One of my mini PC’s is an N95, which is similar to the n100 but with a higher peak power. It’s faster than the old legend 2600k and has a decent little igpu for video processing or general desktop use.
I run a jellyfin test server from it, transcodes high bitrate 4k HDR H265 to 1080p SDR tonemapped H264 at over 200fps, while running my security camera Dashboard with multiple video feeds.
Their only limitation is they usually only have a single memory slot so keep that in mind.
I love my Boox Note 3. It’s am older device but still gets updates lots of tweaks for tuning the display on a per app basis, runs Google apps etc. I use it mainly as a reader for books and manga but also for drawing notes and browsing the Web.
I wish TCL would stop referring to it as electronic paper, it’s a matte LCD with some desaturated modes for eye comfort.
for me, the major selling point of a true e-paper display is sunlight readability, if your “electronic paper” LCD cant match e-ink, then it’s not good enough.
The main E-ink patents are due to expire in 2026, so we should see some rapid development after that.
If you are into self hosting there is a very good tachiyomi plugin for Komga which is a manga and comics server you can self host and fill with your own content, it also supports connecting to multiple servers.
I have 2 Komga instances running on my home server (one for normal manga and one for the… other kind), content is collected by FMD2 which automatically downloads series I have set to monitor (similar to sonarr but less polished). then in tachiyomi I have access to all of that content streamed across the web to my phone and boox e-reader anywhere in the world. it’s pretty neat but the only missing feature is synchronising read status and position across devices.
It’s probably possible and safe for roms, but then there are already more or less complete packs for basically every console and retro computer ever made so it’s not that useful.
The only mmo’s I ever really spent any significant time with were FFXI (on dial up for most of the time I spent with it so my experience wasn’t great) and GW2. not mentioning eve… we dont talk about that…
There was a free MMORPG called Planeshift (I played quite a lot in 2005 or so, it’s still around and being actively worked on) that was very elder scrolls inspired, I put a lot of time into in the past too but being a small free amateur project it didn’t have a lot of players.
I just don’t have the time or motivation to give modern MMOs the attention they really need to make progress, and I was very much a solo player at the time so progress was slow and hard.
I think if I was to pick up a new one it would be FF14, it has a balance of open gameplay and story which a lot of mmos ignore, it seems like a good community but as with all mmos they really dont want you to just drop in a play a couple of hours every second weekend, they want you to get in daily and stick to a routine, which I just cant commit to these days.
I’s not a problem at all, it’s pretty sweet, just getting only about 400-500 mbits when I can get over 900 combined when testing with torrents and other services. ABB say they absolutely, unequivocally do not throttle usenet. So I just suspect it is a limitation of my server setup and I’m too lazy to try to find the cause…
I currently use both NewsgroupNinja and NewsDemon combined but still cant get past about half a gig a second but it very well may be a limitation in my download server somewhere.
The best way to improve plex/jellyfin performance is to make sure your players support what you are trying to watch and transcoding should only be needed if you are sharing remotely to someone with either slow internet or a crappy old player.
Of course, with hardware encoding the chip in that little computer can do what you are asking, including doing it at 4K if needed.
Thats a pretty old calculation that doesn’t take into account hardware acceleration, which modern chips can do very, very well.
So you can get away with a celeron class intel chip (or whatever they are calling them these days) and mange multiple 4k to 1080 transcode streams without issue.
I have a mini PC with an Intel n95, which is around 5500 on the passmark chart, but can easily churn out 10+ 1080p to 1080p transcodes if needed, of course the ideal setup is to avoid transcoding wherever possible. that’s not my main server, but it’s nice to know that if I wanted to I could move my plex server onto it and it would be fine.