I've had this PC for over eight months to see if it would develop any problems. I'm very pleased to say it works great! I use mine as a home media PC. Also purchased a Hauppauge Win-TV Dual that converts an over the air antenna signal to digital so that I can record two shows at the same time. The PC serves as a DVR. It works fine for streaming HBO Now, Hulu, Netflix, etc via wireless although recently converted to wired Ethernet for improved connection speed. The savings from cable to my new configuration paid for all the equipment (PC, Hauppauge and antenna) in about 5 months and I've been saving ever since.
As for the PC, it sits behind the TV, I've never heard it make a noise, it runs 24/7, has no trouble with recording two shows at once while watching a recording. The terabyte drive allows one to accumulate dozens of shows and movies. I use an HDMI cable from the PC to the TV and picture is high def (I have a 60" screen) and sound is high quality. My next modification is to connect the HDMI to a receiver and use my 5.1 sound system.
As much as I like and recommend this little PC it comes with a few caveats. First, the keyboard is cheesy and doesn't always register keystrokes. Sometimes it works fine, other times not so well. Since I seldom use the keyboard it is not a big issue. You could buy a separate keyboard to solve this issue. The mouse is okay but know that inside the mouse is a USB stick you have to insert into one of the PC USB ports to enable the wireless mouse. I thought my mouse was dead and while talking to tech support I noticed the little stick next to the battery slot. I told support they should add that question to their list for non-working mice. The keyboard communicates right out of the box. While I find the PC quite capable I do not play games on it nor any demanding video software. Users expecting a high-end PC for games will likely be disappointed. If you want to play games get a PC with a separate dedicated graphics card. A separate card is NOT an option with this PC. If you wanted to use this as a home office PC (Word, Excel, PPT, email, Internet) it should be fine, except invest in a better keyboard and mouse.
I not only recommend this PC for this type of application, I bought a second one. Actually, this PC review is for my second purchase. The first was the predecessor model from 3 years ago that is installed in a different house and has been working fine all these years. I think that says something about how their quality.
| Processor | 2.2 GHz Core_i5_3337U |
|---|---|
| RAM | 8 GB DDR3 |
| Hard Drive | 1000 GB HDD |
| Graphics Coprocessor | Intel HD Graphics 5500 |
| Chipset Brand | Intel |
| Card Description | Integrated |
| Wireless Type | 802.11n, 802.11b, 802.11a, 802.11ac, 802.11g |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 2 |
| Number of USB 3.0 Ports | 2 |
