I finally found a mini PC with a striking design (and the power to back it up)

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The Herk Pulsar is avaialble now from the official website for $309.
• This tiny PC has more power than you’ll need for average tasks.
• Certain colorways tend to sell out quickly.

I’ve tested a lot of Mini PCs, and they tend to fall into one of two categories: underwhelming or overachieving. Most of them tend to lean toward the former category, but when you find one that lives in the latter space, it’s a pretty cool experience.

Also: The best mini PCs you can buy

When I opened the Herk Pulsar that was sent to me, the tiny green PC immediately had me saying, “Well, that’s stinkin’ cute.” But is it worth the $309 price tag?

It didn’t take long to answer that question.

My experience

A tiny, cute PC doesn’t always inspire confidence in its performance; Is it made for a child? Or maybe it was built to serve as nothing more than a tool for browsing the web. After all, that’s the majority of what people do these days on their PCs.

I do want to preface this by saying that most of these tiny PCs I test offer Linux versions, but for whatever reason, the companies keep sending me devices powered by Windows, and every single time, I wind up frustrated with the OS. 

That’s not a slight on the hardware, but when you’re used to the efficiency and ease of use that Linux delivers, having to deal with Windows never fails to feel as if you’ve taken a step backward.

To begin, the setup of Windows is a time-consuming pain. Where Linux boots for the first time and you’re off to the races in seconds, Windows takes an ungodly amount of time to update, set up your user account, offer you a lot of upgrades that you’ll inevitably decline, util finally land you on the login screen.

After roughly forty-five minutes of typing, clicking, and waiting, I arrived at the login screen and typed my PIN. As soon as I found myself on the desktop, I started opening apps to get an initial feel for how the Pulsar reacted, and I was immediately impressed.

Also: Mini PC vs. desktop vs. laptop: Which is the best computer for you?

Microsoft Edge opened almost immediately. I compared the time it took Edge to open on the Pulsar vs. my System76 Thelio (which is a beast of a computer), and the Pulsar actually managed to open Edge faster. Granted, the Pulsar has a bit of an advantage, seeing as how Edge is a Microsoft product, but to test that, I installed Opera to see how it fared.

To my surprise, even Opera opened instantly.

My next trick was installing Ollama/Msty to see how the Pulsar would handle local AI. I was certain the Pulsar would choke on this process, but to my surprise, it handled it very well. Although I had to install/use Msty in CPU-only mode, I found it to be very responsive. 

Also: Why this SSD docking station is one of my best investments for my PC – and it’s on sale

When running a query, there’s an obvious pause at the beginning, but when the response finally comes, it’s far faster than using it on either my MacBook Pro (M1) or my Thelio. That’s huge.

There was only one time when I heard the Pulsar fan kick in, and that was when using Msty. This came as no surprise, given how much of a resource hog localized AI can be (especially when in CPU-only mode). Even so, the fan was barely noticeable (I just happened to be in a very quiet room).

ZDNET’S buying advice

The conclusion is simple: the Herk Pulsar is a tiny little speed demon, and if you’re looking for an inexpensive PC that takes up very little room (but delivers big on power), this little fellow is a win-win. On top of that, you can get the Pulsar in cool colors: green, blue, pink, or red. 

And given the Pulsar is currently 13% off (original price is $360), I suggest scoring one of these now before they’re all gone. If I had limited space and wanted an AMD Ryzen 7-powered PC, you can bet I’d jump on this. Of course, I’d order a Linux version because I can only imagine that it would perform even better than the Windows option.

Also: I replaced my Linux system with this $200 Windows mini PC – and it left me impressed

Herk Pulsar tech specs

• CPU – AMD Ryzen 7 (2.0 GHz base with 4.5 GHz boost) with 8 cores and 16 threads
• GPU – Radeon Vega 8 iGPU
• RAM – LPDDR4 3200 dual SODIMM
• Storage – M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe4.0 x 4 (1TB included).
• Connectivity – 2.5 Gbps LAN, WiFi6e, Bluetooth 5.2.
• Ports – USB 3.2 x 2, USB 2 X 2, USB 4 X 2
• Dimensions – 110 mm x 110 mm x 45 mm

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