I often consider myself a power user when it comes to computers. My personal collection of computers that I use as daily drivers contains a bevy of high end purpose built machines. Between my Dell XPS 13 and my prized System 76 Kudo Professional, I am well equipped to handle just about anything that comes my way. Within the few week, I will be embarking on a challenge to put my 2 primary machines aside and use several unorthodox computers as my daily drivers at home. Here is how it will work.
The Challenge
I will be spending 2 weeks with each machine using it as my daily driver at home. The unorthodox computers will be used for everything I normally do on my normal powerhouse machines. The challenge will start on November first and carry on until I run out of machines which looks to be early 2016. I will be blogging about each device while in use via regular progress reports as well as providing a recap of each device at the conclusion.
Throughout the challenge, I will be permitted to hook each of these machines up to a docking station, keyboard, mouse or external display when needed or applicable. I have purchased a DisplayLink 3.0 universal docking station for this purpose. I will also be permitted to utilize the storage on my NAS or Cloud Storage as many of the devices I will be using lack a large amount of storage.
Note : As I cannot put my livelihood on the line (which does involve the use of several computers, I will be allowed to use my dedicated work machine or my other laptops for work related purposes when needed.
The Machines
I will be using the following machines for this challenge, each for 2 weeks. The order may vary as needed. If you have anything you want to see added, feel free to drop me a message.
- Vensmile Windows Box
- Running Windows 10 (x86)
- 2 GB RAM
- 64 GB Storage
- Quad Core Intel Atom
- The entire machine is so small that it fits into my pocket
- NOTE : This PC cannot be used as primary portable machine, I will substitute my Nvidia Shield when on the road
- Motorola Nexus 6
- Running Android 6.0 Marshmallow
- 3 GB RAM
- 64 GB Storage
- Snapdragon 810 Processor
- Connected to a DisplayLink 3.0 Docking Station for Keyboard, Monitor and Mouse Support
- Remix Mini PC – A $40.00 computer
- Android based “Desktop” computer (Lollipop)
- 2 GB RAM
- 16 GB Storage
- 1.2 GHZ Quad Core 64bit Allwinner CPU
- NOTE : This PC cannot be used as primary portable machine, I will substitute my Nvidia Shield when on the road
- Nexus 4
- Running Ubuntu Phone
- 2 GB RAM
- 16 GB Storage
- Quad Core Snapdragon S4 Pro
- Used as both a Desktop and a Mobile Device for this test
- Requested by Michael Hall
- Note : I do not currently own this device but will try to obtain one for this test.
- HP 11 Chromebook
- Running ChromeOS
- Quad Core ARM Processor
- 2 GB RAM
- 16 GB Storage
- Dell Venue 8 Pro
- Running Windows 10
- 2 GB RAM
- 64 GB Storage
- Quad Core Atom Processor
- 8 inch touchscreen
- Connected to the DisplayLink Dock when needed
- HTC Nexus 9
- Running Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
- 2 GB RAM
- 32 GB of Storage
- Dual Core Nvidia Tegra K1
- Official HTC Keyboard Cover
- May be connected to the DisplayLink Dock as needed for Keyboard, Mouse and Display.
- Raspberry Pi B+2
- Running Raspbian
- 1 GB RAM
- 16 GB MicroSD Card
- Quad Core Processor
- NOTE : This PC cannot be used as primary portable machine, I will substitute my Nvidia Shield when on the road
- Nvidia Shield LTE
- Running Android 5.1.1 Lollipop
- 2 GB RAM
- 32 GB of Storage + 128 GB MicroSD Card
- May be connected to the DisplayLink Dock as needed for Keyboard, Mouse and Display.
- Banana Pi Pro
- Running Debian with MATE
- 1 GB RAM
- 16 GB MicroSD card
- Quad Core Processor
- NOTE : This PC cannot be used as primary portable machine, I will substitute my Nvidia Shield when on the road
Good luck with the adventure….
Thanks, should be fun