B**N
Nicely designed mini PC
Nicely designed mini PC,Pros:slick, thin aluminum enclosurecherry trail z8700, most mini pc's have the z8300128gb solid state storage ,most mini pc's have 32g or less4 gb ram most mini pc's have 2gb2 usb 3 ports, most mini pc's have oneCons: more than twice as expensive as similar productsoriginally purchased this because of its two usb 3 ports, wanted to run two usb 3 display link monitors from it, The ports on this mini pc will not drive two usb displays, at first I thought it might be insufficient amperage from the 12v power supply they provided, but after hooking up to a higher capacity 12v power supply, still no success. Otherwise this is a very nice mini pc for those that need the extra ram and extra storage, if those are not needed, Beelink makes a nice z8300 cherry trail mini pc for $139 dollars
P**D
Did not come with mini-HDMI to HDMI adapter, it gets hot, when hot the CPU slows down.
No HDMI cable adapter, the size for HDMI seems mini or smaller. The documentation was weak. I was expecting to use this immediately but can't. No Ethernet connector either, I'm guessing Ethernet via USB will work once the HDMI situation is resolved. Until then, I'll leave this at a neutral 3 stars.Update: Got a mini-HDMI and have been using the Voyo V3. It is a decent device, and the graphics are good. Unfortunately it gets a bit hot to the touch. Lacking Ethernet and a mini-HDMI to HDMI adapter were negatives.The device came activated, and pre-configured, without any drivers or driver CD / media. I purchased a BeeLink BT 7 for $219 from Amazon. The devices are very similar, both use the Z8700 system on chip, and have 4 GB of RAM. The BeeLink comes with only 64 MB of storage, and it isn't clear to me if it is SSD or not, also a SD (not Micro SD) adapter is included with the BeeLink (The BeeLink BT 7) also includes an Ethernet adapter, and has a full size HDMI connector. The BeeLink seems to get less hot, it is about the same footprint, but slightly thicker than the Voyo V3.I mention the heat issue of the Voyo V3 as the Z8700 (and the entire family of Z8000 system on chips will slow the clock rate down to reduce power consumption and lower heat. This results in a system which will alternately slow down and speed up. The Voyo V3 has done this to me on occasion, the BeeLink has not. Small size is good, but when clock rates go down due to insufficient passive cooling the overall experience isn't consistent. So the Voyo V3 needs a USB to Ethernet connector to get it on wired Internet, needs a mini-HDMI to HDMI adapter, and runs hot. These negatives result in my maintaining a 3 star review of the product. If anything it may be reduced to 2 star. The BeeLink includes a mounting bracket, decent documentation, and a driver DVD. The BeeLink arrived in a sealed box, the Voyo V3 did not.The Voyo V3 is a 3 star device, in part as the Windows installation was already done, including userid and time zone. BeeLink did not complete this, and allowed me to select my own userid, set my time zone and what not, basic Windows install after set up. BeeLink also included a driver CD. This permits easy re-installation of Windows 10.Sorry my review was so downvoted, but my policy is to express my direct experience with a product. Missing HDMI adapters, no drivers, already set up, and runs a bit hot without Ethernet port is sort of a net negative to me.I love the larger RAM, and will be using a USB Ethernet connector to run this off my home Ethernet. Both the Voyo V3 and BeeLink seem well made. The Voyo V3 is slightly more stylish.
R**S
A Great Value With Some Limitations
I’ve been using this computer for 4 months as my business desktop. I’m an attorney and use it primarily to create Microsoft Word documents, edit Excel spreadsheets, create PDF documents, check news sites, watch Netflix and stream Youtube videos. I have it paired with a 1080p monitor and a cheap Amazon Basic keyboard + mouse combo.PROS: You will not find a similar device with this much power at this price. The M.2 SSD drive is what sets this computer apart from the eMMC SSD drives the competitors use. M.2 performance (especially with writes) are significantly better than competitors. The Atom CPU is one of the fastest Atoms out there and the 4GBs of RAM ensures that you can stream media without running out.This is arguably the best setup you will get before you start to get into Core i3 (~$350-450) machines. Even then, you will not find a system this compact at almost any price point. It’s perfectly adequate for office tasks and minor multimedia functions.CONS: This is an Atom PC and feels noticeably slower than Intel Core machines. The bottleneck is the Atom Cherry Trail CPU. Opening almost any file will max the CPU out. You need to have essentially all applications and browser tabs closed to view 480p or 720p video. Webpages that are heavy on javascript ads bog down the machine and make it almost unusable.The problem is not the hard drive, the RAM, or even the pedestrian WiFi. All of those never seem to max out. Task Manager shows that the CPU is constantly being maxed out by seemingly every application. It makes the system feel slow whenever opening a new application or browsing different webpages.It would also be nice to have more USB ports. I had to buy an adapter so that I could use a keyboard, mouse, webcam, and USB flash drive all at the same time. Fortunately, the Voyo V3 does come with 2 USB 3.0 ports.OTHER COMMENTS: I typically use this machine with two email tabs open, accounting software, and then am able to use it for one additional function (word, excel, youtube, etc). Anything beyond that and it will be unable to multitask. Typing on Microsoft Word has a small degree of lag that is a minor annoyance but perfectly usable. It’s perfectly fine for light to moderate office and personal use. Just don’t expect to get the performance of a $500 computer for $200. With that said, this machine, primarily due to the M.2 drive, will be a world better than the competitors at this price point.I bought my model from a Chinese distributor. For some reason the M.2 drive wasn’t installed properly. Opening up the machine can be somewhat of a hassle because it is so compact. The only thing that can be changed (bar soldering) is replacing the hard drive. Considering that it already comes with an expensive M.2 drive, a drive that is not fully utilized by the Atom CPU, makes this point moot.The machine seems to run cool and can run for as long as you want without overheating. However, you should be sure to keep it properly ventilated. On several occasions my office has been hot and the CPU has throttled back from the limit of 2.4Ghz (to often around 2.1Ghz). This loss in speed has a huge impact on how fast the computer feels because it has so little power to begin with.OVERALL: I am very happy I bought this machine. It offers a fully functional desktop performance for a small cost. However, don’t expect the level of performance you would get from an Intel Core machine.
Trustpilot
2 days ago
5 days ago
