Customer Ratings & Reviews

This mini-PC is powerful on a small package with some limitations. The intention of this pc is most likely office pc/home pc for light office tasks, browsing and YouTube streaming. It is NOT a portable gaming machine. However, you should be able to play old games if you like some retro gaming. But not the latest and greatest. The computer comes with an Intel Core 3 304, 5-core microprocessor that comes with integrated Intel graphics GPU (graphics processor) and NPU (for artificial intelligence tasks). The pc is responsive in Windows 11 even though the Core 3 is an entry level processor. Being that it has an Intel microprocessor with integrated graphics, it would be great for a Plex or Jellyfin server since it has Intel Quick sync for hardware transcoding. Storage for your movies and tv series may need to be stored in a NAS or external hard drive. The pc does not include keyboard, mouse or monitor you need to buy separately (I attached some pictures of what was included in the box). Regarding ports it comes with the following: (1) Headphone/microphone jack (1) USB C capable of 10Gbps (2) USB A capable of 10Gbps (2) USB C capable of 10Gbps and Display port support (1) HDMI 2.0b (Note: With this HDMI and 2 USB C ports that support display port you should be able to connect 3 monitors. But you need (2) additional USB C to HDMI adapters not included) (1) RJ-45 connector for Ethernet 10/100/1000 Mbps (1) USB C below the pc for Power Only (Having USB C connector for power is the right step in the right direction. The old days of having a proprietary connector for power it needs to be a thing of the past and stay in the past) Regarding memory it comes with 8GB of DDR5 ram and built in 128 GB of storage. I believe this is the weakest point of this mini-PC. I am not sure if the 8GB is upgradable or even if the 128 GB of storage is upgradable probably not. It is my understanding that those components are soldered to the board with no slots for upgrading, do your own research if this affects you. Currently 8GB of ram and 128 GB of storage is not enough these days. From the 128 GB storage Windows 11 takes half of it. I recommend a minimum of 16 GB of RAM and at least 512 GB of storage. Regarding Ram, if the ram is soldered to the motherboard there is no work around for this. But regarding storage, what I recommend is to leave the internal 128GB for operating system and buy an external USB C SSD and install any additional program or data on the external SSD, that’s the safe way. The more complex way is if a second M.2 slot is available buy a NVMe SSD (for this the PC needs to be opened and like I said I am not sure if a second M.2 slot is included and available). Also, I want you to be aware that if the internal storage and ram are all soldered to the motherboard and if any of those components fail it is not going to be an easy fix. For connectivity the computer comes with 10/100/1000 Mbps ethernet and Wi-Fi 6. I ran a speed test, and the upload was half of my download for some reason. I have a 2.5Gbps down, 1 Gbps upload via fiber Internet. On speed test I got 824Mbps down (great) and 447mbps up (could be better) using WIFI. In my testing I was about 6 feet away from the router. One thing to note is that I was not getting these speeds at first, it was a lot slower. But after running all the windows updates and driver updates it improved to those speeds. Bluetooth is included so you should be able to use Bluetooth speakers, mouse, keyboards etc. This mini pc has a built-in speaker that sounds clear for a built-in speaker. For me it sounded a lot better than some laptops in my opinion. Also, it comes with built in microphone which is good for teams and zoom meetings and if you need help with something you can always say “Hey Copilot” and ask the AI assistant whatever you like. But you need to allow copilot to use the built-in microphone for this feature. If streaming is part of your daily life. YouTube streaming runs very smoothly even at 4k content I didn’t experience any problems. The computer came with HP TV+, which is a free (by using ads) streaming service like Pluto TV. You can also download all the streaming apps that are in the Microsoft app store if you like. Final thoughts, this pc like I said above is excellent for office tasks like word processing, email, YouTube, Internet, etc. However, there is the issue of storage and ram. Everyone use computers in different ways is up to you to decide if these factors affect you. For that reason, I subtracted one star. But I love the idea that the pc is small, lightweight, and fast. Another thing I noticed is that the computer is not loud at all, even in the CPU stress test I was able to hear the fan, but it was not loud as other fans I have heard on other PCs in this category. I also added pictures of CPU benchmark using CPU z and Storage benchmark using CrystalDisk Mark in case you are interested in those. Will I recommend this computer, YES absolutely but the person needs to be aware of the ram and storage limitations and execute your best judgment.

I constructed my first home theater setup 13 years ago, sparing no expense for any component I could find (even a digital high-definition VCR player). The PC component for the setup was a full-fledged Windows 7 computer in a beautiful Antec Overture black media case. However, with the exponential increase in audio-video streaming over the years through boxes like Roku and directly to smart TVs, my equipment lineup has changed drastically. The need for a home theater personal computer (HTPC) was greatly reduced, and I began using mini computers to save space and generate less heat and noise. These small HTPCs, from Chromeboxes to Windows computers, have served me well, but they sometimes needed to be replaced when the RAM became insufficient and could be upgraded, or an older Windows system did not qualify for a Windows 11 upgrade, which was the situation with my basement home theater (yes, I have two HTs, one upstairs and one in the basement). Knowing exactly what I needed and wanted, I jumped at the chance to replace my old HTPC with the Intel Core 3 HP Omnidesk. It is small, whisper-quiet, and perfectly sufficient in processing speed and power, RAM, and storage. Granted, the 128 GB UFS storage will not hold much more than the operating system, so if you want a PC that can store a lot of media directly on the hard drive, the Omnidesk will not do. I keep my media on a separate server, so this is not an issue for me. You could, of course, expand the storage on the Omnidesk by connecting a USB hard drive. Another issue to watch is configuring the Omnidesk for multichannel sound. It does not have an optical audio out port, so you have to depend on an HDMI connection to your full surround receiver to get surround sound and special effects such as Dolby Atmos. You also have to make sure that the setting on any media players you might be using are set to passthrough, sending raw audio data to your receiver and that Windows sound settings match the number of speaker channels in your setup. If you have a 4K HDTV and 4K video pass-through on your receiver, you are all set because the Intel Core 3 304 processor in the Omnidesk handles 4K decoding easily. I discovered one unexpected bonus after setting up and using the Omnidesk: a preinstalled app called HP TV+ that streams a variety of free, ad-supported content. A nice extra for my home theater. My review has focused on using the Omnidesk as an HTPC, and for a good reason. I do not think it would make a great all-purpose Windows PC. For about the same price, you can get a full laptop with comparable or even better components. But if you are looking for a small, unobtrusive Windows computer for a home theater system, this one is just about perfect.