Hyundai Mini PC - Back to Home

Back on Christmas of 2023, I was gifted a very strange Hyundai-branded PC that was apparently bought from Micro Center. I assumed it was related to the same Hyundai conglomerate that makes cars, but it appears to be a separate company that got sued for trademark infringement by the real Hyundai. This thing sat in my basement unopened until this weekend, but now I've committed to having a permanent PC setup in the basement, so it finally has a use.

The Hyundai mini PC, still in the sealed box.

It's very similar to those low end Chromebook-like laptops, just in a tiny desktop case. It has a VGA port, which is quite surprising for a new computer of this type.

Here's the full spec list. The Celeron N4020 is actually a bit more powerful than the average ultra low power CPU you'd see in similar laptops. The best part is that it has a 2.5" bay with SATA, so you can install a regular HDD or SSD.

Windows 11, during the process of bricking itself mid-installation.

Of course, you can never underestimate Windows 11's ability to brick itself before even finishing installation. It had to update for forever, rebooted, and then got stuck at a loading screen. After I gave up on waiting & restarted manually, it blue screened. Looks like it'll have to run Linux after all.

All this thing really needs to do is burn CDs and stream YouTube & SoundCloud, so I think it'll do just fine. I already have an external USB DVD drive to use with it, so I should have it up & running in the next couple days.

I'm still very much in the process of planning the biggest computer project of my life, so expect more developments on that through this summer.