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.
Edit: I checked into this, and apparently the firmware does not support changing memory speeds, so you may as well use the 2400 MHz RAM that comes with it, if you are still interested in the machine.
Last edited by CFWhitman on 26 January 2022 at 3:46 pm UTC
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