OpenClaw powers $99 mini PC but it's an AI agentic trap wrapped in Windows 11, delivered with a CPU from 2011 - choose a refurbished PC instead

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It's not exactly a deal when you look closely at the details

Wo-we P6 Lite Mini PC, HP EliteDesk 800 G5-SFF Mini PC, Lenovo Thinkcentre M75S G2 SFF Mini PC on a yellow background with a price cut text overlay
(Image credit: Future)

The manufacturer of the 'bonkers' Xeon PC we previewed a few days ago came up with another outrageous design. The S1 is based on a recycled 15-year old CPU - an Intel Core i3-2100 - and is positioned as a low budget mini PC for AI task automation using OpenClaw.

At $99 down from $199 at Newegg, it's more a cautionary tale rather than a decent deal. So no, don't buy this piece of technology that belongs to a museum, an example of a company astroturfing on a red-hot technology term to sell old tat.

If your budget can extend to $200 (but not beyond), these are the PC’s I’d recommend instead. Just bear in mind that they will only be useful for light office work and casual gaming.

wo-we P6 Lite
Save 9% ($20)
wo-we P6 Lite: was $219 now $199 at Amazon

AMD Ryzen 5 3500U | 8GB DDR4 | 256GB SSD

The wo-we P6 Lite offers impressive value at. Despite its compact size, it supports triple 4K displays via USB-C and dual HDMI ports, making it ideal for office work, entertainment, or home use. WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, and Gigabit Ethernet provide fast, stable connectivity. You won’t get a faster new PC under $200.

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HP Elitedesk 800 G5-SFF
HP Elitedesk 800 G5-SFF: $195.56 at Amazon

Intel Core i5-9500 | 16GB RAM | 256GB SSD

This is a certified refurbished that looks and works like new. It comes with a 90-day warranty which you can increase to three years for only $28.99. This EliteDesk 800 is a business PC so the build quality will be way better than new mini PC sold for the same price and it comes with Windows 11 Pro, a mouse and keyboard and plenty of expansion ports.

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Lenovo Thinkcentre M75S
Lenovo Thinkcentre M75S: $198.99 at Amazon

AMD Ryzen 3 PEO 5350G | 8GB RAM | 256GB SSD

Another refreshed computer and this one is far faster than anything in this price range with a very capable Radeon Graphics. It runs Windows 11 Pro and has Lenovo’s pedigree to back it up. Shame about the 8GB DDR4 RAM but at least you should be able to upgrade it on the cheap.

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Desire Athow
Desire Athow
Managing Editor, TechRadar Pro

Désiré has been musing and writing about technology during a career spanning four decades. He dabbled in website builders and web hosting when DHTML and frames were in vogue and started narrating about the impact of technology on society just before the start of the Y2K hysteria at the turn of the last millennium.

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