To mini or not?

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gumshoe

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My first post stated I was looking for a value computer, well scratch that.
I have decided to go ahead and build another PC.

Trouble is I have previously always bought a new Asus motherboard, case,
cpu and gone that route; but, now I want to save money and have been
looking at the barebone kits. In particular the mini pc kits.

But I dont know any of these minic pc mobo reputations. When I bought an
Asus I knew the board I bought was top notch. So I was thinking maybe you
guys could lend a hand and tell me about these mini pcs and the kind of motherboards they use.

In particular the,

Biostar iDEQ 200S Socket 478 Mini PC

I just want to be sure the motherboard in this thing is good.

The computer is for school, a programming degree to be specific.

So would you even consider the mini pc barebones; and if not what
would you build on a 500 dollar budget for a school machine, that only
has to run office apps and compile/run 'student code'?

Thanks
 
Also, whats up with chipset on these mini barebones? I went to the Intel site and they dont even have the chipset listed?
 
the minis are nice. just like the cars. small compact and do what they are supposed to. you just cant do as many things as you can with a tower. They usually only come with 1 or 2 pci slots. this limits alot. I know they have so many built in ports but that is not enough for me personally. If you just want a portable limited sys they are great. Even if you just do lan parties with them they play games well. I just do to many other things where the minis are quickly ruled out. but dont get me wrong there is nothing wrong with them just i guess the 1 or 2 pci slots is my biggest gripe. Also look at the common replaced parts on them. They are proprietary and do cost more than regular components to replace. IE power supply ive noticed runs 25$ more than regular PSU>
 
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