'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?
ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.
ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.
The Blackview MP60 mini PC.
Blackview, a company best known for its rugged Android smartphones with built-in thermal cameras, has released a new product -- the MP60 Mini PC.
And it's a really nice mini PC, perfect wherever you need a tiny computer, and with the current deals (including an on-page coupon), it can be yours for as little as $150.
Also: Upgrading with the fastest small business and residential firewall
The MP60 is a tiny PC packed with ports and cooled by a big fan and six heat pipes.
Tiny PC, lots of ports.
The cooling fan has a cool LED light-up effect. Well, it's cool if you like such things. If not, I haven't found a way to switch it off without opening up the system.
That fan initially bothered me because I thought it might be noisy, but the sound turns out to be very unobtrusive.
LED-illuminated fan grille.
There are enough ports to allow the PC to take on a variety of tasks, such as media PC duties, acting as a small media and data server, or even photo and video editing. The dual 4K HDMI ports allow this petite PC to have twin displays connected to it.
Also: How to choose the right monitor layout for work
Attach the VESA mount to the back of one of the displays, hook the MP60 to that mount, and you can truly maximize your desktop real estate.
Power adapter, HDMI cable, and VESA mount.
The MP60 comes in two variants -- an 8GB RAM/256GB storage version, and a beefier 16GB/512GB version. These components are backed up by a Quad-core Intel Celeron N5095 processor and Intel UHD Graphics GPU.
For testing, I was sent the 16GB/512GB version.
The detachable base allows you to boost the storage by 2TB using a 2.5-inch HDD or SSD. This is easily done, and the only tool you need is a Phillips screwdriver.
Getting at the storage expansion port.
If you don't want to expand the storage, you can detach the expansion base and get an even smaller mini PC.
Storage expansion port.
Here the MP60 is hooked up to my Atomos Ninja V external display/recorder, and it makes me realize just what a compact and highly portable package this system and a small monitor would make.
A very portable package.
As is the case with any Windows PC, much of your initial experience is taken up with updating the operating system. As annoying as that is, it does give you the opportunity to get an idea of how speedy or sluggish the system is, and the MP60 is definitely slick and speedy, along the lines of what I'd expect from the system specs.
As with all Windows PCs, the out-of-the-box experience is dominated by updates.
I'll delve deeper into the MP60 in a later review -- I have some interesting plans for this system -- but having had this in use for a few weeks now, I'm happy to recommend it to anyone looking for a small, discreet PC.
And currently you can pick up the Blackview MP60 at a massive discount, making it a total steal.
The 8GB RAM/256GB version has a retail price tag of $250, but using the Amazon coupon and promo code slashes this to $150. The 16GB/512GB version retails for $400, but the Amazon coupon and promo code bring this down to $200. These deals end Jan. 9, so now's the best time to try one out.