This Sub-$300 Mini PC Is Also A NAS Box And 2.5GbE Router Rolled Into One
Have you ever looked at your home server/network/storage setup and wished for something efficient, less cluttered, and less fussy? Well, Aoostar's R1 might be your ticket to minimalistic freedom. While similar products exist (mostly in China), they either sport older AMD CPUs or later 15 watt Ryzen 5 or 7 chipsets. While not remotely a speedster, the 12th generation 6 watt Intel Alder Lake N100 used in the R1 is way more efficient, especially if you're planning on running this 24/7. Did we already say that it's cheap as well?
The N100 is a quad-core processor with a max peak frequency of 3.4 GHz with no Intel Performance cores. It's popular choice for mini-PC makers as it's low-cost while offering decent power to ensure that using Windows 11 isn't a slog. There's a single DDR4-3200MHz RAM (up to 32GB) plus a M.2 NVME SSD slot to keep things humming along.
Of course, the headliner here is the built-in double-bay NAS that supports 2.5- and 3.5-inch SATA drives (up to 40TB capacity). Removing the cover on top gives you easy access to the bays, while two internal cooling fans keeps all the internal bits happy.
Furthermore, the Aoostar R1 also boasts two 2.5 Gb Ethernet ports for those who want to use this as a router or home server. The mini-PC also has a decent amount of connectivity options, namely Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 support, two USB 3.2 Gen 2, two USB 2.0, one USB Type-C ports, one 3.5mm headphone port, and a DisplayPort 1.4 out.
The base model (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Windows 11 Pro) is available now on Amazon. Usually it goes for $320, but is currently $50 off for a limited time. There's a more powerful Ryzen 5 5500U version as well, called the Aoostar N1 Pro.
