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expired Posted by cgigate • Jul 15, 2022
expired Posted by cgigate • Jul 15, 2022

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

+ Free Shipping

$88

$330

73% off
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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 and drjs for sharing this deal.

Note, must add to cart for the sale price.

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

Editor's Notes

Written by oceanlake | Staff
  • About this item:
    • This price matches a recent Frontpage Deal.
    • 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.
    • See the forum thread for additional discussion from Slickdeals members about the best uses for this budget desktop.
    • Comes with a 2-year warranty from Allstate.
  • 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 and drjs for sharing this deal.

Note, must add to cart for the sale price.

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

Editor's Notes

Written by oceanlake | Staff
  • About this item:
    • This price matches a recent Frontpage Deal.
    • 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.
    • See the forum thread for additional discussion from Slickdeals members about the best uses for this budget desktop.
    • Comes with a 2-year warranty from Allstate.
  • Returns:
    • Free 30 day returns. Seller pays for return shipping.

Original Post

Written by cgigate

Community Voting

Deal Score
+76
Good Deal
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Top Comments

drjs
159 Posts
109 Reputation
Mine idle at 6W.
AquaGalley8616
1731 Posts
285 Reputation
...
This 88 dollar PC is not a powerful PC. That is correct. I'm not being duped into thinking this is a POWERFUL PC!
This is a laptop PC who's motherboard has been placed in a tiny tower case and can run windows 10/11, and you can add more ram, and comes with NVMe, with external power supply that laptop's use! So very, very low power 24/7 machine 6 watts idle.
It has bluetooth/wifi,ethernet port, 4 usb 2 ports, 2 usb 3 ports. 2 year warranty, intel 600 internal graphics, hdmi and vga port,

You know that Walmart currently is selling this at 299 dollars with good user review average.

I object to the word "duped" in your post. There are 2-3 threads on this device on slickdeals , with things people are doing with it.

Like the Raspberry Pi, it is hobby device, and cheaper than Pi,( if you were to buy Pi plus all the extra's you need to buy to complete Pi package).

Hopefully, people read YOUR post, and read posts from others that discuss the positive aspect of this device, so they know what they are buying and not buying. Alert heard, sir. . Your mission is accomplished. Torpedoes away. Next target!
Pinako
601 Posts
107 Reputation
For those of you wanting to use this thing as a NAS, you're looking at three issues:

Where to mount the disks? As previously mentioned, there's space for a 3.5" disk and a 2.5" disk if you removed the optical drive. Alternatively, you could remove the entire cage and replace it with something that'd accept two 3.5" disks [amazon.com] (I haven't actually tried it because I haven't received the computer yet, but it should work). Similarly, it should not be too difficult to put four 2.5" disks in the case. Use a cage if you want to be fancy. Velcro or duct tape if you just don't gaf. Or get a bigger case, but then you'd lose the cute little form factor.

Where to get the power? Y-splitters. Just don't overload the power supply.

Where to connect the data cables? Ah, now this is the fun part. See previous post regarding the limitations of the PCIe bus. If the goal is to install as many disks as possible, one way would be to put SATA controllers in the ×16, ×4, and ×2 slots. Yes, the M-keyed M.2 slot and even the E-keyed M.2 slot could probably be used for PCIe modules, including SATA controllers and Ethernet controllers.

Each lane of PCIe 2.0 provides 500 MB/s of bandwidth, just barely sufficient for SATA III's 600 MB/s. This is obviously not a problem for HDD, but could limit SSD performance. You might want to be... creative... with port selection, if you plan to use SSDs and HDDs together. For example, if you put a 2-port SATA controller in the ×2 slot, you might want to pair an SSD with a HDD on that same controller to optimize bandwidth usage.

Also remember the limitations of the DMI link. If you're using this machine as a NAS, your disks might be sharing PCIe bandwidth with your NIC. You could potentially install many disks and a lot of other stuff, but they'd compete for bandwidth. Proceed with caution.

655 Comments

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Jul 18, 2022
315 Posts
Joined Dec 2013
Jul 18, 2022
newgun
Jul 18, 2022
315 Posts
Quote from allusuc :
I plan to use this for my basic online classes. I'll prob need a webcam and speakers in order to hear online lectures. Anyone have an idea for cheap webcam and speakers ?
If you have any smart home speakers (echo dot, google home etc) or any other Bluetooth speakers you can use one of them.
Original Poster
Jul 18, 2022
28,289 Posts
Joined Jan 2007
Jul 18, 2022
cgigate
Original Poster
Jul 18, 2022
28,289 Posts
Quote from randomuser1324 :
...
That being said this price is great and I will be pairing this with an i350-t4v2 for pfsense. Unfortunately they are running ~$70-90 on eBay compared to historically being around ~$30.

Btw someone linked to Reddit which had a link to a great intel network card rundown with eBay links. Hopefully my link isn't blocked:
https://forums.serverbuilds.net/t...-nics/2401 [serverbuilds.net]
You never need to buy multiple ports NIC cards, Using old tech VLAN encapsulation to make one physical Ethernet port to become numerous virtual ports
Last edited by cgigate July 17, 2022 at 08:33 PM.
Jul 18, 2022
8,361 Posts
Joined Jul 2006
Jul 18, 2022
fbueller
Jul 18, 2022
8,361 Posts
Quote from cyciumx :
Ran Plex server on my 2019 Shield Pro as well... It frequently suffered issues and even if was accepting of those, my significant other wasn't.

Once I started running Plex from a dedicated laptop that cost $150 its never failed and doesnt make anything else fail with it.

This system should be on anyone radar that wants a simple, but consistent Plex experience.
Agreed, but I'm seeing conflicting info about 4k transcoding quality on this. Would it transcode 4k raw (70gb+) BRRips in real time?
Jul 18, 2022
714 Posts
Joined May 2006
Jul 18, 2022
jowaju
Jul 18, 2022
714 Posts
According to Google, the J4125 shows 8GB as the max but can actually support 32GB, anybody test out more than 8GB on this thing?

Edit - Previous listing for this same exact PC says in the comments section "
cgigate 07-13-2022 at 12:22 PM
I installed 16gb RAM, it works fine, even the data sheet says it only support up to 8gb"
Last edited by jowaju July 17, 2022 at 08:34 PM.
Jul 18, 2022
1,301 Posts
Joined Oct 2009
Jul 18, 2022
ducksoup18
Jul 18, 2022
1,301 Posts
Quote from cgigate :
You never need to buy multiple ports NIC cards, Using old tech VLAN encapsulation to make one physical Ethernet port to become numerous virtual ports
Is this process fairly straightforward with pfsense/opnsense? Dont you still need some form of managed switch for this? If not, awesome. Either way if you have a link to a how-to thatd be great!
Original Poster
Jul 18, 2022
28,289 Posts
Joined Jan 2007
Jul 18, 2022
cgigate
Original Poster
Jul 18, 2022
28,289 Posts
Quote from jowaju :
According to Google, the J4125 shows 8GB as the max but can actually support 32GB, anybody test out more than 8GB on this thing?
Already discussed and tested

https://slickdeals.net/f/15906445?p=156232666#post156232666

https://slickdeals.net/f/15906445?p=156243055#post156243055
Last edited by cgigate July 17, 2022 at 08:42 PM.
Jul 18, 2022
7,130 Posts
Joined Dec 2014
Jul 18, 2022
AkujunkanX
Jul 18, 2022
7,130 Posts
Quote from fbueller :
Agreed, but I'm seeing conflicting info about 4k transcoding quality on this. Would it transcode 4k raw (70gb+) BRRips in real time?
I'd be wary of that use... But I think a large portion of Plex users arent power users. That is to say, not a tiny portion. They probably have most of their media in compressed formats with movie sizes from 2 to 7 gigs and might not even care for transcoding beyond 1080p.

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Jul 18, 2022
386 Posts
Joined Feb 2010
Jul 18, 2022
allusuc
Jul 18, 2022
386 Posts
Quote from newgun :
If you have any smart home speakers (echo dot, google home etc) or any other Bluetooth speakers you can use one of them.
Wow nice thanks for tip! I'd still have to buy a webcam though. Right ?
Original Poster
Jul 18, 2022
28,289 Posts
Joined Jan 2007
Jul 18, 2022
cgigate
Original Poster
Jul 18, 2022
28,289 Posts
Quote from ducksoup18 :
Is this process fairly straightforward with pfsense/opnsense? Dont you still need some form of managed switch for this? If not, awesome. Either way if you have a link to a how-to thatd be great!
VLAN tagging and un-tagging is straightforward process on Windows or Linux OS, tested on OpenWrt (Linux) on J4125 CPU, works great
Jul 18, 2022
204 Posts
Joined Sep 2019
Jul 18, 2022
siltdotstrider
Jul 18, 2022
204 Posts
Quote from cyciumx :
Ah, I see you run HASS in noob mode. Once you start doing crazy stuff with GUIs and security cam streams, the Rpi4 cannot keep up.
Lol, let me reveal you a secret.... I don't run HASS because I don't need it. And most of the people don't need it, because the day has only 24 hours and life is too short.
3
Jul 18, 2022
315 Posts
Joined Dec 2013
Jul 18, 2022
newgun
Jul 18, 2022
315 Posts
Quote from allusuc :
Wow nice thanks for tip! I'd still have to buy a webcam though. Right ?
There are ways to use your cellular phone (especially if you have an older but functioning one laying around) as a PC webcam. Just Google it you will find many links.
Jul 18, 2022
6 Posts
Joined Aug 2021
Jul 18, 2022
FancyClass274
Jul 18, 2022
6 Posts
Quote from R0B0TPIRATE :
Is there a better deal around for someone just wanting a desktop for internet and DL'ing torrents?
not really. I sold my functioning i5 1st gen laptops for $30 and if you can find another loser like me at your local craigslist, that's a better torrent/firewall machine; otherwise this is it. a rspberry pi 4 4GB WITHOUT ssd is $60, you can imagine how good this deal is.
if i dont have another i5 laptop to use as a nas/torrenting machine i'd do this without a thought.
1
1
2
Jul 18, 2022
1,731 Posts
Joined Feb 2021
Jul 18, 2022
AquaGalley8616
Jul 18, 2022
1,731 Posts

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank AquaGalley8616

Quote from jakesyma :
Apologies if it's already been mentioned, but... how would this thing fare as (basically) a Chromebox?

Running ChromeOSFlex?
ok, I did read your post and I figured I would try ChromeOSFlex. I just got this PC today, and I updated and upgraded this PC to windows 11. And it works, and I can watch 4k ultra youtube nature videos at 1080p60 and it looks good. And it works in windows 11.

Now, back to your question. I took a 16gb stick out of tray in drawer, and downloaded chrome, then made chromeosflex install. And then plugged it into this PC, and it asked if I wanted to install it, or TRY IT OUT. And I stated TRY IT OUT. I did use a 4k 40 inch tv, and when it started the print was super tiny, ... really, really, really, tiny font. But I entered the info, and then all the setup screens. Finally, it was set up and I went to options (I have chromebooks so I know where everything is), and I picked DISPLAY and moved the slider to the biggest font, and at that point I could see everything plainly! Smilie
Then I opened youtube and watched some videos, and it worked no problems. So it works, and even if windows crashes, I can plug in this stick and do stuff.
In a few years, I guess we can fall back on chromeosflex.
I put 12gb ram in this pc today.
Are you thinking of buying this PC , or just researching.

UPDATE 1 : in chromeosflex, I went to slickdeals site, and went into this thread, and everything works perfect.

I then figured I would do a test I do in chromebooks, I ran Octane 2.0 and received a score of 21,182. That is better than a 2 year old chromebook I own (which gives 15,000 score).

And this is done from usb stick, it's not installed. So it could be much faster if I installed it onto the NVMe drive.

So, it's a fast chromebook OS on a 88 dollar PC (and from usb stick TRY IT OUT test).

UPDATE 2: My mind is blown away! Ok, after I did the TRY IT OUT test, I turned my PC off! And an hour later, I thought I would turn on the PC and see what happens if I go back to the usb stick with chromeosflex on it! I was shocked that it saved everything, and I just had to sign in from the stick, and everything opened up, to where I last was. Amazing.

(I'm used to stick installs of other OS'es, and if you don't install it but just TEST it OUT, it doesn't save anything on stick. But this shocked me. It's up and running in a few seconds from the usb 3 stick. Figured this 2nd update is better than first update. Smilie
Last edited by AquaGalley8616 July 17, 2022 at 11:12 PM.
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Jul 18, 2022
16 Posts
Joined Mar 2020
Jul 18, 2022
FairWren6046
Jul 18, 2022
16 Posts
There seemed to at one point have links to all the things the OP installed in this system, all coming from amazon. I cannot find a page on this site where the links are working. Does OP or someone else have the time to link the hardware he added? TIA

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Jul 18, 2022
1,999 Posts
Joined Oct 2012
Jul 18, 2022
jakesyma
Jul 18, 2022
1,999 Posts
"Are you thinking of buying this PC , or just researching."

Thank you! I guess technically 'just researching' at the moment, but also kinda trying to talk myself out of what seems like a pretty amazing deal at this price.

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