Full Circle Magazine FR

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**I compared prices and ordered this mini PC for around $100 (USD), plus a few dollars tax. Please keep in mind this was the late 2023 price, and as such is subject to change.

This is a mini PC and it is fairly small (roughly 5”x4.5”x2”). It has the AMD Excavator CPU with Radeon R5 GPU integrated, 8GB of RAM and 1238GB SSD storage. It also has a very modest power consumption of 12 volts. 

The model I ordered came preinstalled with Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS, but the  same mini PC can be purchased preinstalled with Microsoft Windows 10 Pro. So you have options.

Upon delivery, I immediately upgraded to Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS, and patched up-to-date.

In this review I will be discussing how it worked for the use cases for entry level, mid-level, and small business computers.**

**For entry level use:
For general entry level users, I would expect activities like basic documents, spreadsheets, some common web browser use, browser based streaming video, e-mail, and maybe instant messaging. I threw in an eBook reader application just for good measure (and my personal enjoyment). I also installed Rhythmbox to play some music and listen to a couple podcasts. In my use of these applications, I find this mini PC does a very good job. It is more than powerful enough in my use of these applications. Even with most of them up at the same time.

For Mid-level and Small Business Use:

As with any business, improved security may be needed. So, I have tested what I perceive as the two most common secure messaging applications, Telegram and Signal, both of which worked flawlessly. I also installed Nord VPN for further improved security, it worked exactly as expected. For e-mail and calendar use, I employed Thunderbird mail and linked it to an Outlook account. All the e-mail and calendar collaboration features worked as expected. Multiple displays may be needed in a small business and this computer comes with dual HDMI ports that provide a very respectable resolution with the built in Radeon R5 GPU.

In the testing I did the AMD Excavator CPU with the integrated Radeon R5 GPU was very pleasantly surprised at its all around performance with good video and audio .**

**Other Considerations:

Due to its diminutive size this mini PC comes with no speakers, as most full size PCs don’t. So you will need to plug in an external speaker or use a stereo headset for audio output. I found the audio output to be good. But if you are an audiophile, whose ears are far more discerning than mine;  you may want to look at a USB sound card device to get you to the kind of clarity and quality you enjoy.

If you are a competitive, multi-player, high frame rate gamer; this might not be the PC for you. As a low cost and low power consumption mini PC, with a price tag this low, it may be unreasonable to expect this PC to meet a high end competitive gamer needs. For less demanding stand alone or single player games it tested with, I found it surprisingly good and enjoyed playing on it.

If you feel this WO-WE is a little too lightweight for your needs; they do make a model powered by the AMD Ryzen 7 CPU, but at a higher price (like 250% higher).**

**Possible Additional Use Cases (untested):

As a general use media PC, this mini PC should meet these needs as well. With the dual HDMI ports supporting multiple monitors or a monitor and a TV. With a set of speakers it would probably do a respectable job. I just didn’t have the time to test this myself.

Used as an amateur radio operator’s “shack” computer. As a technician class licensed radio operator, this is where I will be going with my testing next. 

In Summary:

I am very pleased with this mini PC, and feel my money was well spent. It outperforms the cost nicely. A very good value. 

Software/Applications Tested Thus Far:**

**Nord VPN:
NordVPN, as usual, was the first thing I installed. Installation was smooth. I configured it to auto-start (init.d). It has auto-started and has run flawlessly. Because I’m a paranoid old IT guy, I check it occasionally via a terminal session (nordvpn status command).

Firefox (browser):
Second installation was the Firefox browser. Configured as securely as I can tolerate it. Installed a few notable extensions/add-ons like Ghostery and EFF’s Privacy Badger, set the home to be startpage. The browser has run well. I tested several web sites and even played a movie on Amazon prime. The only issue I’ve had is the slow first load after a reboot, but that is normal and expected. I’m just impatient.

ClamAV/ClamTK (anti-virus):
Install was smooth and it runs fine. Setup auto scans and check it occasionally with a manual scan

Thunderbird Mail (email client):
Install was smooth, connected with an existing Hotmail/Outlook account (yes, I’m that old). It is working well. E-mail and calendar collaboration features all work for me. So, totally as expected.**

**Telegram (secure messaging app):
Install was smooth. It has worked as expected and has had zero errors.

Signal (secure messaging app):
Install was smooth. It has worked as expected and has had zero errors.

Foliate (eBook reader):
Install was smooth. Since it is the first time I have used this app, the interface took me a few minutes to get used to and get books added to it.  I downloaded several books from The Gutenberg Project (a great source for free eBooks for you reading junkies) and tested it out. Being light sensitive I’m enjoying the dark mode. I like it and it has worked great.**

**LibreOffice:
LibreOffice was preinstalled with Ubuntu, so you don’t get much easier than that. I have used 	the writer and calc spreadsheets apps. They have behaved exactly as expected.

Rhythmbox Player:
An old favorite of mine. It was installed smoothly. Plays all my locally stored music just fine. My regular podcasts were easily found and played as expected. My only issue was remembering how to get it to play SomaFM streams, but I got it working (it was pretty obvious on their web site).

Games:
The preinstalled games such as Mahjongg, Mines, and Solitaire, all played the same as ever. I also installed and played Open Arena in single user mode and it worked very well. No issues other than losing more time than I intended to playing them. Or is that just me?


What Came in the Box:

1). The WO-We Mini PC
2). The Power Supply
3). The User Manual**