Intel NUC Kit NUC6i3SYH BOXNUC6I3SYH Silver/Black

I got this for a small but usable desktop alternative for running Linux. So far I am extremely pleased. It has worked flawlessly for several days now. I was looking for a way to get away from Windows, as I do not like what MS has been doing with Windows 8 and 10. I got this box, two 4gb memory sticks, and an internal 250db SSD drive. You will need both of these to put together a running system. Next I needed an OS. I didn't want to run Windows so I decided to give Linux Mint a try. Yeah, that was a good choice. Mint with the Cinnamon desktop is very user friendly and a perfect option for this little powerhouse of a computer. And it feels very much like Windows in a lot of ways. Better in some ways. It boots very fast and operates crisply. I've had absolutely no problems playing videos, streaming vids, playing games. Had half life 2 on Steam so I installed it to see how it would run on this fan-less computer. Runs very well; no stuttering, slowdowns of any kind. So many apps in the Linux Mint app repository that I've had little problems finding the same or alternative apps for my Windows tools With this speedy little computer I am quickly moving away from Windows. This computer is 2.3 ghtz and is very peppy. Boots Mint to a logon screen in 8 to 10 seconds (depending on startup apps). Monitoring the CPU temperatures (it is fanless, so I was curious), the CPUs don't get very hot. Normally runs general operation tasks at around 36C. Heavy activity sometimes pushes it to nearly 40C. Not very hot at all. I'm really impressed with that. I admit I have been very pleasantly surprised with this little box. Takes up so little space and comes with a bracket to attach it to the back of a TV or any other desk-wall, etc. Does not come with monitor, mouse, speakers, or keyboard. You have to find those yourself.[Update:6/1/17] - Seems like the built in wireless is problematic. Using it my connection would drop a lot. I plugged in a USB wireless nic and the problem seemed to go away. Don't know if that is a driver problem or a hardware problem. But for what it is worth. I still think it is a great little box. Though I noticed the price has gone up quite a bit since I purchased it. So the value is a little more in question.[Update:2/2018]After a time I noticed a slight glitch that Intel apparently knows about. Something with the video causes the display to go off for a second at random times. Sometimes it rarely happens and sometimes it is almost chronic. Have a second nuc of different model and it does it too. Running Linusx on both, so I don't know if windows will have a problem. Comes back on a second later. Tried two monitors, and problem occurs on both. Not big enough of a problem to get rid of it, but can get annoying at times. Mobitor acts as if the signal disappears. Can go long periods and but occur. Known problem at Intel. But Intel doesn't seem to be in a hurry to fix it. Knowing Intel it may be a bug in hardware, so it would be fixed 'down the road'.

Get NUC'd with this powerhouse: Anything better at this level or performance, on the current market, will cost you 3-fold. If you've finally had it with OS-locked systems, build your own without an OS: That's what these are made for! And Intel is the only recommendation I'd give for a small form factor PC. In addition to its online support community, Intel has pretty good live customer service too: I called and they quickly solved my minor situation (concern over an F-7 BIOS update, which updates before OS launches; a recommended method). When I bought this NUC I also ordered the Kingston HyperX 16GB RAM and the highly praised M.2 SSD: the 128GB version of the Transcend M.2 Solid State Drive all at the same time, but Intel makes SSD's (fyi). The speed is well beyond what I've needed or tested so far, so I cannot say how well it performs under extreme demands such as high-end gaming, for which I'd recommend the Intel NUC Mini PC kit NUC6i7KYK Core i7. The only thing that might slow down any NUC would be a thick and intrusive OS such as Win-10.A Logitech Wireless Keyboard/Mouse Combo has one BT dongle, which I'd suggest, as it keeps your other USB ports open (oh, and Yellow USB ports mean "always-on" for charging when unit is off). A Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920, Widescreen Video Calling and Recording, 1080p Camera, Desktop Webcam completes the NUC. I pulled the large-capacity HDD from an old PC (that got recycled), and so I tether that (now reformatted) HDD to the NUC w/a Star Tech USB 3.0 to 2.5" SATA III Hard Drive Adapter Cable, (a cheap handy tool to own: See review at: www.amazon.com/review/R2UM3OP3VF352). It now sets behind the NUC holding a few decades worth of older data. The M.2 SSD has its own plug-in port (similar to RAM ports), and additionally, it has a 2.5" SSD that mounts internally with its own cable, and so you can run the OS from a smaller-sized M.2 SSD, and then have a large-capacity 2.5" SSD for personal content: That's right, 2 internal hard drive options: Sweet! I'm only using the M.2 internally; this keeps the unit cooler internally with the unused extra space and extra heat source. Any mechanical drives should be run external, via the USB-to-SATA adapter. Indeed, all personal content should be on a drive that does not have the OS on it, partitioned or otherwise.You can find instruction (U-Tube) videos for just about anything! I plugged this kit all together upon arrival, loaded up a Linux 64-bit distro, and everything worked (drivers, etc), but always have any PC (Ethernet Cable CAT7) connected when installing any OS. Then I searched for BIOS Update (for this model), followed the F-7 instructions and the BIOS updated via USB; everything's at the Intel website: Then I ran an update on the Linux OS (a must do for any OS install to insure correct current drivers for your system)! Complete system built in less than 2 hours, and the first time I've built a system like this. I'm on it now, viewing via 2 Sceptre 50 Inch 1080p LED HDTV X505BV-FSR, side-by-side split screen, tethered by the 2 HDMI outputs. If you cannot (yet) live without Windows 10, it's here. You might as well get adjusted to Open Source (FOSS), because that's the future; heck, it's the now! The supercomputers and servers that you're currently seeing all this on right now? Linux-based! Wiki it!UPDATE Aug/16: Totally loving this NUC. I recently switched to Linux Mint 18 Cinnamon. It also rocks on this unit. And I like the automatic updates feature of Mint 18. Learning Linux has been educational and fun; I like the idea of being able to switch the OS; if I just don't like it, or if it is not working properly. No more fighting! In fact, these units and others like them, are what we, who only use Open Source (Linux OS), need and buy for PC's. Rather than modifying an existing PC, this offers a clean system to build from scratch. Visit the wiki titled "Next Unit of Computing" and blog "Old Dog New Tech Tricks".UPDATE: Aug/17: Still cranking full speed. Zero slow downs (running Linux Mint 18.2 Sonya Mate). IMPORTANT: I've never had any other OS branded or baked into this device, but Linux since day-one, and I believe this is partly why. I would not recommend ever putting any Windows OS on your hard drive or motherboard at all. Get a fresh system like this one, and fresh install any Linux Distro, only. There's something altered, or something left behind, on a hard drive and/or motherboard, after any MS OS is baked in, which never goes away; all problems that seem to occur with these (or other branded) PC's or laptops, is that they've all had a MS OS installed previously or concurrently.UPDATE June/18: Zero problems, super fast; just updated to L-Mint 19. Awesome! UPDATE: July/19 = Same-same! (No more updates from here on).