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If AI is your factor (particularly native AI), then : numerous energy is required. I’ve used native AI (by means of Ollama) on my System76 Thelio and located it to be ample. So, once I acquired the small type issue, Minix Elite ER937-AI PC, I assumed there was no approach it may compete with my desktop machine.
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Boy, was I incorrect. This tiny laptop packs a wallop and may deal with practically each job you throw at it (inside motive). After all, you are not going to be mining huge information or rendering full-length films with this machine, however as for AI and different duties, the ER937-AI has all of the horsepower you want.
Let’s get into how my testing went.
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My expertise
Okay, I’ve to get this out of the best way. The Minix PC shipped with Home windows 11.
I fired it up and began to stroll by the Home windows 11 setup course of. An hour later, the improve obtain was at 6%. No thanks. I burned Ultramarine Linux on a USB drive, inserted it, booted the machine, and inside ten minutes, I used to be logged in and able to go.
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Now that I had an OS I may really work with put in, it was time to place the machine to the take a look at. The very first thing I did was set up Ollama to make use of for native AI. The set up on Linux is straightforward, and as soon as it was accomplished, I pulled the ollama3.2 mannequin and ran the question:
“What’s Linux?”
I am used to Ollama taking a couple of seconds to start answering the question, however the Minix PC hit the bottom working with its reply and instantly began spewing textual content.
For sure, I used to be impressed. The following step was to push the machine a bit more durable. This time round, I put in BrowserOS and set it as much as work with Ollama and the qwen2.5:7b mannequin. With that taken care of, I instructed the agent with the next:
“Search amazon.com for a charging stand that helps a Pixel 9 Professional.”
I might run the identical agentic search on my Thelio and located it took ceaselessly to finish. On the Minix, that point to completion was exponentially shorter. Once more, shade me impressed.
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Whereas the agentic browser did its factor, the Minix followers spun up and did not cease. I may hear them within the subsequent room, so I knew the machine was being pushed. Sure, the followers had been loud, however they solely actually confirmed how loud they may get in the course of the agentic testing.
Past the AI testing, what I discovered in regards to the Minix was that it ran Linux to perfection, and KDE Plasma was easy as butter. Even enabling the entire window results did not gradual the machine down.
Given the ER937-AI’s dimension, I might by no means have thought it able to delivering such energy. However then, if you happen to have a look at the specs (extra on that in a bit), it turns into clear why this little machine may deal with all the pieces I threw at it. And with a value of solely $999, this powerhouse is a steal.
On high of all that, the construct high quality of the ER937-AI is great. As quickly as you choose it up, you’re feeling the heft of the aluminum chassis, and it even features a VESA mount, so you possibly can connect it to the again of your monitor to maintain it out of the best way.
Ports, ports, ports
There are many ports so that you can use on this mini PC.
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You will additionally discover loads of ports on the ER937-AI. There’s two USB 4.0 ports, three USB 3.2 ports, one HDMI port, one DisplayPort, and two RJ45 Ethernet ports (2.5 GB).
The ER937-AI helps four-screen 8K@60Hz video output, so this little man might be arrange as a really versatile workstation.
The facility button additionally serves as a fingerprint scanner, which I did not use on Linux (however I’ll see if I can get that arrange). If you happen to stick to Home windows (and allow Home windows Hey), you can unlock the PC by merely tapping the ability button with the registered fingerprint.
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All-in-all, my expertise with the Minix ER937-AI was fairly wonderful. This was made particularly so as a result of I blew away Home windows 11 in favor of Linux. Not everybody would do this, however I can guarantee you that getting Linux up and working on this machine is exponentially sooner than Home windows 11.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
For anybody trying to buy a small type issue PC however would not wish to skimp on energy, the Minix ER937-AI is a good purchase. Connect it to the again of a monitor for a pseudo all-in-one, throw no matter job you want at it, and revel on the machine taking all of it in stride.
I have never been this impressed by a mini PC, effectively, ever. I might guess the one machine that may supplant the ER937-AI can be a brand new Mac Mini, however that’s purely supposition on my half.
With the vacations upon us, the Minix ER937-AI can be an excellent present for anybody needing loads of energy that will not break the financial institution.
Minix ER937-AI Mini PC tech specs
- CPU – AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370
- GPU – AMD Radeon 890M
- NPU – AMD Ryzen AI
- RAM – 32 GB DDR5-56000Mhz
- Storage – 1TB M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0×4 NVMe SSD
- Ethernet – 2xRJ-45 @ 2.5G
- Wi-fi connectivity – Wi-Fi 7 triple band (2.4Ghz/5Ghz/6Ghz)
- Video output – 1 HDMI, 1 DP2.0, 2 USB-C4.0.
- Audio output – 3.5 mm combo jack
