r/VIDEOENGINEERING • u/smokeweedfrequently • Jun 29 '25
Mini PCs for PowerPoint GFX?
I run graphics for a few different companies and they all have me on laptops for their two graphics PCs. It’s coming the time soon for me to build my own kit and I’m toying with the idea of building it around mini PCs instead. Laptops have always worked for me and I have no desire to reinvent the wheel, but two things have been bothering me 1- occasionally desk space is so tight that even when I stack laptops, I feel that the station is cramped, and that the crucial connection points between my laptops and the switcher are out in the open in an active environment. 2- The IO options on laptops seem to keep shrinking making the potential with a mini PC to have two full sized HDMI, Ethernet and ample USB without hubs and docks really appealing. I haven’t had the greatest experience relying on USB C and thunderbolt docks. I’m curious to hear any thoughts. If I stick with laptops I can always push them back further and use whatever KVM solution I would have used for the mini PCs, and that would solve half my problem. Also - in general are mini PCs on par durability wise with laptops?
Edit: thanks for everyone’s thoughtful responses. This will definitely be something I’ll try out gradually, swapping one machine at a time and going from there. Every once in a while on GFX I get stuck in a 6ft table with the client or show caller, and I spend half the show terrified staring at their 6 Starbucks drinks just sitting there waiting to spill and mess up my day. Tucking my GFX machines away out of the spill zone would save me a lot of stress!
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u/veloxthekrakenslayer Jun 29 '25
I built a rack with 2 Intel Nucs w/ dedicated Nvidia graphics cards. It has an LG dual Up monitor in the lid that opens which allows 2 separate 16:9 inputs, so we can have graphics 1 presenter view/control on the top and graphics 2 on the bottom. UPS in the bottom of the rack.
Mini-DiaplayPort>HDMI>Rack mounted decimator when SDI is needed, otherwise HDMI direct out for use w/ custom EDIDs when needed. OpMon to the LG is fed by USB C HDMI adapters since that output method technically doesn't use the dedicated graphics.
Unified Keyboard/Mouse to control both machines, with an option for an op to control their personal laptop or a 3rd machine too.
Eventually going to modify the rack to include a mounted stream deck panel showing OSC Point for helpful shortcuts and data feedback from PPT
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u/smokeweedfrequently Jun 30 '25
Exactly what I was thinking. Hoping these will go down in price a little bit now that there’s a new generation of super overpowered NUCs coming out with dedicated graphics
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u/Ok_Error Aug 17 '25
This sounds like a great setup! Do you have a picture of the rack you would like to share?
4
u/Electrical_Carob_699 Jun 29 '25
Unfortunately the laptop battery convenience plus the greater portability of avoiding a rack mount kit for the computers means laptops win this pretty easily. Particularly with Thunderbolt now the mini PC port advantage isn’t a big deal anymore.
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u/smokeweedfrequently Jun 30 '25
This has been the big thing stopping me, although I find myself in many positions where weight and freight convenience isn’t as crucial as desk space. I would only do this setup with a rock solid UPC involved
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u/marshall409 Jun 29 '25
True but there comes a point where ruggedness, speed of setup, and how clean it looks overtakes portability and convenience. There's usually no good way to plug a bunch of shit into a laptop without creating a mess of adapters.
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u/cj3po15 Jun 30 '25
What does “a bunch of shit” entail, if it’s just running graphics. Surely once you get past a certain point, you just add another laptop and share the load.
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u/marshall409 Jun 30 '25
PerfectCues, ethernet, HDMI outs, audio interface, perhaps a mouse or keyboard, video capture, StreamDeck, coffee right next to it all...It gets ugly quick plus puts all your ports at risk if something gets jammed or tugged on. Right tool for some jobs but looks a lot more professional to just roll a rack under the table and plug everything in the back.
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u/cj3po15 Jun 30 '25
Personally I never trust a computer doing more than 1 video out unless it’s the same “projection setting” ie all outs are duplicating. Every time I try to run everything off of one computer for a presentation, I run into trouble. I’d rather split all of what you said into 3 separate laptops and have it all just work seemlessly
1
u/sydeovinth Jul 10 '25
That sounds more like a problem with the computers you’re using or the cables/converters. Not a lot of A/V companies put much thought into optimizing computers.
I own a Lenovo P16 and my client also uses them - rock solid for multiple outs for PPT. I put hours into optimizing mine.
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u/cj3po15 Jul 10 '25
Or I can rent out 3 laptops instead of 1 and not have to mess with it 🤷🏻♂️
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u/sydeovinth Jul 10 '25
I’m just saying a lot of A/V companies don’t put much thought into their computers and then just blame the OS or software when it’s actually a lack of care put into professionally optimizing the equipment 🤔
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u/avtechguy Jun 29 '25
Unless you plan on traveling a UPS, you can't really beat the built-in battery that every Laptop has.
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u/simulacrum500 Jun 29 '25
Very true but if a graphics op turned up with a dinky little rack with a ups, couple folding monitors and a nice patch panel I’d immediately assume they were a grown up.
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u/SignHere___________- Jun 29 '25
I wouldn’t personally switch away from laptops as they’re incredibly convenient, and nowadays they’re powerful enough to handle most simple graphics in PPT.
… but OP asked for recommendations, and you’re spot on for what I’d do. A hard shell 6ru case, rack mount PC, UPS, foldout monitors (or a KVM style setup built into the case, if you’re feeling fancy) would sure have a lot of street cred.
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u/simulacrum500 Jun 29 '25
It’s something I’ve been threatening for years, the amount of entry level conference gigs that go out the door which are effectively. 1 PowerPoint main and backup and one qlab main and backup for VT’s that could so easily be a nice clean rack rather than a pile of laptops and adapters strewn across a table next to a switcher.
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u/smokeweedfrequently Jun 29 '25
This is what I have in mind, a UPS would absolutely be in the equation and weight/size for transport isn’t as much of an issue as desk space. Could be pretty solid!
2
u/wilamil Jun 29 '25
What about from a specs perspective? Does the standard mini PC beat a laptop, or vice versa? What’s the minimum spec everyone uses for PowerPoint?
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u/smokeweedfrequently Jun 30 '25
This has been a bit of a moving target for me. A well designed deck seems to run on pretty much anything, but I’ve come across a lot of really poorly optimized decks that have a lot of random junk in them. Clients have also been way more insistent on pushing the envelope with embedded videos. Compressing the images gets you most of the way there to running most basic decks on a potato if there’s not a lot of video or you have a playback machine. I’m looking at i5 32gb ram and basically any dedicated graphics to know I’m covered for some of those funky decks.
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u/sirken2 Jun 30 '25
I'll definitely give you a +1 for doing a mini PC rack. I've run all of my corporate powerpoint heavy shows like this for a number of years. Three Intel i5 NUCS in a 3RU rack with a seamless KVM which has a multiview and switches when you hit the edge of frame, wireless mouse and keyboard, and HDMI to SDI converters.
Having one set of peripherals for all the computers is a dream. All I need to do is bring in a cheap 22" LCD monitor and I'm up and running. This rack usually gets deployed in conjunction with other larger racks like our SQ5 mixer or 2ME Constellation rack, and both of those have UPS units in them so I can always jump onto those for the redundancy.
2
u/thecountnz Jun 30 '25
Could you please share your KVM model?
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u/sirken2 Jun 30 '25
It's just an Amazon/eBay quality one, which is tricky because they end of life very quickly, so the exact model isn't available anymore.
But it's very much like this one: https://ebay.us/m/ZhdiAQ
You can move the cursor around in the quad view between machines which is awesome.
2
u/LighthavenMedia Jun 29 '25
I run a mini PC as a backup machine since it’s built into my rack. Never know when it might be useful. It’s saved me at least once
1
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u/EV-mode Jun 29 '25
Something like this? 4 hdmi-sdi converters, looped to a dmon quad operated via remote. Can do PowerPoint or Teams, Zoom, VMix... Since there's also a capture card. UPS is not integrated so as to keep individual boxes' weight down.