BIOSTAR Racing P1 Mini-PC Review

Peter Donnell / 8 years ago

Final Thoughts

Pricing

The Biostar Racing P1 is available for just $159 from Takas.lk. Hopefully, we’ll see stock at other retailers very soon, but I suspect this is a popular item at this price, and may be out of stock on a regular basis. Either way, for under $200 I see this as very good value for money for such a compact and portable system.

Overview

This is where the review gets interesting, as if I were to base my whole review on the performance figures, you may think it’s a pile of junk; far from it. The performance on the BIOSTAR Racing P1 is great, especially given how compact the unit is. While it doesn’t do well running extreme number crunching benchmarks, remember that’s not what this system was designed for.

Perfect for the Home Office

I use online editors such as WordPress and Google Docs on a daily basis. For this kind of application, the P1 works perfectly. It handled multiple chrome tabs, large images, and gave a smooth user experience on an HD monitor, and it certainly didn’t give me the impression of using an underpowered system. Overall, for day-to-day browsing, it works fantastically.

How is it in Adobe?

Honestly, it’s not bad at all. For editing single images I found it more that efficient. While running a script on multiple images, the process did take a fair bit longer than my desktop system would. However, as an extra system in the spare office, it’s fine for some light editing. However, I wouldn’t even consider using this system to render or edit video files, it just doesn’t have the power for it.

To Plex or Not to Plex?

Since I’m very big on home media libraries such as Plex, Kodi, and many others, I need a device to play my media back on. While the P1 does fit the bill, what’s important to stress is that it would make a terrible media server. Unfortunately, the CPU is too slow to transcode, and the storage options aren’t ideal. However, for a smart home multimedia player, it’ll sit under or behind you TV just fine.

Can it Play Games?

It’s not ideal for gaming unless you don’t mind sticking to Solitaire or Minesweeper. While the built-in iGPU is enough for productivity, that’s about it. Of course, there are a few other technologies that help out a lot. If you’re using a digital game streaming service, such as PlayStation Now, it’s a good hub for doing so. There are a lot of USB ports, so hooking up controllers is a breeze. You can install Steam, so you can use it for Steam In-Home Streaming to play your games around the house on another display using the P1.

Portability and Power

The P1 uses less power than some household devices use in standby. Furthermore, it’s extremely efficient and completely silent. The P1 is also extremely portable and you can literally put it in your pocket. Sure, you’ll also need a mouse, keyboard, or whatever controllers you require, but you could easily travel with it if needed. Overall, that’s a nice prospect for those who need a mobile work system.

Pros