VERDICT
This mini desktop won't tear through intensive tasks, but for the price, the specs packed into this stylish package make it an attractive option.
PROS:
- Nice design
- Small footprint
- Plenty of connectivity
- Ample performance
CONS:
- Limited upgrade potential
- Too much bloatware
Ever since Asus launched the desktop answer to netbooks in the form of the EeeBox PC , the market for small-footprint PCs has grown to offer a wide range of options. The HP Pavilion Mini 300-030na is one of the latest small, quiet and energy-efficient desktops to come to market, and it's one of the nicest-looking mini PCs we've seen since the launch of the Apple Mac Mini .
With models starting at £249.99 ($269, AU$349) the Pavilion Mini is a competitively priced option, with ample storage space and enough power for day-to-day tasks.
The model we reviewed came complete with 1TB of storage space, a 1.9GHz Intel Core i3 processor and 4GB of RAM (which can be upgraded to 16GB if needed); a faster i5 model is available, as is a lower-priced option with a less capable Pentium 3558U processor and smaller 500GB hard drive.
Although the graphics may not be up to the task of heavy-duty video-editing or gaming, the Pavilion Mini offers plenty of connectivity for such a small package, making it an ideal proposition for light users at home or in the office.
HP Pavilion Mini review
Design
Weighing only a little over 660g (1.45lbs) and with a diminutive footprint of 144mm x 144mm x 52mm (W x D x H), the HP Pavilion Mini takes up less desk space than the Apple Mac Mini (although it's slightly taller), and slightly more than the Acer Revo One R85L (which is nearly three times as tall); if you didn't know better you could easily confuse the Pavilion Mini for an external hard drive or Wi-Fi router.
Styling is reminiscent of an early 2000s Apple iMac, favouring the combination of shiny white and semi-translucent plastics over utilitarian aluminium bodies you'll find on so many other Mac clones. With miniature proportions and not a square corner in sight, the Pavilion Mini is a cute little machine that would grace even the coolest of workspaces.
Up front there are twin USB 3.0 sockets alongside the power button, while on the right there's a handy SD card slot for easy photo access. On the rear there are two more USB 3.0 ports alongside a HDMI, DisplayPort, RJ45 Network, 3.5mm combined headphone/microphone and DC power sockets.
The underside is covered in a rubber pad which stops the Pavilion Mini sliding around, which can be removed to enable access to the screws you'll need to undo in order to access the internals.
The review model we were sent had the capable 1.9GHz i3-4025U processor rather than the bog-standard Pentium 3558U some models are stuck with.
Alongside the base model and the model we reviewed, HP also offers a nippier Mini in the form of an i5-5200U coupled with 8GB of RAM, rather than the 4GB in our model. 500GB or 1TB storage options are available (with our model featuring the latter, larger drive).
Depending on where you purchase the Pavilion Mini from, you may find a HP-branded keyboard and mouse thrown in, although it's a pretty cheap wireless combo that doesn't exactly match the Pavilion Mini's Apple-esque aesthetics.
HP Pavilion Mini review
Specifications
The full specifications of the model we reviewed are as follows:
- CPU: 1.9GHz Intel Core i3-40255U.
- Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 5500.
- RAM: 4GB 1,600MHZ DDR3 SDRAM.?
- Storage: 1TB 5,400rpm HDD.?
- Optical drive: N/A.?
- Ports: 4 x USB 3.0, HDMI, DisplayPort, headphone/microphone jack, SD Card.
- ?Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet.?
- Size: 144mm x 144mm x 52mm (W x D x H).
- ?OS: 64-bit Windows 8 (Upgradable to Windows 10)
On paper the specification doesn't look bad for such a diminutive unit, and indeed real-world performance was better than I had anticipated from such a tiny package. The Pavilion Mini booted in just a few seconds, and video streaming at 1080p didn't seem to be an issue.
After dabbling in a few of the bundled programs I wasn't ever left feeling like HP's mini PC was being massively overworked, although this is certainly no powerhouse of a machine.
More powerful options are available for a very similar price to the mid-range Pavilion Mini, including the equally white and curvaceous, but slightly larger, Acer Revo R85L, or even the Mac Mini, both of which come in at around £399 (Around $499 in the US, or AU$620).
Benchmarks
It's unlikely that anyone would buy the HP Pavilion Mini with 3D gaming or other high-end tasks like video-editing in mind, but to make a fair comparison with other mini PCs we ran it through the usual range of tests.
Here's how the HP Pavilion Mini performed in our suite of benchmark tests :
- 3D Mark: Cloud Gate: 3489; Sky Diver: 2,212; Fire Strike: 477
- Cinebench: CPU (single): 60 points; CPU (multi): 116 points; Graphics: 18fps
- PC Mark 8 (Home Test): 2,347 points
I was pleasantly surprised to see Futuremark's Cloud Gate benchmark play out at a reasonable frame-rate, and while the more intensive Sky Diver and Fire Strike tests ran at considerably lower speeds (rarely making it out of single-digit frame rates), they did at least run, which is more than can be said for some miniature PCs we've seen.
Of course, scores are considerably lower than the gaming-centric Maingear Spark, which managed over 5,000 in the Cloud Gate demo, but the Pavilion Mini wiped the floor with the cut-price Asus EeeBox, which only managed less than half the score.
In Cinebench the Pavilion Mini managed CPU scores that were about on par with the Intel NUC, although GPU scores were considerably better, proving that the Intel HD 4400 graphics are far from being the laughing stock they were only a few years ago.
Bundled software
The HP Pavilion Mini comes loaded with Windows 8.1 , and can easily be upgraded to Windows 10 . While Windows 8 may not have been everyone's operating system of choice, the second iteration of Microsoft's outgoing OS copes well on lower-end configurations such as this, even if it generally feels like it's more suited to touchscreen interactions.
HP has never been one for offering its PCs with a barebones Windows install, and an almost obese range of applications are pre-installed, many of which you'll likely want to uninstall straight away.
HP Pavilion Mini review
McAffee's suite is the antivirus of choice (though it is just a trial), while a selection of Cyberlink media applications offer photo and video playback and light editing.
A large number of casual games are also ready to play from WildTangent, although you won't find any triple-A titles here. The best of the bunch is probably Plants VS Zombies, although I consider even this a waste of valuable storage space.
Other Windows 8 apps such as TripAdvisor, The Weather Channel and Evernote are frankly bloatware.
With an increasing selection of small form factor PCs it's, this market is becoming an increasingly tough one for any one brand to dominate. Looks, price and performance vary wildly, and HP caters for a range of price and performance requirements with the Pavilion Mini, while rivalling Apple for looks, even though it's of plastic construction rather than Cupertino's trademark sleek aluminium.
We liked
The Pavilion Mini is a compact package that looks the part, and could happily find itself either at home fulfilling the job as a media portal or homework PC, or in the office, crunching through office documents with ease.
HP has spread itself widely with the range of specifications on offer, with a £249.99 ($269 or AU$349) starting point seeming pretty competitive in light of the competition from Acer and Apple. Compared to some competitors, the variety of ports and plentiful USB connections is a pleasant surprise for such a small form factor.
While the benchmarks didn't blow us away, neither did they massively disappoint, and they suggest that the mid-range model we were reviewing has sufficient grunt for any slightly more intensive tasks you may ask of it.
We disliked
HP has crammed an awful lot into this compact package, and despite the multiple ports on offer upgrade options are very limited. The only component you could even consider upgrading is the RAM, and doing this requires exposing the delicately stacked innards.
The bundled selection of software was thoroughly uninspiring. I would have hoped for more apps that play to the potential qualities of a miniature PC as a home streaming hub or cloud computing companion, rather than the numerous awful games.
Final verdict
If you're looking for a mini computer to look smart in the office, sit surreptitiously under your TV or meet the compact requirements of a kid's homework needs, then the HP Pavilion Mini is a smart contender.
While the base specification may not meet the requirements of gamers (who will want to consider the Maingear Spark or Alienware Alpha ), or more intensive tasks, the higher-end model more than meets the needs of those looking for a home entertainment computer, and it's priced favourably against the Acer Revo RL85 .
The mid-range specification of the model we reviewed compares favourably against similarly priced but less powerful competitors like the Intel NUC , and the good looks make it a smart Windows alternative to the Mac Mini.
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