Mini PC , AMD A9 9400 (up to 3.2 Ghz) Mini Desktop Computers, 8GB RAM 128GB SSD, Micro Desktop PC with Dual 4K HDMI, 2.4G/5G Dual WiFi Bluetooth 4.0 Type-C USB 3.0 Mini PC

There's good and bad with this - think before you buy. That said, despite issues I'm about to mention, I *might* consider buying another in the future for general use or for the kids.

After my review, I'll add notes on you can update this device. It's not hard but not immediately obvious and you will have to do some typing.

REVIEW: I bought this to replace an old email server. That was a mistake. It is extremely difficult to install something like Ubuntu Server for it because it is almost impossible to get into the BIOS or UEFI. You need that because changing Ubuntu Desktop to Ubuntu Server leaves hundreds of unnecessary (and security risk) applications and files on the machine. Also, you'll want to update your system to the newest Ubuntu release anyway, a task made **MUCH** more difficult if done command-by-command instead of with a fresh USB installation key.

The tech support page says to quickly press F2 after boot to get into the BIOS (or F12 to get into the boot selector). I tried it over a dozen different ways and it simply DOES NOT WORK. Other sites said to use ESC, or DEL (a message from Atopnuc tech support on that site), or F4 or F8 or the Space bar or even the "C" key (to get into the Grub bootloader menu to try to boot that way). ABSOLUTELY NONE OF THESE WORK. Believe me, I tried, hundreds of times and with many variations. You have only one way to update this machine - MANUALLY. And forget about trying a different distribution like Ubuntu Server. The name may be the same but it is NOT compatible without USB boot)

I eventually just decided to scrap the box as a mail server (too bad, it seems well suited to that for home use!). And I was eventually able to manually upgrade from the installed Ubuntu Desktop 20.04 to the latest Ubuntu Desktop 22.04. It runs fairly well but adding memory, or perhaps a hard disk or large SSD, would help a lot.

Since I spent a lot of time searching online, and also sent messages to Atopnuc tech support (not answered so far) I would give the machine 4 stars if ignoring the tech support shortfall and the lack of flexibility of the device itself. If I include those factors, this device would get only 2 stars, mainly because performance is just fair, and the box gets warm even after limited use. You *really* want to mount this (with the included plate) vertically somewhere that has good airflow.

I'll be posting this same review on Amazon, where I purchased the device, by the way. It seems fairly popular there, so folks need to know the limits.

At the top I said I'd provide a step-by-step guide to get the latest Ubuntu version. For this, you only need to be able to boot the device into the installed copy of Ubuntu. That takes about a minute. Log in with your username and password (the Atopnuc default is username: "ubuntu" and password: "123456". The VERY first thing you should do is change that password - it's a big security risk. If possible, do this *before* you setup your WiFi connection.

This following may require a few re-boots. I'll show a command to do that but if something goes wrong just press and hold the power button for about 10 seconds to force the machine to stop. Then press it again to restart.

Start by opening a "terminal". To do this, press the "Super" key on your keyboard (sometimes called the Windows key. This key is usually on the left side of the spacebar, or near there. Your keyboard may vary slightly).

OK, with the terminal open, type the following (I will exaggerate the use of spaces to clearly separate each command from their parameters. Type carefully. Linux is CaSe SeNsITiVe. So, an upper case letter is different from a lower case letter. Copy the text carefully.

To start, type:
sudo -i
to get special privileges. That's a lower-case i. It will ask for your password again. It's the same one you used to log into the machine. DO NOT USE THIS COMMAND FOR GENERAL PURPOSE COMPUTING: you can break the software installation (and a USB key repair is not possible). Next type the following commands, one by one, and wait for each one to finish before typing the next one:

apt clean
apt update -m
dpkg --configure -a
apt install -f
apt dist-upgrade
apt autoremove --purge

When you run the "apt update" command, if you get a message on the last line that somethings are not updated, or there were errors, try entering that command, followed by apt install -f and then dpkg --configure -a (that's two dashes before configure, and one before a) to try to fix it. In my case, it took 3 tries eventually. Easy.

Reboot the machine. You can do this from the terminal by typing:

reboot now

After reboot, open a terminal again, use "sudo -i " to become the root user, and type:

do-release-upgrade -d -f DistUpgradeViewGtk3

Reboot again and your should now be running Ubuntu 22.04. I hope this helps somebody.

Seams like a good value but what is the type of the audio plug (TRS/TRRS?)

Was skeptical but decided to try the AMD based Mini PC and see what it could do. Not only is it fast performing and a clean package, but every app I needed was available just like on a large machine. Linux performance is exceptional and it is a superior device to the Raspberry Pi at less than 1/2 the price.

I would suggest every student except gamers pick one of these up. They will learn how open systems are amazing and have a great user experience as well.