniPerfidy]

Slap this on the back of a giant TV and let us know how it handles video conferencing. We are currently trying this out at work, and I would love to know how much better Haswell handles this.

 

[bigjohnstud]

put a bird on it !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XM3vWJmpfo

 

[Dilbert]

Arlondiluthel[/url]":3eko3kt7]Get a 13" monitor, attach to an R/C model car. Mobile computer.

Jerry-rigged to use a 12V car battery, maybe? Or a high-capacity UPS, and use it electric-car style? Though at that point you may need a beefier R/C car.

Even simpler.... used Rascal/driveabout/scooter thing. It has all the parts you'd need. And it can support, what, 400lbs? Take the seat out and mount whatever mission specific mount you need. Want your very own Mr Yesman from Fallout: NV? No problem.

 

[This Guy]

Put a 50" TV on the bonnet of your car, hook up an xbox controller and use steams big picture mode. Bonus points if you automate your car and rig a video camera above your boot to get third person mode while driving with the 360 controller.