GMKtecMini PC, G5 Micro Desktop Computer, 12th Gen Intel Alder Lake N97 (up to 3.60GHz) 12GB DDR5 256GB Hard Drive for Business, School, Office Sky Blue

[My original "DOA" review is shown below.]After posting the DOA review, I was contacted by GMKtec asking if they could send me another unit. I appreciated their persistence, so I agreed to receive a replacement, and update my review, on the condition that if I received another bad unit the review would stand. I was travelling, so they sent the replacement to my 2nd address.Shown are the pics I took as I unpackaged and hooked up the unit. Very straightforward. Plug in the power, the monitor, keyboard & mouse. Then, just follow the instructions on the screen. This time, everything went smoothly, and after about 10 minutes of all the usual install stuff, Windows 11 Pro was installed and ready to go.What impressed me most about the GMKtec Nucbox G5 N97 is how small it is. I have many PC's of all varieties networked for various applications, and was looking for something more powerful than a barebones Mini-PC, yet small and unobtrusive. This unit is perfect. You can see by the pic how small it is.The next thing that impressed me is the power that is packed into this small package. The N97 processor has a base CPU frequency of 2.0Ghz, up to a burst speed of 3.6Ghz. Along with the 6MB of onboard L3 cache, this CPU is 50% faster than comparable units from other Mini-PC brands in the same price range offering Celeron based CPUs.12GB of DDR5 RAM is also an upgrade from the usual 8GB of DDR4 RAM typically found in this price range. The extra 4GB can make a huge difference if you are looking to install SQL Server, or develop Visual Studio applications.I can't speak to how it performs for gaming applications, but for database, Excel and sophisticated data analysis applications, this unit performs at a level previously only found in computers costing $800 or more.Another plus is the 256GB SSD drive. Many low end Mini-PCs are only offering 128GB of SSD.There are, however, a few downsides that you should be aware of:1. The unit (to the best of my knowledge) can only be upgraded to 16GB of single channel RAM. This is a limitation of the N97 CPU architecture, not something artificially imposed by GMKtec.2. The M.2 SATA SSD drive is slow compared to PCle SSD drives. Although the N97 has support for PCle drives, GMKtec chose to install a SATA SSD drive. I would venture to say, however, that in all but the most demanding disk oriented applications you would never even notice the speed difference. This SATA SSD drive is certainly faster and better than any physical hard drive. If you are so inclined, you can upgrade to a 2TB PCle drive.3. The number of interface plugs is limited. The N97 can support up to three Monitors, yet there are only two HDMI ports (two 4K displays are more than enough for my needs.) The USB Type-C interface is used as the power source, so there are only 3 standard USB 3.0 ports. This should be OK for most applications, but it would have been preferable to have a traditional power plug, and free up the Type-C interface for data transfer devices.4. IMO, the Micro-SD card slot is useless, and GMKtec would be much better served replacing it with a Type-C interface. If someone wants extra storage, they could just plug in a Type-C thumb drive. The extra Type-C interface could also be used for other purposes, such as connecting a 3rd display. Again, just my opinion.5. Finally, the "What's in the Box" list states there is an HDMI cable included. There was none in the box I received, but I have so many HDMI cables laying around this wasn't an issue.I sincerely believe that GMKtec is attempting to become a major player in the Mini-PC marketplace, and went above and beyond in there follow-up and assistance in correcting my original issue. They certainly aren't making a ton of money selling this kind of power for only $150, and it is rare to experience this level of customer service. As someone who has been in the industry since 1968, I can unconditionally recommend GMKtec.What follows is my original review:Was looking for a low-end Mini-PC for a specialized app. This GMKtec G5 seemed TGTBT, so I gave it a go. It arrived on-time, and the packaging was first class. I was really looking forward to seeing how a computer this small - and inexpensive - would really work...And, that's the issue. It didn't.I've installed Mini-PC's before, and the setup is pretty simple. Plug in the monitor, a keyboard/mouse USB and in my case a direct Ethernet cable. Then, plug in the power and turn it on.Their splash screen/logo appeared, and then the Win-11 Pro setup started. I answered a few questions, and then it said it was going to check for updates. After a few seconds the screen went black. I waited 10 minutes before rebooting the unit. The Win-11 setup started again, and this time the BSOD appeared saying there was an issue with the install. I selected the option to Restart. Same thing. This time I selected "Advanced Repair Options". A screen came up, but I couldn't tell what was on it. The screen started to flicker, pixelate, and then went black.From that point on the unit was completely dead. You could see the power light, but the monitor was reporting no-signal, and the Ethernet port was not active.Contacted Amazon support, and to their credit they issued a no-questions-asked refund.Although I probably just received the odd defective unit, I'm going to stick with MinisForum & BeeLink which are brands I've had success with.

Bought this to use as an x86 alternative to a Raspberry Pi (mostly for Linux). So far been very impressed...Pros:* Decent value and specs - most Intel N-series computers at this price seem to be hampered by low memory (4Gb), DDR4 instead of DDR5, limited storage (32-64Gb of eMMC), or any combination of the above. With 12Gb ram and a 256Gb SSD (upgradable) it allows the N95 to shine without being hobbled. It's never going to be a power-house, but it's been more than capable when compiling packages, playing videos off the web or doing simple image editing in GIMP.* Nice internal build quality - Looking inside the unit, I was impressed buy the layout. It takes 4 screws to remove the base, allowing easy access to the storage and WiFi/Bluetooth modules should you ever need to upgrade them.* Very quiet - I set the Bios to maximize the performance; even so the fan rarely kicks in and when it does it's surprisingly quiet.* OS support - It's very encouraging to see the default OS is Windows 11 Pro and not Home (or heaven help us, S-Mode). I myself didn't keep Windows for long, but didn't encounter any issues with hardware working in Linux (Arch). If you are keeping Windows, this should be a huge benefit.Cons:* Plastics - There is nothing wrong with the design or build quality, but materials used in the case feel a little chintzy. That said, the internals (which are what really matter) seem very well made and considering the price-point, I would consider this a fair compromise.* Windows updates - Not a GMKTec issue but more of a Microsoft issue, the 24h2 update (along with the other pending updates) made the initial performance sluggish. I've seen Windows updates bring more powerful computers to their knees, so you can't blame the G5, but wanted to mention it for those who encounter the issue after first startup. For me, this was moot since I nuked Windows in favor of Linux shortly afterward anyways....I happened to show the computer to some of my co-workers and they all seemed impressed; some even expressed interest in buying one for themselves (either for the same use-cases as mine, as a kid's PC, something for the living room or otherwise). If you're in the market for an inexpensive but capable little PC I would definitely recommend this.