GMKtec Mini PC N150, G3 Plus Intel Twin Lake N150 (3.4GHz), 8GB DDR4 RAM 256GB PCIe M.2 SSD, Desktop Computer 4K Dual HDMI/USB3.2/WiFi 6/BT5.2/2.5G RJ45

For the first 24 hours, I was really impressed. Really snappy performance, 8 GB of RAM was plenty for simple tasks, and the SSD was capacious at 256 GB, considering the price. The inclusion of Windows Pro made the box almost free! However, after updating to Windows 11 Build 22H3, during the process of applying updates, the computer locked up. After 60 minutes with the computer no longer visible on the network and the keyboard and mouse non-responsive, pulled the power cord. Upon restoring power and turning on the computer, the PC was stuck for hours at the spinning circle during boot.Two more power-cycles and Windows repair interface appeared. Selected Windows Reset, Local Source (wouldn't work with cloud source), Windows began resetting. However, after a restart, computer back to the infinitely spinning circle. :-(If this had proved reliable, I'd have bought a dozen or more as remote monitoring PCs for client networks. But given that I've had good luck with the similarly priced AWOW models, I will not be investing any more money or time in the GMKTek offerings.Update 01-07-2024-----------------------Fortunately, GMKTek provides a download for a Windows 11 re-installation ISO. With this and leveraging a fair amount of knowledge of Windows installation options, was able to re-image the SSD. Unfortunately, the product key is invalidated and I had to use a spare Windows 10 product key to re-activate Windows. Unfortunate the GMKTek hasn't worked out the same relationship with Microsoft that Dell has, whereby any Windows 11 ISO used to load Windows onto a Dell OptiPlex results in an automatically activated Windows 11 installation.Bottom line is that after recreating and updating all apsects of the re-installed Windows 11 OS, the PC is back to running normally. I know to steer clear now of some driver updates. The PC has been running for about 36 hours and I'll post an update if that changes in the near future.When this PC works, it represents a great value for the money in terms of hardware specs and a Windows 11 license. However, taking into account the time issue remediation takes and the expertise required, the TCO (total cost of ownership) rises significantly. If I never have to do brain surgery on this device again, I'll still feel the cost was justified based on the performance of this sub-$200 device.P.S. I now make a complete image backup before running/installing ANY updates so I can simply restore the image backup rather than running into yet another Windows 11 re-installation process and the requirement to use/purchase another Windows product key.P.P.S. The WIndows 11 re-installation ISO download was 11 GB and was not a standard Windows 11 installation ISO. This had to be burned to a flash drive (I used a 16 GB USB3 model; I used Rufus to create the bootable UEFI flash drive) and then the GMKTek PC booted with it. Upon boot, I was faced with a terminal window and a couple of choices. The one I chose led to an image/sysprep process that fortunately got the PC bootable once again with Windows 11 Pro.P.P.P.S. Highly recommended --> As soon as you boot the device for the first time, find a tool such as ProduKey by NirSoft and extract and save the Windows 11 product key. Ideally (although I didn't have a chance to test), this key would work if a re-install was ever required. The other option, that I was waiting for until the PC was fully updated, is to create an image backup using any number of tools, including the image backup tool in Windows. Thus, if any of your update processes results in a non-bootable PC, you can simply re-image from the backup and avoid having a non-activated instance of Windows 11.Update 01-12-2024-----------------------Vendor reached out proactively and offered some assistance, although I'd resolved the corrupt Windows 11 issue independently. However, that level of customer support is remarkable considering the price of this product and the lack of such support from other vendors with much pricier offerings. Due to this, upgrading the rating to four stars.Update 01-13-2024-----------------------Customer support proactively reached out and provided a product key so I could activate Windows 11 and free up my personal product key. GMKtec's proactive reaching out to a customer with issues is almost unparalleled in my experience over 40 years, so despite the issues I encountered, I'm raising my review to five stars. For a product this inexpensive but with excellent performance, providing this level of customer support is laudable.

I have various Windows 10 devices that are not upgradeable to Windows 11 so I purchased this with the intention of making this my new anchor Windows PC (I'm primarily a Mac user) and I plan on only using it for basic word processing, web browsing, and activities better suited to the Windows world.This is a preliminary rating as I received this device just yesterday. Packaging was professional and set up/personalization straight forward using a USB wireless Logitech Key/Mouse. Bluetooth setup for my Harman Kardon speaker and other bluetooth devices failed (wouldn't recognize anything discoverable) so I next began the lengthy process of Windows updating (actually still happening) and the bluetooth issue resolved itself somewhere along the way. So, beyond the bluetooth issue, this mini PC has been flawless, speedy, quiet, and has gotten only mildly warm during operation. I ran 5 YouTubes videos simultaneously as a test without issues. The system says it is running Windows 11 Pro, it has 475GB of storage (512 was advertised), 16GB memory, and the N150 chip. I'm on Google Fiber and my speed check was something like 400+ down/300+ up from the opposite side of the house from the router. I have NOT yet checked the other ports (USBs/HDMI/LAN).I'm not a computer geek so I can only share my 'user' experience as I compare this with my other devices (Macs/Chromebooks/Windows) and there have been no discernible performance issues.Wrapping up, so far, and comparing price vs. performance, I am happy with my purchase.

For a long time, my 88 year-old mother had an older computer that she only used for simple tasks like browsing the web and typing documents. With Windows 10 security updates expiring, she needed an upgrade. This is perfect for her needs. It comes with Windows 11 Pro. Setting it up for her so that it worked closely like what she was used to did take some time, but that is Microsoft. It boots fast and reliably. It has good video. It has 4 USB-A sockets, so everything she had before plugged in and worked. Wi-Fi is quick and reliable. It has a very small footprint. Overall, I was exactly what she needed, and with the low price, I can say we are very happy with the purchase.

Got this for only one day. Price seems to be very good for a decent quality. Unit is around the same size of a NUC13 which I own, but is substantially lower in weight, and of course also in price and performance. With that said, it provides sufficient performance to be used as a TV box. It works fine in my older HD TV, but it seemed to struggle with my 4K monitor running at 60 Hz. At this point I still don’t know if it was a problem of my monitor or the unit itself.Although not specifically mentioned in the product description, unit comes with Windows 11 Pro pre-installed. I’m a Linux person but since Windows is already there, I plan to keep it there for a while. However, I’ve tried running Remote Desktop to a Linux machine to play some videos, but the video and sound got so choppy that it was not workable. The dilemma is that I have some videos in a format that would require me to login to my MS account and perhaps buy or subscribe to some licenses if I were to play these videos in Windows, but I hate doing that, so sooner or later I might just install Linux on this PC.Update: After more use and testing, I’ve come to the conclusion that this PC is under-powered even for 4K videos, but it suffices for lower resolutions. It consistently struggles and stutters while my 6 year old PC with an i5 CPU had no trouble. I have since switched to Linux and upgraded the RAM to 16G, but the conclusion is the same.