u/ulcweb

Let me start off by mentioning what I have, and I'd love it if you have comments on this part. Herk Pulsar (weak ryzen, but was sent it for review), Intel NUC i5 (weak but makes a great home server), for now I have a Kamrui but its pretty iffy, intel compute stick m3 (really amazing backup or travel pc, and then the lenovo legion go.

I do have an egpu that was also sent to me which I am considering into this factor of what I should get. Ideally with something with oculink probably.

Not long ago I posted here about my main mini pc I had, the herk orion mega, which was fully decked out with 2tb + 1tb ssds, 64gb of ram, but alas I had to send it back for RMA.

>I was one of the early adopters of the herk Orion mega, and I had a lot of issues with it. From the fans going FULL BLAST upon startup, let alone doing barely anything, to the USB c 4 ports dying out anytime you tried to use both at the same time.

Literally the drivers would hard stop and I even had to reinstall Windows. Speaking of which a windows update nearly bricked my Orion. 

I sent it back for RMA, either a repair or replace ideally cause it was getting bad. They had sent a herk pulsar prior so I used that in the meantime, it has now been ELEVEN MONTHS with no reply. https://www.indiegogo.com/en/projects/herkorion/orion-world-s-smallest-fastest-ryzen-9-mini-pc

Thus I am actually looking for another 780m mini pc because the legion go can handle anything I ask of it, which is almost equal specs to the herk orion mega (minus the ram/ssd).

This particular gmktech is interesting deal https://www.gmktec.com/products/gmktec-k12-amd-ryzen™-7-h-255-mini-pc?variant=46826063921306

3 ssd slots, oculink port, and basically has everything else for a low price (I can add a harddrive, and I'll wait for a deal for ram).

I would love minisforum but some of the feature to price ratios are insane.

Not opposed to the MF v3 or the rog flow z13 amd system tablets too, but those are pricey.

Can't say how much I can spend, as I don't really have a budget right now for it. However I am trying to find the best deal to save up for it.

Geekom sometimes has some working options, but like MF its hard to find the right balance.

Some of the ryzen 395 or even ai 470 mini pcs are really enticing but spending 3k on a pc is brutal. The reason I went with the herk in the first place is that I spent like $850 on all of it because of indiegogo.

I'd love a 395 pc, and really I've compared all of them. I'd be happy with any of course.

What are your all's thoughts? Figured I'm not the only one in this type of situation, so discussion would be really fun to see your ideas.

Use cases: gaming, content creation, homelab (for side mini pc upgrade), and probably local LLM if I can get a good enough system.

I was one of the early adopters of the herk Orion mega, and I had a lot of issues with it. From the fans going FULL BLAST upon startup, let alone doing barely anything, to the USB c 4 ports dying out anytime you tried to use both at the same time.

Literally the drivers would hard stop and I even had to reinstall Windows. Speaking of which a windows update nearly bricked my Orion.

I sent it back for RMA, either a repair or replace ideally cause it was getting bad. They had sent a herk pulsar prior so I used that in the meantime, it has now been ELEVEN MONTHS with one reply. And which they said they had to go to Hong Kong to pick it up, but never did I guess.

I can't believe its taken me this long to ask this here, as I was going for a long time asking ai chats to help me with my "computer optimization puzzle" as it coined. However I am extremely curious to see what you all say.

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TLDR

Using the legion go as a portable content creation/multistreaming (windows), or as a fully dedicated gaming machine (bazzite), or somehow managing both (going back to dual booting, and perhaps needing more storage).

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For ref I am a gamer, content creator, pc nerd, and wannabe techno minimalist. However I am limited by my hardware, and I don't think I'll be able to get anything new anytime soon. Unless I trade. I've gone down the mini pc bandwagon, and tbh the legion go is just that: a mini pc.

Additional pc information as it is relevant to my thought logic. I started out with a herk orion mega, which was a mini pc I was able to afford by supporting the indiegogo. As it happens the specs are very close to the legion go 1, with only more ram and storage tbh.

However being a first generation product it had its issues, such as you couldn't use both usb c 4 ports or else it would brick the usb c driver. Wow ok great. or it would ramp up the fans full blast upon startup (nothing open). Probably a windows 11 issue, but I had sent it back to be repaired. Sadly I'm not gonna get that pc back, prob due to tariffs.

Although I had reached out to the company prior to make content for them, and they sent me a herk pulsar (weaker pc that I am now daily driving as my main only option), and a boostr01 egpu. Ironically with usb c ports not working on the OG pc I physically couldn't record anything. egpu only works with legion go type device or the original herk btw (or maybe better pcs out there). I traded my xbox series X for a legion go, which to me was a good deal as I need a pc.

My point is now I keep going back and forth on how I should use the Go. It is a phenomenal device. I don't think its too heavy, and the controls feel nice. With the controls coming off it becomes an 8 inch tablet, which is fantastic for IRL recording at live events or even multistreaming off of the device.

the problem is the OS, and limited storage. Even if I get an external ssd it doesn't really solve the issue. I tried dual booting windows and bazzite, and I ended up liking bazzite so much that I felt I was running out of storage. I actually wiped it completely and put bazzite 100% on it. Made it feel like an actual console, and it was perfect.

My issue is that I feel that I am under utilizing it, as I am only using it for linux based gaming. Its perfect tho for steam, epic, and retro games. I'm only missing battle and microsoft stores, maybe ea but meh I can wait on mass effect replay lol.

I also now can't use it as a recording device, or as a daily driver mini pc.

I've had mixed luck using the egpu, both on windows and linux, even with amd making drivers better nowadays. A bit better experience on bazzite, but Idk how to make it fully utilize it. I digress.

The sub issue is the storage, only having a terabyte is like either mostly use it for video recordings, or mostly use it for games. You really can't fit both on the 1tb. Even if I offload often to an ssd (which might just be the way to go perhaps).

I've made a lot of videos about this handheld btw, mostly about retro gaming and bazzite usage on it. As well as comparing it to swtich and steamdeck. Although I'm not linking here as to follow the rules.

My hope from this post is that you all can help me decide what I should do. Keep the bazzite, and just chill on the idea of multiple use. Or something else?

If I could get a new mini pc to be my daily driver for recording that may be the way to go. Although it won't help for portability, which is half of the appeal here.

[Gear Discussion and my Opinions]

Screengrab from the video

I've been a fan of rework from afar, and it seems like their products are pretty well made. While I was interested in their toshi 20L I didn't quite have a need for it as I have a pretty great EDC bag I got off amazon years ago (pre covid even) that somehow is really good (not for sale anymore tho). My point is that between the bp and the toshi sling I was really wanting to use the brand. I saw a sling IRL one day when I was hanging out with a DJ, and I got to feel it first hand. I thought that the brand seems to know what they're doing, even if they're new.

Then out of nowhere I found out they made the outbound travel backpack. Coming from a tomtoc 40L this felt like I was really going down in size, and couldn't justify the cost of a new bag for a 20L toshi. However something about the 30L really stuck with me, probably the features and how the pockets make use of the space rather well.

My biggest issue with the tomtoc, after using it for at least 3 week long trips. Is that when you try to actually use all of the pockets it bleeds too much into the internal compartment. Making you lose space in the main pocket, also it never felt like it actually fitted 40L but more like 35.

From what I can tell from reviewers the outbound fits "More than 30" as in more like a 34L in practice. I got it home, and I tried fitting in some of my pouches and gear. I actually made a video unboxing and first impressions. I'll link that in the comments, as I don't want people to think that's why I made the post. I just really want to nerd out with people about the bag.

I found it interesting cause there were things that people complained about that I didn't really mind, and things like the top handle that were sometimes mentioned but I found it really difficult to fit my hand into despite it not being even full.

Other things are just like the materials are great, and I'm really excited to use it on an actual trip, as I think I can fit my sling in the main compartment with my stuff. Then take it out at my destination. Sadly its too big to fit the sling in the admin pocket like most people would do. I should note that I quite literally watched every single video out there about it and I really appreciated this post too https://www.reddit.com/r/ManyBaggers/comments/1sms482/rework_outbound_30l_first_impressions/

Anyone else grab this backpack too? Thoughts?

I'll be making another video, and probably reddit post too, when I fully pack out the bag for a trip.

Let's discuss!

Hey just wanted to share with you my most recent rabbit hole in the onebag world, that being hanging compression packing cubes. Popularized by westbreeze kickstarter, but those are like $140/150 for a set, and you can't get just one. I don't really use more than one packing cube, or usually two small cubes.

However after doing some digging, I saw some cheapo hanging closets on amazon, but no compression cubes like the WB. However tropicfeel seems to have a few options, and I randomly came across one of them. After looking around their archive deals section I found a 12L (I think there's 10L too) for sale, this being only about $30 plus shipping.

https://shop.tropicfeel.com/products/smart-packing-cube-12l-core-black

https://preview.redd.it/fcp83qph3yzg1.png?width=591&format=png&auto=webp&s=e9674acff9432be010968dd5b280b7d238f07888

I'm not affiliated with them, although I'm open to that idea once I get my hands on it, and maybe review it.

My point in making this post is that I am always trying to improve my travel setup. I figured maybe others might be in a similar boat with packing cubes. (technically this is a repost from manybaggers, but that's cause crossposting isn't allowed) I just want the onebag world to give me your thoughts <3

P.S. I am planning on selling my tomtoc navigator backpack, and getting the rework outbound, what are your thoughts on that??

Hey just wanted to share with you my most recent rabbit hole in the onebag world, that being hanging compression packing cubes. Popularized by westbreeze kickstarter, but those are like $140/150 for a set, and you can't get just one. I don't really use more than one packing cube, or usually two small cubes.

However after doing some digging, I saw some cheapo hanging closets on amazon, but no compression cubes like the WB. However tropicfeel seems to have a few options, and I randomly came across one of them. After looking around their archive deals section I found a 12L (I think there's 10L too) for sale, this being only about $30 plus shipping.

https://shop.tropicfeel.com/products/smart-packing-cube-12l-core-black

https://preview.redd.it/mruvpxi43yzg1.png?width=591&format=png&auto=webp&s=799ece59236ad8a442f9bcc88cdb7bf73c136579

I'm not affiliated with them, although I'm open to that idea once I get my hands on it, and maybe review it.

My point in making this post is that I am always trying to improve my travel setup. I figured maybe others might be in a similar boat with packing cubes.

P.S. I am planning on selling my tomtoc navigator backpack, and getting the rework outbound, what are your thoughts on that??