I recently got my hands on the MSI Cubi N100 barebones Mini PC, and I decided to document the entire unboxing and setup process as a livestream. As someone who enjoys tinkering with new tech, I was eager to see how quickly I could get this little machine up and running with a Linux OS.
You can check out the stream here on my Amazon page. I purchased the kit from the new social shopping site Flip for an upcoming review I’ll be posting there.
The first thing I did was unbox the Mini PC, and I was impressed with its build quality versus some of the other low cost MiniPCs I’ve looked at recently.
The N100 version featured in the video doesn’t come with RAM, storage, or an operating system, so its $189 entry cost will quickly escalate when adding the necessary parts to get it all working. By comparison an N100 powered GMKTek G3 can be found for significantly less (compensated affiliate link) with RAM, storage and a Windows 11 Pro license. You can see my review of the GMKTec PC here.
After popping open the case, I installed the RAM and storage, and within minutes, I had everything assembled and ready to go. Booting up the system was a breeze, and I chose to install Ubuntu as the operating system. The installation process was quick, and before I knew it, the Mini PC was fully operational. From start to finish it was about 30 minutes to get everything installed and operating.
I ran a few tests to check hardware detection and performance, and the Cubi performed as expected and on par with other N100 based systems.
So what’s the value proposition here if competing units sell fully configured for less? Less risk. MSI is a multinational corporation that can provide domestic support throughout most of the markets they serve. The super cheap PCs generally come from China and lack long term support that might be necessary for businesses using these PCs in a production environment.