are there any older ex-office mini PCs like the elitedesk, optiplex, thinkstation, etc models that can fit a 3.5" drive? Not looking for anything new and thus expensive, just want some old junker (6/7/8th gen Intel) that can host some light stuff. thanks
Thing is - “mini” PCs old enough to have 3.5 slots are probably way too old to have decent CPUs.
The micro/tiny form factor PCs generally only have space for a 2.5" drive, while the SFF/desktop size PCs can fit at least one 3.5" drive.
Dell, 8th Gen Intel with one 3.5" drive bay: https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-us/optiplex-7060-sff/opti_7060_sff_setup_specs_manual/storage?guid=guid-4eab9a0b-c403-4bcd-b692-9419bddfed24&lang=en-us
Lenovo, should have one 3.5" drive bay: https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/desktops/thinkcentre/m-series-sff/thinkcentre-m920s/11tc1mdm92s?orgRef=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.com%252F&srsltid=AfmBOorJ_EUW-QYIIIGy3i7ZJbitPq8UWoxdoQxtM_BNabrKcNojn7WL#tech_specs
Why 3.5" drive? (Just curious).
I’ve found prices aren’t necessarily any better at that size.
Not the OP, but capacity: there aren’t 20TB 2.5 drives.
(Or 18, 16, 14, 12, or 10TB ones, for that matter…)
Kinda a dead-end product since laptops are all on SSDs, and enterprises have flocked to SSDs as well and that was essentially the entire market for that size of HDD.
Capacity like that is the only reason I could think of.
Tons. Go look for refurb units from any of the big manufacturers, but I doubt you’ll get them at steal prices. Have a look at the Minisforum larger format models that are more updated and $250-400. They can fit that and more. The MS-01 is a gem.
