I have an old laptop that died, but I still have:
16GB RAM
256GB SSD
512GB HDD

I’m tired of waiting for Mac mini, I want a Linux machine for software development side projects and all time running agents. No gaming.

I’m confused about how desktop builds work though. Do I just buy a CPU? Or do I need a full PC/motherboard? Do I need a dedicated GPU or are integrated graphics enough for Linux/dev work?

I’ve been looking at mini PCs / barebones systems where I can reuse laptop RAM and storage. Is that the best route, or should I build a normal desktop instead?

so im still at my (im assuming) base win 11 version with mo update and was wondering if i should be updating this. reason i ask was that i kind of remember reading that when someone updated thiers they had all sort of issues.

just in case the answer is dont update how do you not update win 11 but still able to access internet.

My wife and I are about to break ground on a new home and we're renting a furnished short-term rental place during construction. Think along the lines of an air B&B that you live in for 8-9 months. We don't have room for my gaming rig and desk, sigh, and the old i5 desktop I built for my wife in 2016 appears to be acting up. It seems like a good time to get her a new computer and, a while ago, I decided that, when the time came, for the money and her extremely basic usage case, she'd be better off with a mini-PC. So now I'm looking into Beelink and Geekom mini PCs in the sub $600 range with a Ryzen 7 6800H or comparable PC/integrated GPU combo. With the current insane SSD and memory prices, these seem like an even better deal. What should I consider when purchasing one of these? Are there other brands in that price range I should be considering? She rarely does more than the most basic of computing/web surfing on her PC. In the past she would occasionally play some extremely basic casual games on her PC, but anymore, it's almost always on her ipad and 90% of the time it's Words with Friends.

Also, I've noticed that most of these mini-PCs don't appear to have a dedicated sound output. They have HDMI on the rear, which I'm assuming doubles as sound output, which is great if you plan to use your monitor's speakers, but let's be honest, almost all monitors and TVs have crap sound. She has dedicated, powered desktop speakers. Most of the mini-PCs seem to have an earphone jack on the front panel, so I'm assuming she'd use that to connect to her speakers? Is there a better way to do that?

Thanks.

My experience with Minisforum has been extremely disappointing from start to finish.

It already began badly: it took almost 4 weeks just to get in contact with customer service to report a defective product. Only after that long delay was I finally able to explain the issue.

What happened next was even worse.

Minisforum first tried to refund me 20% less, claiming the product was “used,” even though this was a warranty case. I refused, and only then did they agree to a full refund of €599.

But when the refund finally arrived, they paid 10% less anyway, blaming “bank fees” and expecting me to accept it. Under EU consumer law, warranty refunds must be paid in full, without deductions — and they know this.

From that point on, the situation became absurd:

- I had to spend months emailing back and forth

- They repeatedly gave new excuses

- Deadlines they set themselves were ignored

- “Finance needs to approve it” became a standard line for weeks

- I had to prove myself that they underpaid the refund

- To this day, the remaining amount still has not been paid

This entire process has dragged on for months, and I have invested far more time and effort than any customer should. Minisforum confirmed the full refund themselves, yet still failed to honor it.

This is not how a company should treat its customers.

Think very carefully before buying from Minisforum.