Can someone suggest a mini pc please?

[VinnyV84]

Hey all, I purchased a GMKtek mini PC to mount on the scope. It’s given me nothing but problems for the last 3 weeks I had it. Whenever I try and use RDP to remote control it while using Sharpcap (or even FireCapture) the second a star comes into view on my cameras chip the system crashes.

If someone can suggest a mini pc I can mount on my scope that’s powerful enough to do both planetary imaging and EAA I would appreciate. I have up to $600 to spend. Thanks again for any help

[MarkJob]

Vinny,

Have looked at the MeLe minipcs?

Like: https://www.mele.cn/product/132-en.html

Clear skies,

Mark

[EduardoG]

Hi, I bought a used HP EliteDesk 800 G5 TINY Intel I5-9500T, 32GB, 512GB SSD for $350 last December. It works well and doesn't come bundled with non-US-made spyware/malware.
Eduardo

[jhart]

I agree on the Mele. There is a new Mele4 available.

[MarkJob]

OH WoW! MeLe 4, I need to check it out. Sometimes just a little more of everything make everything better. Thanks @jhart

[Ivo Oto Hermes]

hi all,
just for the record,
I use a Beelink Mini-PC,
well-build piece of hardware,
does what needs to be done

Ivo

[admin]

Hi,

The Beelink ones tend to be pretty good, but there are two things that I know of to watch out for

1) The power supply that they come with may be under-powered for the potential power draw of the PC. We have had a number of reports of people who had issues with their Beelink PC shutting down or rebooting without warning when using some of the more power hungry features of SharpCap (live stacking, etc). It seems that under heavy load, the PC draws more current than the PSU can supply and the voltage drops to the point where the PC crashes or reboots. The fix every time has been to use a higher rated power supply.

2) The pre-installed SSDs tend to be at the lower end of the spectrum in terms of performance. They can write fast enough, providing that you don't write a *lot* of data (more than about 10% of the SSD capacity) in a short period. If you do go beyond that threshold then they slow down considerably. This is not going to affect deep sky or planetary imaging, but if you are doing a lot of high resolution solar or lunar videos, it might be an issue.

cheers,

Robin

[Gfischer]

I use the mele cyber x1. No fan and same specs as the 4. I’ve had no problems with it. I live near Phoenix and even on 100 deg nights the core never gets within 20c deg of throttle temp. Unfortunately these units are getting really pricey.