Every day, I receive private messages from at least a dozen people on each of my platforms asking, “Why can’t I buy cheap hardware? Can you help me find a good deal?” The truth is, you haven’t understood one thing: there are no shortcuts or easy profits in this world. Those who find good deals do so because they understand the products. If you can’t even manage to search for long-tail keywords, how can you expect to find bargains?
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Now, let’s get back to the main topic. Today, I am recommending a mini PC for beginners, especially since many people noticed the price increase of the HP T430. In reality, this is just an ordinary machine; if you buy it, it’s worth only about 100 yuan. If you can’t get it, there’s no need to be upset. Let’s take a look at today’s recommendation.
This is a mini PC from Haier, which mainly comes from government and educational training institutions. After these training institutions went under, resellers acquired these machines in bulk and are now selling them. The model is Haier YunYue Mini S.First, let’s talk about the hardware. The processor is the J3160, which is slightly better than the J1900.Base frequency: 1.6GHz, maximum turbo frequency: 2.24GHz,with Intel HD Graphics 400 integrated graphics. This integrated graphics is somewhat weak and cannot handle 4K hardware decoding, but the processor itself is not too weak. It is more than sufficient for a media server. Don’t be too fixated on the inability to decode 4K; as long as you have a TV, projector, or TV box purchased in recent years, they should all support hardware decoding. The machine has only one SATA port. If you want to expand, there are 2 USB 3.0 ports available for connecting external hard drives.
Moreover, these types of machines are usually sold as packages, typically including 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive. This configuration is sufficient if you just want to set up a media server (for casual viewing and deletion, without planning to become a cyber hamster). After purchasing, you don’t need to buy anything else. You can directly install CasaOS or Feiniu. You can even install iStoreOS without any issues. Just install any system and set up Jellyfin, and you’re good to go. There is no technical expertise required. If you need media plugins, just search for my earlier Jellyfin plugin files.
The current price of the machine is around 120-135 yuan, which I think is quite suitable for beginners. Don’t expect to get everything right from the start; that would be pointless. I personally have all the mainstream NAS brands available on the market. However, it doesn’t really matter; I don’t think a NAS that costs around 100 yuan can’t meet my needs (except for large data storage requirements).
Next time: A mini PC with dual M.2 slots for just a few dozen yuan—what more do you need?