Stay away from this mini PC company — I already gave it more chances than I should

[Windows Central]

Mini PCs are inexpensive and compact, but you need to be careful when buying one. Some come with shady software installed.

Stay away from this mini PC company — I already gave it more chances than I should : Read more

 

[damiandixon]

I've just purchased a beelink N100 with 16Gb of memory and a 500Gb m.2 SSD.

Windows Pro 11 came installed with the usual activation login on first boot. It's an OEM windows install. No pre installed software. Windows appears to be legit.

I will be running a virus scan from a bootable usb stick now as I'm curious.

Either way I will be wiping the OS and installing opnsense as my primary reason for buying this is to use it as a software firewall.

 

[vuser]

Issues with the software should really not be a reason to completely stay away from the product but rather proceed with caution. If the hardware is decent and fairly priced I would probably give it a shot after I've reinstalled Windows or whatever other OS I decided to put on it before using it.

It's always best to wipe the OS and reinstall fresh even when buying something from HP, Dell, Lenovo, etc. Pretty much every prebuilt system gets loaded with bloatware that's definitely not needed.

 

[iSingh]

The real problem here is not the PC but the competence of the user.
1. Why would you connect an unknown machine to your private network without checking it first? (That's what public/guest networks are for).
2. This IT professional doesn't seem to know the difference between a browser, search engine and software.
3. Resetting windows does exactly that, reset. So why didn't she test the machine after that?
4. I don't know any IT professionals who do a 'Bing search'.

The technical awareness in the article was very weak.

 

[BerMM]

Fortunately I was spared this because my AMR05 5800U was barebones. I agree though that anything bought from this company with a drive should immediately get a clean Windows install, starting with removing all partitions.

 

[larakurst]

Wait If they know you're a reviewer, and they know that you found their spyware on their mini PC and their cover story is to tell you that it doesn't exist on the newer model, why would they then send you a model with that exact same spyware on it? It makes no sense. That's the most brain dead **** I've ever heard in my whole life

It's like a food reviewer telling you that you're feeding them like plastic and you obviously are and you're like oh well in this other restaurant that doesn't happen and then he goes there and you literally just hand him like Play-Doh

 

[ikonomn]

I don't think the windows installation is an issue to suggest to stay away from any hardware as long as you have the ability to wipeout the partitions hidden and visible and install a new instance of the preferred operating system.
If you don't have the skills required, you should use a professional to handle it.

 

[GraniteStateColin]

The real problem here is not the PC but the competence of the user.
1. Why would you connect an unknown machine to your private network without checking it first? (That's what public/guest networks are for).
2. This IT professional doesn't seem to know the difference between a browser, search engine and software.
3. Resetting windows does exactly that, reset. So why didn't she test the machine after that?
4. I don't know any IT professionals who do a 'Bing search'.

The technical awareness in the article was very weak.

The article is obviously not written for IT people, and that's fine. Most people who buy cheap computers for personal use are NOT IT people. This article is appropriate for the target audience.

More important, she's absolutely correct that no one should buy a PC from a company that includes that kind of malware. At best, they are cutting their prices knowing that can later monetize a portion of their customers' usage without telling them. The fact that they told her they're not doing that was apparently a lie and therefore this company is committing fraud against its customers.

 

[GraniteStateColin]

I don't think the windows installation is an issue to suggest to stay away from any hardware as long as you have the ability to wipeout the partitions hidden and visible and install a new instance of the preferred operating system.
If you don't have the skills required, you should use a professional to handle it.

That's fair and usually true, but Rebecca is correct that this company's anti-customer practices merit staying away from them. To your specific point, any company who would lie to their customers as these guys did to Rebecca may well have taken steps to embed the restoration of their malware onto the drive following a reformat. I would not trust the hardware either at this point. It's clearly part of the criminal (based on their fraudulent communications outlined in the article) organization's model to steer search traffic in order to monetize customers' usage w/o their knowledge. Anyone who would do that might also invest the modest amount needed to ensure customers can't easily opt out by simply reformatting and reinstalling Windows.

 

[GraniteStateColin]

Rebecca, based on the several defensive responses here from people I never see post on Windows Central, I wonder if some or all of these posts are by AceMagic people. Anyway, one question for you: you had said that Chrome was preinstalled. Was Edge there too and did it work with Bing for search, or had they also crippled Edge and Bing to force users onto Chrome? If they did cripple Edge, did you notice what effect this had on the Widgets links or Copilot features that work with Edge by default even when another browser is installed?

 

[wojtek]

@GraniteStateColin ekhm... enough with conspiracy ;-)

Rebecca's articles are usually... "weird" bordering on incompetence tbh...

It's nice to call out shady company, but the whole thing just feels off. She got the machine from "the rep", maybe there was some malpractice?

Besides, I though that times when OEMs loaded their crapon Windows are already the past... Lenovo at al are not that much better here... they only load more known crap like macafee xD

 

[GraniteStateColin]

@GraniteStateColin ekhm... enough with conspiracy ;-)

Rebecca's articles are usually... "weird" bordering on incompetence tbh...

It's nice to call out shady company, but the whole thing just feels off. She got the machine from "the rep", maybe there was some malpractice?

Besides, I though that times when OEMs loaded their crapon Windows are already the past... Lenovo at al are not that much better here... they only load more known crap like macafee xD

Well, the "rep" would be the person at the company who works with media. Depending on the size of the company, this could be someone on a sales or marketing team or, especially for very small companies, it could be one of the same people who does the system work. Seems more likely to me it's someone in sales or marketing who may not even have known about the Chrome issue (or they likely would have taken time to remove that before sending another one to Rebecca based on her original critique).

Regarding the conspiracy theory -- yeah, certainly could be unaffiliated comments (I don't claim to know otherwise, admittedly nothing more than speculation), but at the same time, I can assure that the company would have known about this article, whether because the rep would have told his or her employer about the article as part of getting permission to send a free test system to Rebecca or because every company (especially smaller ones) monitors the Internet for news and reviews involving their company name. Companies like Mention are in the business of providing links to every time a new page "mentions" the company name or other keywords to companies for exactly this purpose. If I worked for AceMagic, I would respond and defend my company's products, so not an irrational speculation. Of course, I would probably disclose my association, but given the ethical challenges these guys appear to have, not surprising if they don't come out and say that.

 

[GraniteStateColin]

One counter to my own earlier point inspired by @wojtek , and a failure on my part to follow one of my rules of human behavior: don't assume malice when incompetence, stupidity, or legitimate ignorance could explain a problem (good advice for marriage and working with companies). I had said, based on Rebecca's reporting, they lied and committed fraud. Overall, as a company (again, just based on the reporting here and assuming it's all true), they did. However, as individuals, it could be that the person answering Rebecca's question genuinely had no idea.

She probably spoke with someone on their sales or marketing team (perhaps Rebecca Spear can confirm or correct that). That person may very well not have had any idea that the systems they built included a customized Chrome. Salespeople rarely have all the details and full strategy of their company. In fact, companies often keep their front-line staff intentionally in the dark to avoid product leaks and better control their own narrative.

By the way, if anyone comes on this article after having bought an AceMagic mini-PC, here's some info on removing navwithus from Chrome: https://malwaretips.com/blogs/how-to-remove-nav-browser-extension-virus/

 

[wojtek]

Seems more likely to me it's someone in sales or marketing who may not even have known about the Chrome issue (or they likely would have taken time to remove that before sending another one to Rebecca based on her original critique).

This, or even more - maybe they are somewhat under stuffed and some "sales rep" didn't bother / didn't know how to clean up the machine / factory reset before sending out.

Yes, it happened again but assuming it's just company doing shady things without drilling down into subject and getting clarrification is odd...

 

[ProtagorasEmber]

The last time I bought a mini PC was almost 10 years ago. The company/computer was called Kangaroo and it was the size of a cellphone. If you were using Bluetooth to connect input devices as well as using screencast you could forgo the attachable dock that added a couple of inches to the length of the device but with the attachable dock that came with the device you could hook up a monitor/TV via HDMI and make use of 2 or 3 USB 3.0 ports. It ran Windows 10 IIRC and ran Titan Quest at 60 fps, along with being able to handle a slew of other indie games that I threw at it. Actually I know how to find out when I had it... I was in the hospital with a chest tube, pneumonia with pleurisy, they had to drain over 2,000 ml of fluid from my left chest cavity, and while I was in there using my hospital room's TV as my display I bought the first Mega Man Legacy Collection and Bunker Punks and The Final Station..... it was September 2016...

So anyway yeah, top marks for that little gadget, but sadly I sold it to a pawnshop at which one of the chickies working there sassed the guy who showed interest, questioning why anyone would every buy something like that and what possible value something like that could ever have. I'll tell you what value it has, when it comes in handy to have a miniPC; when you're in the hospital for 2 weeks and dragging in and setting up a full fledged gaming rig on top of your bed's serving tray might get frowned upon.

That little thing saved my sanity. Sadly I don't think the company even exists anymore. The only place to buy a new one back then was, and no I'm not making this up, was the Microsoft Storefront, but if you wanna see what it is that I'm blathering on about, I'm sure you can find one on eBay. And if you are ever hospitalized and all you need to get by is to be able to play the first Killing Floor on the hospital's WiFi, you could do worse than a Kangaroo.

 

[radfordra]

Rebecca, based on the several defensive responses here from people I never see post on Windows Central, I wonder if some or all of these posts are by AceMagic people. Anyway, one question for you: you had said that Chrome was preinstalled. Was Edge there too and did it work with Bing for search, or had they also crippled Edge and Bing to force users onto Chrome? If they did cripple Edge, did you notice what effect this had on the Widgets links or Copilot features that work with Edge by default even when another browser is installed?

Anyone with half a braincell knows always to make a usb install of the OS from Microsoft directly and wipe the prebuilt system before connecting it to your network or loading your credentials and personal information. This applies to every prebuilt not just AceMagic.

 

[GraniteStateColin]

Anyone with half a braincell knows always to make a usb install of the OS from Microsoft directly and wipe the prebuilt system before connecting it to your network or loading your credentials and personal information. This applies to every prebuilt not just AceMagic.

While there's nothing wrong with doing that, given that the percentage of PC buyers who do that is near or less than 1%, I don't think it's reasonable to say that they must have less than "half a braincell." I generally build my own PC's when buying for personal use and so install Windows from an MS image. But even I don't wipe the drive on laptops (the only situation where it's not reasonable to build your own). I never screw with the manufacturer's install, because that always causes more problems than removing the bloatware solves.

As just one related example, I recently "upgraded" the video drivers on an HP Spectre x360 from HP's to Intel's, because HP's were several months out of date, and Intel's were current. But the Intel drivers lacked some of HP's customizations that turned out to be needed on the Spectre and broke the display. I had to revert to the HP drivers (via Remote Desktop, because the display was shot on the laptop within Windows), which restored function.

I think in general (there are of course exceptions) most people who start with a clean install of Windows are doing so with a custom-built system they built for themselves, not a prebuilt system they ordered. Most people who pay for a prebuilt system don't then wipe it out to start over from scratch. If they were going to spend the time doing that, they would also choose to save themselves some money and just build their own system and install a clean OS from the beginning.