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The Manjaro Linux folks have teamed up with Minisforum to bring a very small but quite mighty system with the DeskMini UM700 × Manjaro Linux. Exciting? Well, it's basically rebrand of the existing EliteMini UM700 only it has Manjaro Linux instead of Windows 10 - and the first 1,000 orders get a free copy of CrossOver Linux.

Interestingly enough, this is pretty much the same box that Valve showed a pictured of them using in their developer documentation when talking about sorting a system for developing for Steam Deck without a Dev-Kit.

For a currently discounted price of $499, which they show will be $599 after, you get this:

Processor AMD Ryzen™ 7 3750H , 4 Cores/8 Threads
(Total L2 Cache 2MB , Total L3 Cache 4MB , Base Clock 2.3 GHz , up to 4.0 GHz)
GPU Radeon™ RX Vega 10 Graphics (Graphics Frequency 1400 MHz)
Memory 2×DDR4 2400MHz 8 Dual channel (SODIMM Slots×2)
Supports a maximum of 64GB(32GB x 2) of DDR4
Storage

M.2 2280 256GB/512GB PCle SSD

Up to 2TB M.2 2280 NVMe SSD

Storage Expansion

1×2.5 inch SATA HDD Slot (SATA 3.0 6.0Gb/s), maximum thickness 7mm
Wireless M.2 2230 WIFI Support (Intel® BlueTooth pre-install)

Video Output

HDMI 2.0 (4K@60Hz)

DisplayPort (4K@60Hz)

USB-C Port (4K@60Hz)

Audio Output HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort, 3.5mm Audio Jack
OS Manjaro OS Plasma Gamer Edition
Ports

1 * RJ45 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet Port

1 * USB3.0 Port×1(Gen1 , 2.0A Max output , shutdown charging , Yellow)

3 * SB3.1 Port(Gen2 , Blue)

1 * USB-C Port(Gen2)

1 * HDMI 2.0

1 * Display Port

1 * Audio Jack

1 * Clear CMOS

What's the price like though? Well, for the base model that gives 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD you're looking at a special launch price of $499. It shows the normal price would be $599, which is actually more expensive than the Windows version that comes with 16GB RAM ($569).

The version of CrossOver included is the "Linux One" package. Giving you a full license to the current version of Crossover Linux with no upgrades or help desk support. It's no longer sold by CrossOver directly, only for promotions now like this.

Does sound like a nice little machine overall. However, something else that's also strange is their branding. DeskMini is actually an ASRock thing, so Minisforum are being pretty cheeky here.

You can see it on the official site.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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21 comments
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pleasereadthemanual Jan 22, 2022
Quoting: pbSo what's so special about this box that it costs $60-70 more than the one with preinstalled Windows? I appreciate that they're trying, but I fail to see the point.
It comes with a copy of CrossOver Linux, valued at $59USD per year. I don't know whether it's a lifetime copy, annual, or some variant of their CrossOver One product.

Worth it? Maybe, especially if it's a lifetime copy, which generally goes for about $499.95USD.
pb Jan 22, 2022
Quoting: pleasereadthemanual
Quoting: pbSo what's so special about this box that it costs $60-70 more than the one with preinstalled Windows? I appreciate that they're trying, but I fail to see the point.
It comes with a copy of CrossOver Linux, valued at $59USD per year. I don't know whether it's a lifetime copy, annual, or some variant of their CrossOver One product.

Worth it? Maybe, especially if it's a lifetime copy, which generally goes for about $499.95USD.

"the first 1,000 orders get a free copy of CrossOver Linux"
pleasereadthemanual Jan 22, 2022
Quoting: pb
Quoting: pleasereadthemanual
Quoting: pbSo what's so special about this box that it costs $60-70 more than the one with preinstalled Windows? I appreciate that they're trying, but I fail to see the point.
It comes with a copy of CrossOver Linux, valued at $59USD per year. I don't know whether it's a lifetime copy, annual, or some variant of their CrossOver One product.

Worth it? Maybe, especially if it's a lifetime copy, which generally goes for about $499.95USD.

"the first 1,000 orders get a free copy of CrossOver Linux"
Fair point about only the first 1,000 orders; I doubt the price will go down after that.

As for a "free copy", what does this mean? There is no free version of CrossOver Linux. There's a 14-day free trial. There's a yearly subscription. There's a lifetime subscription. And there's the CrossOver One one-time purchase (which doesn't exist right now). So based on what version it is, that will determine the value of it. Given that they don't say "1 free year", I suppose it's meant to be lifetime or a particular version (CrossOver 21) forever.
Liam Dawe Jan 22, 2022
Quoting: pleasereadthemanualAs for a "free copy", what does this mean? There is no free version of CrossOver Linux. There's a 14-day free trial. There's a yearly subscription. There's a lifetime subscription. And there's the CrossOver One one-time purchase (which doesn't exist right now). So based on what version it is, that will determine the value of it. Given that they don't say "1 free year", I suppose it's meant to be lifetime or a particular version (CrossOver 21) forever.
They say it's Crossover Linux One, which is not listed officially by CodeWeavers. We've asked for clarification. Will update if / when we get a reply.
pleasereadthemanual Jan 22, 2022
Quoting: Liam Dawe
Quoting: pleasereadthemanualAs for a "free copy", what does this mean? There is no free version of CrossOver Linux. There's a 14-day free trial. There's a yearly subscription. There's a lifetime subscription. And there's the CrossOver One one-time purchase (which doesn't exist right now). So based on what version it is, that will determine the value of it. Given that they don't say "1 free year", I suppose it's meant to be lifetime or a particular version (CrossOver 21) forever.
They say it's Crossover Linux One, which is not listed officially by CodeWeavers. We've asked for clarification. Will update if / when we get a reply.
Ah, i know that one.

CrossOver One is not officially listed by Codeweavers as of ~August last year. It was a version of CrossOver that received no support and only contained that year's version of CrossOver. There were no software upgrades. It was $39.95USD.

You can see the store page as it originally appeared a year ago with the CrossOver One option here: https://web.archive.org/web/20210102011151/https://www.codeweavers.com/store/
Chronarius Jan 22, 2022
Quoting: Liam Dawe
Quoting: pbSo what's so special about this box that it costs $60-70 more than the one with preinstalled Windows? I appreciate that they're trying, but I fail to see the point.
The difference is that I assume Manjaro get a cut, which is probably part of the inflated pricing.

Nevertheless this will fail! IMHO they should sell there hardware also without OS but add a label "Linux supported"

Fun Fact: My Steammachine from Zotac was 100 bucks cheaper then the identical build without Steam-Case but with Windows on it.

BTW: I have an HM80 from Miniforums which is shutting down the rear USB-Ports after a while.
Not sure if that is fixed! Doesn't happen with Windows.
torham Jan 22, 2022
I wish I could buy a motherboard like this with an onboard AMD cpu in a standard layout. Would make a great low power server board for around the house.
BlackBloodRum Jan 23, 2022
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I've been in the market for a box like this for a couple of weeks actually.

But it doesn't need this much power (imo) as it will just effectively become a kodi box for my TV, since my TV is still dumb (2006 Sony Bravia) and I don't have a working aerial/satalite connection to my home.

So a little box like this would be perfect but.. quite steep in price imo. I wish they had a lower spec linux one that was cheaper and more suitable for my needs 😅


Last edited by BlackBloodRum on 23 January 2022 at 7:52 am UTC
Liam Dawe Jan 24, 2022
Quoting: pleasereadthemanual
Quoting: Liam Dawe
Quoting: pleasereadthemanualAs for a "free copy", what does this mean? There is no free version of CrossOver Linux. There's a 14-day free trial. There's a yearly subscription. There's a lifetime subscription. And there's the CrossOver One one-time purchase (which doesn't exist right now). So based on what version it is, that will determine the value of it. Given that they don't say "1 free year", I suppose it's meant to be lifetime or a particular version (CrossOver 21) forever.
They say it's Crossover Linux One, which is not listed officially by CodeWeavers. We've asked for clarification. Will update if / when we get a reply.
Ah, i know that one.

CrossOver One is not officially listed by Codeweavers as of ~August last year. It was a version of CrossOver that received no support and only contained that year's version of CrossOver. There were no software upgrades. It was $39.95USD.

You can see the store page as it originally appeared a year ago with the CrossOver One option here: https://web.archive.org/web/20210102011151/https://www.codeweavers.com/store/
Yup that's it, they confirmed via email it's now for promotions only which kinda makes sense.
CFWhitman Jan 26, 2022
Many times why you will see a lower price for Windows on the same hardware as Linux is because shovelware publishers pay the company to put their shovelware on Windows pre-builds so the OEM makes some of its money there on Windows machines, but not on Linux ones.
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