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cgigate 66.4K Views
Jul 12, 2022 7:18 PM

Acer Aspire XC Desktop (Refurb): Celeron J4125, 4GB RAM, 256GB SSD

$88

$330

73% off
+ Free Shippingat eBay
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Deal Details
Acer via eBay has Acer Aspire XC Desktop (Refurbished, DT.BHFAA.001) for $87.99 (price reflected in cart). Shipping is free.

Thanks to community member cgigate for finding this deal.

Note, must add to cart for the sale price.

Specs
  • Intel Celeron J4125 2.00 GHz Processor
  • 4GB RAM
  • 256GB Solid State Drive
  • Intel UHD Graphics 600
  • Includes Keyboard & Mouse
  • Windows 10 Home

Editor's Notes

Written by johnny_miller | Staff
  • About this item:
    • This item is Certified Refurbished. It has been professionally restored by an Acer approved vendor. Units are usually cosmetically indistinguishable from New products, but some may show signs of light use. Functionally, these units are equivalent to New. Certified Refurbished units will be shipped in a New Brown Box.
  • Returns:
    • Free 30 day returns. Seller pays for return shipping.

Original Post

Written by cgigate
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
Acer via eBay has Acer Aspire XC Desktop (Refurbished, DT.BHFAA.001) for $87.99 (price reflected in cart). Shipping is free.

Thanks to community member cgigate for finding this deal.

Note, must add to cart for the sale price.

Specs
  • Intel Celeron J4125 2.00 GHz Processor
  • 4GB RAM
  • 256GB Solid State Drive
  • Intel UHD Graphics 600
  • Includes Keyboard & Mouse
  • Windows 10 Home

Editor's Notes

Written by johnny_miller | Staff
  • About this item:
    • This item is Certified Refurbished. It has been professionally restored by an Acer approved vendor. Units are usually cosmetically indistinguishable from New products, but some may show signs of light use. Functionally, these units are equivalent to New. Certified Refurbished units will be shipped in a New Brown Box.
  • Returns:
    • Free 30 day returns. Seller pays for return shipping.

Original Post

Written by cgigate

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207 Comments

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Jul 13, 2022 4:16 PM
3.1K Comments
Joined Dec 2015
appleguy82Jul 13, 2022 4:16 PM
3.1K Comments
Quote from drjs View quoted comment :
I have been using this thing for a week or so now. This is my wall of text from the other post when this was $105. An absolute bargain at $88. Picked up another one. Thanks! I modded mine with the following

*Added another 8Gig of memory (Amazon generic Team Memory)
*spliced power so I can get 2 SATA power header
*spliced fan header and added an 140mm fan
*added a WD 80TB Red plus
*added a DVD caddy 3.5 9.7mm bay.

Runs absolutely like a dream at 25Ws.

Copied suggestions below for various uses.
=====================================================================
I have been working with this little SFF for a day now and I really enjoy using this thing and I am replying to this message on the system right now. The fan is virtually silent and power draw is max 15W on my killawatt (I removed DVD drive).

I have seen a lot of questions on this forum about what this thing is good for. I thought to provide my perspective on the subject and elaborate on various use cases for this little thing. Again, this is one person's opinion.


Desktop replacement, Rating: Medicore
This is a mediocre use case as a desktop replacement because the limited CPU capability and memory. The system comes with 4Gig standard which will mean a lot of swapping on Windows 10 in default configuration. If you can up the memory to 8Gig, I think the use case becomes fair. It is a reasonable system for lite web page browsing, spreadsheets, email, YouTube and Netflix at 1080P. ie, this is a good system for your grandparents if usage case isn't aggressive.


Gaming setup, Rating: Poor
Expansion slot is half height, power supply is 65W, there is only a CPU fan. ie, if you want to game other than minesweeper, you should look for a beefier system, such as the one with I3 and 250W power?. Again, if you go that route, maybe Acer small form factor shouldn't be what you should consider. For reference, my current game setup has a 850w ps and about 7 fans.


NAS, Rating: Good
This thing draws less power and is quieter than my Synology 2 bay. CPU will be more powerful than my Synology with more possibility of expanding via standard PC peripherals. A two bay Synology is about $200 right now which means you can use this thing at about half the cost. With this said, there are only 2 SATA ports and no additional cooling fans and will only accommodate 1 3.5" and 1 2.5" drive without additional engineering. If you are okay dropping in a 10TB 3.5 WD Red Plus and call it good, you have an excellent use case here. If you are desperate, I suppose you can always use external USB 3.0 enclosures for additional drives. Hardware transcoding via Plex for a single 4K stream shouldn't be a huge issue since this Celeron has a UHD600 onboard.


pFsense, Gateway replacement, VPN server, PiHole etc, Rating: Excellent
What this system really excels is as an always on, minimal power, minimal noise internet relay device. I listed a couple use cases above. I am thinking moving my VPN server (both up and down streams), PiHole, and Firewall server into this thing. As given the system has more than enough resource to run Debian or BSD, never sipes more than 15Ws, generates no heat, and is virtually silent, I can see this thing sitting next to my cable modem and be the consolidating gateway machine that is currently being taken up by a Synology, a number of Rasperberri Pis. For $100, this is just a bargain you can't find equivalent elsewhere. Now the only decision is to buy another one as a backup in case this breaks. :-)

Anyways, enjoy my wall of text.

ApplauseApplauseApplauseApplause
========================================================
Hi would you kindly be able to test to see if this loads up Xpenology loader redpill? Because that would mean we can run Synology OS on it via Xpenology port.. thanks!
Jul 13, 2022 4:18 PM
72 Comments
Joined Nov 2010
abhishekjayswalJul 13, 2022 4:18 PM
72 Comments
Quote from appleguy82 View quoted comment :
You read my mind I would love someone who has it already to please test and see if you can use RedPill TCRP loader to see If Xpenology boots and detects dang good deal if it boots even for 2 Bay nas...

Yes I will really appreciate it if someone can confirm this.

1. Can we install Xpeneology on this?
2. Can we install 2 HDDs on it?
Jul 13, 2022 4:19 PM
3.1K Comments
Joined Dec 2015
appleguy82Jul 13, 2022 4:19 PM
3.1K Comments
Quote from abhishekjayswal View quoted comment :
Yes I will really appreciate it if someone can confirm this.

1. Can we install Xpeneology on this?
2. Can we install 2 HDDs on it?
Two hdd is confirmed see above poster tho you can from what I read only do 1 3.5HDD and 1 2.5HDD.
Jul 13, 2022 4:25 PM
72 Comments
Joined Nov 2010
abhishekjayswalJul 13, 2022 4:25 PM
72 Comments
Quote from appleguy82 View quoted comment :
Two hdd is confirmed see above poster tho you can from what I read only do 1 3.5HDD and 1 2.5HDD.
Thanks.

Also, does this have wifi?
Jul 13, 2022 4:38 PM
3.1K Comments
Joined Dec 2015
appleguy82Jul 13, 2022 4:38 PM
3.1K Comments
Quote from abhishekjayswal View quoted comment :
Thanks.

Also, does this have wifi?
If you check Acer product page yes it does have wifi.
Jul 13, 2022 4:38 PM
160 Comments
Joined May 2015
drjsJul 13, 2022 4:38 PM
160 Comments
Quote from abhishekjayswal View quoted comment :
Thanks.

Also, does this have wifi?
Yes. Both WIFI (part of celeron chipset?) and gigabite RJ-45
Jul 13, 2022 4:39 PM
160 Comments
Joined May 2015
drjsJul 13, 2022 4:39 PM
160 Comments
Quote from appleguy82 View quoted comment :
Two hdd is confirmed see above poster tho you can from what I read only do 1 3.5HDD and 1 2.5HDD.
The cage will support 1 3.5 and 1 2.5 only but If you are willing to get rid of the cage and put in a 3D printed 3.5 holder, it shouldn't be a problem using 2 x 3.5".

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Jul 13, 2022 4:41 PM
160 Comments
Joined May 2015
drjsJul 13, 2022 4:41 PM
160 Comments
Quote from abhishekjayswal View quoted comment :
Yes I will really appreciate it if someone can confirm this.

1. Can we install Xpeneology on this?
2. Can we install 2 HDDs on it?
I have OMV 6 installed on mine. No problem at all. That is based on Debian 11.
Jul 13, 2022 4:41 PM
3.1K Comments
Joined Dec 2015
appleguy82Jul 13, 2022 4:41 PM
3.1K Comments
Quote from drjs View quoted comment :
The cage will support 1 3.5 and 1 2.5 only but If you are willing to get rid of the cage and put in a 3D printed 3.5 holder, it shouldn't be a problem using 2 x 3.5".
If you can build a Xpenology boot loader using DS918 as base, you won't need to install on the HDD, just using a spare USB see If it boots and you can find it using the Synology finder app on windows or Mac. Much appreciated if you can, if not thanks anyways! 👍 Xpenology is awesome if you have ever used Synology I have qnap, Synology xpenology..
Jul 13, 2022 4:42 PM
160 Comments
Joined May 2015
drjsJul 13, 2022 4:42 PM
160 Comments
Quote from dnguyen800 View quoted comment :
for pfsense, do you know if this desktop has a PCIe port available to install additional NICs? that would make this PC an even greater value.
Yes. 1 full length half height PCIe is present. I believe it is a x8 or x4.
Jul 13, 2022 4:45 PM
160 Comments
Joined May 2015
drjsJul 13, 2022 4:45 PM
160 Comments
Quote from Catchadeal View quoted comment :
@ drjs- repped!I just grabbed one of these.Any links to the below upgrades you have done. Did a Amazon search for the 8 gb memory for TEAMS and gets multiple hits. Do not want to order something which may not be compatible.=13px*Added another 8Gig of memory (Amazon generic Team Memory)
=13px*spliced power so I can get 2 SATA power header
=13px*spliced fan header and added an 140mm fan
=13px*added a WD 80TB Red plus
=13px*added a DVD caddy 3.5 9.7mm bay.
Jul 13, 2022 4:51 PM
160 Comments
Joined May 2015
drjsJul 13, 2022 4:51 PM
160 Comments
Quote from appleguy82 View quoted comment :
With the limitation that at most you can do 1 3.5 and 1 2.5 inch ssd, sadly..if you could add 3 to 4 HDD 3.5 nothing like it but I don't think it's possible..
If you remove the existing drive cage (a simple matter, 4 screws), you can use something like this: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3249427 to stack 2 3.5 HDs in the case. You will need to be willing and able to drill a few holes to the case however. I
Jul 13, 2022 4:55 PM
3.1K Comments
Joined Dec 2015
appleguy82Jul 13, 2022 4:55 PM
3.1K Comments
Hi see this how to build a redpill xpenology loader it's not too hard..

1.Preparing Bootloader IMG



Use the Download button in the middle of the beam link below.Download the gz file



In it 0.4.6 version img.You can decompress the gz file one more time and use the img file.



(Full File)



https://github.com/pocopico/tinycore-redpill



(for LEGACY / EFI)



https://github.com/pocopico/tinyc...4.6.img.gz



(for VMWARE)



https://github.com/pocopico/tinyc....6.vmdk.gz







2. Bootloader IMG File USB Recording



Use the above tinycore-redfill.v0.4.6.img file to burn it with USB with a convenient image tool such as WinImage or Rufus.



You don't need to adjust the configuration file in advance to modify the VID/PID/Serial/MAC/SATAPortMap like the JUN loader.







If you want to create a USB image on a Mac or Linux like me, you can use the DD command below in the terminal.



(Assuming that the DEVICE ID of the USB verified by diskutil is disk4)



sudo diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk4



sudo dd if=/Users/MyAccount/Downloads/tinycore-redpill.v0.4.5.img of=/dev/disk4 bs=1m



sudo diskutil eject /dev/disk4







3.Starting TinyCore Linux



USB boot by plugging it into a PC for xpenology (UEFI 1 partition or USB CSM can be booted)



The tinyCore Linux (tinyCore Image Build menu) is running and appears.



Run the far right icon terminal app here.



Check the ip address automatically assigned an en0 LAN card with ifconfig.

Full instructions:

https://xpenology.com/forum/topic...baremetal/
Jul 13, 2022 5:57 PM
14 Comments
Joined Jul 2009
ms514Jul 13, 2022 5:57 PM
14 Comments
I need 80 year old parents' computer. Will this easily do simple stuff like MS Office, YouTube, PDFs etc. If hooked to 4k TV?

Main thing is whether the computer will seize up trying to do things at 4k resolution.

Thank you in advance.

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Jul 13, 2022 7:36 PM
517 Comments
Joined Nov 2008
GlobWarmNoGoodJul 13, 2022 7:36 PM
517 Comments
Nice price for the specs. Thanks OP
I ordered without checking one thing:

Can i add Dual/Multi NIC PCIe card on this machine for pfSense? anyone knows?

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