Since I've been Covid conscious and stuck indoors more than most people now, I thought that I'd get a new mini PC slash media center. I was tired af from seeing ads from the YouTube app on my smart TV, and I kinda wanted to stream from other places not supported by the WebOS that's part of my smart TV. If I could play a few games on it, great.

My problem is that I'm a pretty cheap person. It's not that I don't want to spend a few grand, it's just that expensive shit ends up stressing me out. I'd rather buy something a bit cheaper if the thought of it breaking won't ruin my day. Like if a child of my friend is playing around my computer, I'm mentally cursing that kid out because I can't imaging dropping another 3 weeks worth of salary. I always have an older generation phone with me. I've definitely dropped a phone or jumped in the pool with my mobile in my pocket and it's always just been a shrug "well I need a new phone anyhow". My partner just bought the newest iPhone she's pretty nervous about the thing.

I'm definitely not a hardware guy, so likely I'm gonna get chewed out here. Anyhow, one thing that I noticed was that shops charge a pretty decent premium compared to the internet. It felt like it was 20% or so. The other thing that I found frustrating was that it was damn near impossible to buy a computer WITHOUT buying Windows as well. Stuff online like this had (what looks to me) like crappy graphics and quite a premium for RAM and and SSD storage.

Again, I'm not great with hardware. Gamers, please be nice.

When comparing prices on AliExpress and Amazon, omg Ali Express is way lower. OK, I tried one from a brand that had good reviews on the site, no one really complaining, you definitely never heard of the brand. Reading the description, you definitely get the vibe that they're putting a cracked copy of Windows 10 on the machine, which is fine as I want to run Linux. It was 700 USD, they shipped it from Guangzhou and it got here in maybe 5 days.

Thing got here and just didn't work. In hindsight, the video output was broken. The customer service guy was nice enough. I used my Hexbear don't be Western chauvinistic asshole to the Chinese worker powers. The guy was cool. I mailed it back (maybe $50 shipping), and got a full refund. It was fine. A week later, the customer service guy messaged me saying they'd give me the wholesale price on a upgraded machine. Basically something that's listed for $1200 on Amazon, or $1000 on Ali Express, they'd sell me for $700. I'm like.... "hmmmm".... but my greed won out. The thing had a much better processor and graphics card.

So I have Linux Mint installed. It's been a few months and the thing works perfectly fine now. I play Atomic Heart or Cyberpunk on medium graphics quality and the thing runs perfectly fine. I don't fucking need ultra quality and frankly this thing is enough. The best thing is watching YouTube without fecking ads, or just streaming shit. I am NOT subscribing to another service like Disney or Apple.

tldr: AliExpress can be a wonderful thing if you're willing to risk mailing the thing back to China for fixes.