Beelink’s newest little computer is a 4.5″ x 4″ x 1.7″ PC with a quad-core Intel Celeron J4125 Gemini Lake Refresh processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD.
The Beelink GK Mini also has two HDMI ports and an Ethernet jack. And while the system ships with Windows 10, it should support other operating systems – Beelink is an official partner of the Manjaro Linux team, and developer say they’re already working to ensure that Manjaro runs smoothly on the GK Mini.
The Beelink GK Mini is available from Amazon for a little over $200.
While the computer’s processor is a few years old, the Gemini Lake Refresh processors that offers decent bang for the buck… especially in a computer that doesn’t cost too many bucks. And computers with newer “Jasper Lake” processors haven’t even begun shipping yet (although they may be coming soon).
The GK Mini has a single SODIMM slot with support for up to 8GB of DDR4-2400 single-channel memory and an M.2 2280 slot with support for SATA SSDs.
It has four USB 3.0 Type-A ports (two on the front, and two on the back, and an audio jack. The system supports WiFi 5.
According to a review from NotebookCheck, the Beelink GK Mini can handle 4K video playback (as long as you’re not multitasking while streaming), and offers decent cooling, although the fan runs pretty much constantly.
via @Beelinkofficial
Posted on May 10, 2021 at 4:05 pm: The Beelink GK Mini is available from Amazon for a little over $200. Posted on May 10, 2021 at 8:11 pm: $239, a 19.5% increase in just over three hours!
Beelink GK Mini PC with Windows Pro, Intel 4Cores Processor Gemini Lake J4125 (up to 2.7GHz). Mini Desktop Computer 8GB RAM+128G SSD,HDMI Support 4K@60Hz, 2.4G/5G Dual Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet, BT4.0 4.1 out of 5 stars 66 ratings $239.00
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B092M91JSH
But it does say this:
Join Prime to save $24.00 on this item. [X] Coupon. Save an extra $12.00 when you apply this coupon.
But there are always gotchas associated with Amazon discounts and coupons. For example the “Join Prime” discount won’t work if you are already a Prime member. Coupons always come with restrictions like discounts won’t work with coupons and vice-versa. YMMV.
ASRock used to make a USD $75 MOBO + Celeron J4105M CPU combo that sold like hotcakes, primarily for NAS applications and router/firewall builds. Then the J4105M CPU was discontinued and replaced by the J4125 Gemini Lake Refresh processor. But ASRock still hasn’t released an updated MOBO + J4125 CPU combo; I haven’t found anyone that has. So now there is a gaping hole in the marketplace. It’s so bad that now the discontinued $75 MOBO + Celeron J4105M CPU combo is selling for a whopping $200 – if you can find one! See here:
https://www.amazon.com/ASRock-Motherboard-CPU-Combo-J4105M/dp/B079GHR8L9
The only thing I see that uses the new J4125 CPU are these little SFF PC’s, which are useless for something like a NAS device or router/firewall. I sent an Email to ASRock asking them if and when they are going to replace the old MOBO + Celeron J4105M CPU combo with one that has the newer J4125 CPU. I never received a reply.
I’m curious if the Beelink GK runs Manjaro Linux with a plain vanilla out-of-box Linux distro, or if it requires a ‘special’ Beelink distro with proprietary drivers. What if I want to install Linux Mint or some other Linux distro instead of Manjaro? Will the Wifi adapter be compatible without driver hassles?
If the WiFi/BT is Broadcom and it’s fairly new (it is), you’re probably going to have problems in Linux, even if you try to use the Windows driver with Ndiswrapper. But maybe six months or so from now there’s a pretty good chance the Linux community will come up with an acceptable solution though. The rest of the parts (e.g. Intel Celeron, Intel 600 graphics, etc.) should be OK in Linux.
Broadcom Wifi with Linux has always been problematic. I’ll pass on this one.