Windows 11 Pro Mini PC,12GB DDR4 256GB M.2 SSD Intel Celeron

This was a replacement for an old 32bit tower. Which is now running Linux for a new owner.

I hoped that i could remove the windows 11 drive and replace it with another SSD as I dislike windows and have for many years.

The window drive appears to be hard wired though

I could have wiped the drive and installed my preferred OS, but there was no need to do that, not yet anyway.

I was able to add another SSD in the caddy underneath the pc and operate a dual boot system. I will never use windows, but it remains for now just in case something goes wrong and I have to return the system.

I added a wireless keyboard and a wireless mouse which both operate from a single usb device. So I still have 3 vacant USB slots, 1 USB 2 and 2 USB 3 slots.

It works fine and was easy to set up once I found out that you needed to press the delete key on boot up, to get into the bios to force it to start up via the USB key with my os of choice on it and install said os to the additional drive.

So far very happy with the device. The cost was reasonable to

Has all the power and speed of a larger tower.
Quick to boot and ready to go in seconds.
Cannot fault it in any way other than it could do with an extra usb port, but that’s just my preference.

Got it with a 70 amazon voucher discount, so 165 final price, for the price you get a little powerful machine that runs windows 11 and office with no issue, I have set it up as streaming server, will add a 2tb drive and install proxmox on it to play a bit with virtual machine and containers, pretty good gadget that can provide hours of fun setting it up for various things. can be used as workstation with no issues.

Bought this to replaced a “Renewed” product I’d purchased, which was very poor.
This little PC was a breath of fresh air. Worked straight out of the box.
Only used for light home office work and basic surfing/shopping etc, but it does this with ease.
I haven’t and I’m unlikely to test its full abilities, which I know are greater than my use, but for what I need, it’s perfect.

I spent the majority of my career working with PC’s and Servers. I was thrilled at the performance of this very inexpensive computer. I connected it to my 65 in OLED TV in the den. It’s very small and quiet. I don’t do PC gaming but knowing PC’s, this would not be much of a gaming PC. However, it’s fantastic for streaming videos, email, using the internet, general office work like Word & Excel, and monitoring network cameras. I would highly recommend it for everyday use. I’m thinking of buying a 2nd one for my bedroom TV.

Prachtige mini pc. Zou voortaan niet anders willen. Niet alleen voor de ruimtebesparing maar ook omdat je geen ‘bak’ meer voor of naast je hebt staan. Er is van alles op aan te sluiten en als je niet genoeg hebt aan usb poorten kun je nog een usb hubje erbij kopen. Systeem start binnen no time op. Alles werkt razendsnel. Heb bv een fotobewerkingsprog wat op een vorige pc nogal lang duurde om op te starten. Nu staat het in no time klaar om mee te beginnen. Dus ook tijdwinst.
Echt een aanrader om te kopen.

About 10 years ago, I needed to downsize all the PC equipment in my office. I went for a bargain All-in-One from Dell. Later, I started moving to Chromebooks and then a Chromebox. I parked the Chromebox away in a cabinet and ran an hdmi cable to my favorite chair, setting up a reading station with wireless keyboard and mouse near if I needed them.
When the all-in-one became outdated, I did not hesitate to look at a mini-pc. I had proven that the android mini-pc (chromebox) met my comfort needs, but I still needed to access DVDs, video-editing, financial software while having a somewhat traditional work station.
I had most of the equipment that I needed. I added a 24″ monitor to the mini-pc, installed a DVD burner and two external drives for backups. I am pleased with the very limited space these unit requires.

This AK1 Pro mini PC comes in nicely presented packaging with instructions, a power supply, a VESA mounting plate and an HDMI lead. It is super compact but still manages to provide 2xHDMI outputs, and ethernet port, 4xUSB ports, a power in port, a 3.5mm microphone port and a Kensington lock slot. On board is an Intel Celeron (N5105) processor, 256GB of storage and 12GB of memory. It uses Intel graphics and is preloaded with Windows 11. I have been a Microsoft Windows user since way back even before Windows XP. I currently use Windows 10 and I cannot say that I am a particular fan of Windows 11 yet but I welcome the opportunity to get to know it better through this device.

The casing of this computer is reasonable quality black plastic. Mine has already attracted the odd scuff and scratch, so some care will be required to keep it in tip top condition. I would not recommend a drop onto a hard surface either. However, for the money the build quality is better than I would have expected and all of the input and output ports are well made and work well. It does warm a little during use but nothing at all to be concerned about. It barely rose above slightly warm even when working hard with multiple applications. I have a i7 desktop with 16GB of memory and obviously this computer is going to seem slower than that. It takes a bit longer to perform tasks like downloading and installing updates but I found the performance was acceptable and within my expectations. It plays music nicely. I used a Bluetooth speaker but it would also be possible to use a USB speaker or rig something up with an adapter or dock. It also works well with video and I was impressed by the quality of the image from Prime Video plugged into my TV. I have also used this computer with a recently acquired projector and with my standard 1080p desktop monitor. This monitor happens to be VESA compatible and one could mount this mini PC on the back of the monitor to create a pseudo ‘All in One’ system. I used a USB dongle to provide keyboard and mouse functions and I was quickly up and running.

Setup is pretty straight forward especially if one already has a Microsoft account. I do not find Windows 11 very intuitive and it did take be a bit of time to work out where things had been moved to. Out of curiosity I delved a bit deeper and sure enough the Device Manager interface is still there. It dates back to Windows XP at least. Still if it ain’t broke, I suppose. I am here to review the PC and so I will park any further comments about the software but just to finish by saying it will require some re-acclimatisation.

I think this is a pretty good little PC. Once it was setup and I had downloaded a few apps and all the updates it runs along quite nicely. It isn’t going to set the world alight and it will take longer to perform most tasks but then for the price I think is has excellent performance. It is fine for browsing. It will happy stream music and 4K video and it runs the Microsoft Office suite perfectly well. File opens and closes take a bit longer but once in a document or spreadsheet the performance is fine. I am not a gamer and therefore I have not explored that aspect of this PCs power. From what I know though I guess it will be fine for low demand games but will not be ideal for those games that need more power. After all there is no dedicated graphics card.

In the context of a small Windows 11 capable PC with plenty of memory and decent storage I think this ACE AK1 Pro is certainly well worth the money. I would even go as far as to say it is a bit of a bargain. It will provide enough power for most day to day computing and would be suitable for school or home working applications. It is easy to set up and has some capacity to be expanded. It takes up hardly any space and would therefore be well suited to people with limited space available. I have been running mine completely trouble free for several days now and wanted to give it a good, long test before I reviewed it. The Windows 11 platform is fairly stable now and it is easy to source and load a wide variety of applications from the store. It may also be linked to a mobile phone to provide calling and potentially wireless internet access. Therefore, this PC could be used when traveling subject to a suitable monitor. It was easy to make it work with my usual printer and I am struggling to find anything where I though – oh that doesn’t work then.

I will be using the PC as a backup up for my main unit and to further explore Windows 11 so that I can decide whether I want to upgrade my main desktop. It may well end up linked to my cloud storage and acting as a music/Roon server but for now I am happy to explore. I am very pleased I ordered it.

If you are in the market for a cheap Windows 11 desktop then this PC is well worth considering and should probably be on your short list. I am happy to give it my recommendation and I think it is a solid buy that will not let you down. If you need more power then there are plenty of other options but be prepared to shell out a fair bit more cash. If not this PC will certainly serve you well.