replacing laptop with a nuc

[Greenmantle]

so thinking of replacing the 17in laptop with a nuc. laptop has probably sat on the desk for its entire life with its lid shut (external 24in screen). The reason for a nuc is that the desk is now getting a little crowded.

Anyone using a nuc as a daily computer?

[m30dus]

I am running a Beelink GTR and am extremely impressed with it. It has a fan but is very quiet unless pushed hard and can take an extra HDD within the case if additional storage required over and above the NVMe.

To compact lack of a mobile machine you could always think about using Remote Desktop on your tablet and use RDP protocol into your NUC. I use it on the iPad Pro with magic keyboard and my usual Bluetooth mouse and it’s remarkably capable.

[SteBrown91]

I have quite an old Nuc with a Gen 7 i3 and for general duties its fine. Occasionally it can be a little slow launching an app but generally have no issues with it.

Only thing I found was the onboard sound output was appalling. Ended up buying a cheapish Creative USB audio card which has improved things massively.

[devnull]

NUCs are great, extremely capable machines. I have a Skull Canyon with an 8th generation CPU and it still flies. The thermal management will be masses better than a laptop, which results in an experience which feels quicker than what you'll have now.

[randlemarcus]

I know the new is always tempting, but your actual issue is deskspace, not tech. There's no reason to keep the laptop closed on good real estate. Maybe sit the monitor on it, or store vertically at the side of the desk? You could even gaffer tape it to the underside

[buggalugs]

We sell 5-10 nucs a month for office users, people love having the desk space back especially if you can mount them on the back of the screen. Combined with WiFi and a wireless kb/mouse combo to minimise wiring it's a very neat solution. You can get very short hdmi cables that suit screen mounting also.

There are lots of versions with different combinations of ports, some don't have many USB's on and I'd avoid those.

Install the intel driver assistant and there's also an app in the microsoft store for nucs that lets you mess with the LED's etc.

See also, gigabyte brix, msi cubi, asus pn51

Edited by buggalugs on Wednesday 27th July 10:29

[AmitG]

I've been using them as my primary desktop machine for many years. I think they are great. Throw in RAM and an SSD and you are basically good to go.

The power brick is separate, which takes up more desk space, but you probably have that with the laptop anyway.

The integrated graphics are not going to be top of the line, so if you are into heavy gaming, video editing etc. then you might be better off with a dedicated graphics card, although some NUCs did have the option of dedicated graphics I think.

Overall I'm a big fan.

[MesoForm]

randlemarcus said:

I know the new is always tempting, but your actual issue is deskspace, not tech. There's no reason to keep the laptop closed on good real estate. Maybe sit the monitor on it, or store vertically at the side of the desk? You could even gaffer tape it to the underside

This was my first thought - wouldn't it be cheaper to attach a shelf to the underside of the desk to store the laptop on rather than buying more tech?

[Whoozit]

MesoForm said:

randlemarcus said:

I know the new is always tempting, but your actual issue is deskspace, not tech. There's no reason to keep the laptop closed on good real estate. Maybe sit the monitor on it, or store vertically at the side of the desk? You could even gaffer tape it to the underside

This was my first thought - wouldn't it be cheaper to attach a shelf to the underside of the desk to store the laptop on rather than buying more tech?

Tch. Both of you, report to the headmaster and hand in your PH cards. Imagine, a PHer that recommends against doing man-maths to buy new gadgets

[mmm-five]

Sod man-maths, just splash the cash on a top-of-the-line Mac Studio...it may take up a bit more space than a true NUC (I have one as a media centre), but it's probably no bigger than most mini-PCs.