GET A WINDOWS 10 PRO PC FOR UNDER £300!

This small black slab resembless an Apple Mac mini, but resides at ththe he other end of the price spectrum. m m.

It’s remarkable that you can get t a complete Windows PC for under 300 quid, and just to show off they’ve included Windows 10 Pro, with its security and remote-access additions.

Of course, corners have been n cut, and not just off the rounded ed d edges of the case. The Intel Pentium tium Silver J5005 chip had us muttering ‘Pentium? I haven’t heard that name in years,’ and sure enough its test results rose to only about half the level we considered average when we created our current benchmark tests five years ago. That’s still enough for most everyday jobs, even some light photo editing, but the inclusion of just 4GB of memory is an extra limitation that held back the multitasking rating by a further 50 per cent.

Space-saving option for Windows 10 Pro, and for the price copes well with everyday tasks

The good news is you can fix that, because the case is easy to access with a screwdriver and you can add another standard RAM module. Similarly, the only storage included is 64GB of EMMC, essentially a built-in USB stick, which may be solid state but is nowhere near as fast as a proper SSD. But you could add one of your choice to the easily accessible M.2 socket.

Wi-fi and Bluetooth are already built in, and a practical set of ports includes three USB 3.0 sockets, a USB-C that can also connect a monitor, HDMI supporting 4K at a steady 60Hz, and Mini Displayport, allowing you to connect up to three screens. A VESA dock is provided if you want to mount the PC on the back of a monitor.

That could help to block the sound of the internal fan. Unlike some mini PCS, the J50-C doesn’t claim to be silent. If you need something quieter, Minix’s Neo G41V-4 (£255 from Amazon www. snipca.com/33875) has a slightly different case with a perforated top that allows Intel’s Celeron N4100 – an even slower processor – to scrape by without active cooling. Equipped with the same 64GB of storage, it adds a microsd card slot and a flap to access the M.2 socket for SSD installation, but otherwise lacks the J50C-4’S upgradability; even the paltry 4GB of memory is soldered in, so you can’t change it. It’s only the better choice if hearing pins drop is more important to you than having more than the bare minimum performance for basic Windows 10 tasks.

SPECIFICATIONS

1.5GHZ Intel Pentium Silver J5005 quad-core processor • 4GB memory • 64GB flash storage • 3x USB 3.0 ports • USB-C port • 802.11ac Wi-fi • Bluetooth 4.1 • Gigabit Ethernet • HDMI and Mini Displayport outputs • Windows 10 Pro • 30x139x139mm (HXWXD) • 1.4kg • One-year warranty www.snipca.com/33871