Intel NUC - Anyone Used one?

[OlderThanDirt]

Intel has a new generation of mini computers (Intel NUC) coming out in March. It looks like it will serve my needs for a media server and to use for Dish's upcoming Sling TV service ($20/month for limited live TV via the internet that is enough to keep the wife happy and available for use at multiple locations). Anyone used one of the small computers?

With an added hard drive or SSD, this unit seems ideal for use as an internet-based media server that I can easily take with me (it's a whopping 4"x4"x2"). I spend my time between three different locations and can't justify cable TV for each location when my wife barely watches anything more than HGTV, and a few random channels. I already have internet at all three locations as part of my security systems, so a mini computer with all my music, videos, pictures, and the ability to get a few cable channels seems ideal.

[MaHoTex]

Yep. The thing is totally bad arse. It is fast and a very capable computer. You will not be disappointed.

[ke6guj]

I've got 3 of them in use at work. nice and easy to mount behind a wall-mounted LCD screen and plug in a webcam to for videoconferencing. another is used to monitor IPcameras. I haven't tried to anything taxing on them so I don't know how good the video card output is for gaming but they offer them with Core i3 and i5 processors so the CPUs are more than capable for most needs.

[LTC-J]

Yup, I actually got one for my Dad.

I got the "low end" DN2820FYKH and it does pretty well for video playing, web browsing, and Office. I stuffed it with 8Gb and a 480GB Intel SSD. I put Windows 8.1 with classic shell.

There are basically three versions of a case for the NUC:
small that only has room for mSata drive
"medium" that only has room for one 2.5" drive
"large" that has room for mSata drive and 2.5" drive.

The difference between them is the height.

Now that I did the low end version, I've been eyeballing one of the i5 versions for my shop.

[m03]

I have the i5-4250U based one, with both an mSata and 2.5" drive installed, running several VMs under KVM. I've had it running non-stop for 2 months, and it's had no major issues thus far and has performed well, but I'm not throwing a particularly taxing load on it (the hardest-working VM acts as a seed box for several dozen distributions of open-source software).

It does it's job quietly.

[d33pt]

Built one for my wife. The first generation NUC when they came out with an I3. Put in 16g of ram and 128gb SSD. She loves it and has been using it for over two years. She does photoshop and video editing on it. The SSD makes it really fast.

[OlderThanDirt]

Yup, I actually got one for my Dad.

I got the "low end" DN2820FYKH and it does pretty well for video playing, web browsing, and Office. I stuffed it with 8Gb and a 480GB Intel SSD. I put Windows 8.1 with classic shell.

There are basically three versions of a case for the NUC:
small that only has room for mSata drive
"medium" that only has room for one 2.5" drive
"large" that has room for mSata drive and 2.5" drive.

The difference between them is the height.

Now that I did the low end version, I've been eyeballing one of the i5 versions for my shop.

Thanks guys. Now I feel bad for giving my dad an "old" HP i5 Slimline that I had configured as a DVR before the cable company scrambled all the channels. He would have been blown away by the size of the NUC (even the Slimline was about half the size of his old compact desktop and uses only a fraction of the energy).

I'll probably go with the high end NUC with an SSD, Windows 8.1 and loads of memory so I can do a few work things as well.

[MaHoTex]

Thanks guys. Now I feel bad for giving my dad an "old" HP i5 Slimline that I had configured as a DVR before the cable company scrambled all the channels. He would have been blown away by the size of the NUC (even the Slimline was about half the size of his old compact desktop and uses only a fraction of the energy).

I'll probably go with the high end NUC with an SSD, Windows 8.1 and loads of memory so I can do a few work things as well.

Check out Newegg. They have a combo deal for about $500 for the latest I% NUC. It is currently sitting in my cart...

ETA: It is gone and I can not find the combo deal anymore. Argh... Blessing I guess?!?!

[OlderThanDirt]

It will be back. I'm starting to think I'll be getting more of these units since they are ideal for a lot of applications.

[LTC-J]

Another NUC like computer to consider is the Gigabyte Brix.

One of them has the i7-4770R which has Intel's premium graphics(Iris Pro) I've considered one of these for the wife and her "light" gaming needs

I've got a computer problem to go with my gun problem

[Wallabing]

Still cheaper and better to build an ATX form (full,micro,itx) system.