Which mini-PC???

[caorach]

Worth asking as there are lots of people on here. Sometimes I shoot some video using a GoPro/DJI etc. and I'm not always at home when I do this so usually I transfer the video from the cards in the cameras onto external hard disks. It is a long story but the SFF PC I use for doing this is getting very old and it's USB support isn't great, it pre-dates things like USB 3 by a long time so transfer speeds are painfully slow for what can be quite big video files.

Can anyone suggest any mini-PC type devices that might be relatively inexpensive and be useful for this task? If the PC can play 4k video that would be great but even that isn't absolutely necessary as my current PC can't manage to play 4k at all. Basically I'm looking for a USB hub and while some small internet browsing/4k video playing would be nice I don't need anything beyond that so I don't want to spend much cash. I did think of building some sort of solution based around a Pi but don't want the hassle of that.

 

[angusb1]

I bought a couple of Intel NUCs to test some stuff for work. When I finished I was going to sell them again but I decided to use one as a media centre so I didn't have to buy a smart TV. They can run windows and are about 5"x5". I used a usb keyboard and mouse and they have hdmi out to a TV or monitor.

This is similar to what I have . A quite basic model. You can spend more to get faster and you can upgrade the ram if you want but this will do internet surfing and 4k playback

Micro PC Intel NUC i5-5250U 8GB RAM 128GB SSD WiFi HDMI 4K Win11Pro NUC5i5RYK | eBay

 

[slider]

An Android tablet (or iPad if you really are a masochist) should be able to do your job. I use a Samsung Galaxy Tab when I am away from home to download and edit drone footage

 

[angusb1]

An Android tablet (or iPad if you really are a masochist) should be able to do your job. I use a Samsung Galaxy Tab when I am away from home to download and edit drone footage

That would save needing a keyboard mouse and monitor too

 

[Pedro]

Wouldn't a laptop do the trick? Get one with the spec you need.

 

[artschool]

apple mac mini

 

[Len the dog]

Plug a USB C / SD card reader into the charging port of your phone and store the contents of the SD card onto your phone.

 

[JockStalk]

apple mac mini

Would second that - brilliant bit of kit

 

[goldypurple]

Geekom mini pc's are good and reasonable priced for high spec machines

 

[zambezi]

I bought a Beelink SER5. Well specc'd NUC. Fanless and silent. There is a but...

...whilst the device has good grunt to store, handle and process large data files/streams, the sharpness of the image quality rendered is a teeny bit reduced over that furnished by a pedestal PC with full-spec graphics card.

If you are not after pin-shart pics, one of the NUCs will deliver performance on par with bigger PCs of yesteryear but with a small footprint. [5"x5"]

 

[caorach]

Thank you to everyone for the replies, I'm still making my mind up and have been looking around and considering the options everyone has provided.

Currently I'm looking at 2nd hand options like the MFF Dell machines as my very basic requirements mean that an older one of these might be more than up to my job.