Following that is a detailed breakdown of how to buy the right model for you. First, we've broken out the best mini PCs we've tested below, according to the usage case. Our guide here will explore the nuances of today's smallest PCs. You need to leave some space for ports to plug in a thing or two. Nowadays, miniaturization is getting to the point where you can't go all that much smaller. But starting with the 'small-form-factor' (SFF) PC revolution of the '00s, many desktops have gone from half-size towers to compact cubes to, in their most extreme reduction, sticks not much bigger than a USB flash drive.Ī big reason why? Graphics acceleration and other essential features, handled in the past by separate chips or bulky cards, have been subsumed under the CPU. Of course, it's still easy enough to find ordinary business boxes and hulking power towers packed with big video cards and multiple platter-based hard drives. Most of the acceleration toward super-small desktop PCs has happened over the last decade or so. But fast-forward half a century or so, and oh, micro, how you've changed!

The term 'microcomputer' has its origins in the 1970s-the 'micro' of the personal computers emerging then lay in stark contrast to the room-size mainframe beasts of the day. Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions.

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