MINISFORUM Mini PC UN1290 Intel Core i9-12900HK 14 Cores/20
MINISFORUM Mini PC UN1290 Intel Core i9-12900HK 14 Cores/20 Threads,up to 5.0GHz 32GB RAM 1TB PCIe4.0 SSD,2.5 G RJ45 LAN Mini Computer,HDMI/USB-C/DP1.4,5X USB Ports, WiFi 6&BT5.2
From the brand
Powerful AMD Mini PC
| Weight: | 1.6 kg |
| Dimensions: | 12.7 x 12.7 x 5.4 cm; 1.6 kg |
| Brand: | MINISFORUM |
| Model: | UN1290 |
| Colour: | Black |
| Manufacture: | Micro Computer (HK) Tech Limited |
| Dimensions: | 12.7 x 12.7 x 5.4 cm; 1.6 kg |
Great powerful little box
This tiny box was surprisingly powerful and silent. It easily exceeded most of my processing requirements (statistical analysis). But the tiny letdown is that you can’t upgrade the Windows Home 11 to Windows Pro 11. The operating system seems locked in the to box MAC address and even a commercial Windows 11 Pro licence doesn’t work for upgrading.
It’s a bit of bummer as I wanted to use Windows Remote Desktop which isn’t available on Windows Home 11
Very fast, small but slightly noisy mini desktop compute
The good: Do not be put off by its small size. The UN1290 is by far the fatest computer I have owned. I am a business user running Microsoft 365 and Adobe Apps all day long. I am delighted by its performance for these core tasks. My Dragonfly red USB DAC seamlessly manages the audio. The intrenalo wireless is such an upgrade on my old desktop: 180 mbps then; 300mbps now. Build is solid if not Apple quality.
Even better ifs: for context, I spend 1,000 on my last mini pc to get a silent desktop. The UN1290 is never silent. I can always hear the fan – epecially on start up, or in process intensive tasks. But the fan is not loud. Just audible. I am getting use to it – a bit like moving from the silent countryside to a house by a road.
Conclusion: I am delighted with the size, speed and responsivness of the UN1290. I am learning to live with the quiet hum – hence the 4 star review rather than 5
I use this product to do complicated data analysis in Python as well as general online usage. When running code associated with radio telescope results on my previous laptop (a core i3 single core), it would take about 5 minutes to produce a result from an overnight reading. On this machine it takes 30 seconds. The bootup is instant too. Even after downgrading to Windows 10 (necessary for the projects I do), bootup is instant.
Fairly easy to set up, I have a Wi-Fi keyboard, so needed to insert the dongle into a USB port to proceed with setup first. You will probably need to go through windows 11 updates as part of setup. Pleased with the mini PC, very quick and quiet.