Pros: - Price
- Features

Cons: - Multiple HW failures across two separate units
- Unit is very choosy about what RAM it will accept
- Cover is difficult to get back on after making hardware changes

Other Thoughts: I have been setting up PCs since the min-90s. This one sadly proved to be the biggest waste of time, at least from what I can recall. When the original unit arrived I immediately added 8GB of RAM (2x4). After reading other reviews on how picky this PC can be, I made sure to order RAM that was on the MSI website under the "recommend" section for this device. I also inserted my mSATA device and powered on the PC. No video. Changed out HDMI cable, tried display port. Nothing. Took out RAM from DIMM2 slot - voila, video out was working and I could get into the bios! I powered it off and changed out RAM sticks. It still posted (so both of my RAM sticks were fine). I then placed a call to MSI for support on the non-functioning DIMM2 slot. They recommended flashing the bios. This proved to be a flaming PITA as I had Ubuntu 14.04 installed on the mSATA (did this with just the one stick in stalled) and the easy way to flash the bios was with Windows installed. After Googling around, I found some instructions for making a bootable flash drive to update bios. Bios was then updated to the latest version. Powered off. Added second stick of RAM to DIMM2 - no dice. Removed it, video came back. At this point I was almost willing to roll with it because the PC was such a good price and 4GB was realistically all I needed (I just wanted the second stick for the double data rate). I tried to boot to my Ubuntu OS - no dice. Huh? I also noticed the fan speed was running at max when in the bios. Dug deeper - HDD no longer recognized. I have another gigabyte brand cube that is only a celeron that does some backups for me and so I shut that down and borrowed the mSATA from it. Not recognized. Swapped all my components into the Gigabyte branded cube, it worked fine. Called MSI back to report my findings and they said that, with all my testing, it would seem the second DIMM slot was non functioning and, given the fact that I just ordered it from Newegg I should RMA to them. I initiated a replacement RMA to Newegg and had them do an advanced replacement RMA so I would get the replacement ASAP. The replacement showed up two days later and this time I could not get any video regardless of whether I had one DIMM or two DIMMS installed (again, using RAM from the recommended list for this device). I RMA'd a second time, this time for a refund. I then ordered a Gigabyte GB-BXi3-4010 (which was more expensive, but came with an mSATA and 4GB of RAM). I had purchased those separately so I didn't necessarily need them, but the combo would be a great deal for someone who needed all the parts offered. The Gigabyte showed up today and I installed the same RAM and mSata into it that I was attempting to use in the MSI. Everything worked flawlessly and Linux ws up and running in less than 30 seconds from power on (after a quick stop i the bios to confirm all RAM was showing, etc).

Conclusion: Don't waste your time on this device, get a Gigabyte. I have two of them now and have never had these sorts of issues.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear David,
Sorry to hear about the issue you reported. Before considering an RMA can you check following steps below since many reasons can cause the situation like this ,
1. Check and make sure that power are connected firmly, clear CMOS.
2. Check your other major hardware’s (memory and hard drive) to ensure that they are not the cause of the issue.
3. If possible udate to latest BIOS provided from our website for best results. www.MSI.com
4. If you need further assistant, please feel free to contact our technical support department directly at 888-447-6564 from M to F, 5am to 7pm Pacific standard Time.

Thanks for choosing MSI

Best Regards,
MSI Review Team | usreview@msi.com

Pros: -Powerful for its small size
-Quiet! You really have to listen hard to even notice its on.
-Mountable! I have the little machine mounted on the back of a monitor out of the way.

Cons: -The case scratches too easily, not a big deal though if its not being moved around.

Other Thoughts: -This is a great little machine. I bought it to install Windows Server 2012r2 Datacenter edition in order to study for exams (It works nicely! The only thing one will have to do is go to intels website and download the newest video drivers in order to install them on windows 2012 (the provided ones will not work with the os).

Pros: Inexpensive, small, easy to get up and running.
Overall, a decent bang-for-the-buck device.

Cons: Could have included an IR Remote, but at this price range, I'm not subtracting points for that.

Other Thoughts: I purchased this Mini-PC to use with my new 4K TV for HTPC purposes, and am completely happy with my decision so far. Hardware assembly/installation was trivial with a Samsung 850 Evo MSATA, and a 2x8GB Crucial DDR3L-1600 kit. Windows installation was completely painless using the Windows 10 - 1511 release on a flash drive, and Windows installed all the necessary drivers automatically. The Cubi handles 4K video output very smoothly using the Broadwell-integrated HD Graphics 5500 GPU, and will even output 2160p@24Hz over HDMI 1.4 (even though Intel specs for the i3-5005U w/ HD 5500 limit HDMI output to 2560x1600@60Hz).

I actually got the Cubi is actually to replace a BeeBox I picked up on a whim because the BeeBox rebate made it an impulse purchase. It turns out that not all Celeron's are based on the same architecture as the Core i3/i5/i7 anymore, and because Braswell-based chips are essentially Atom CPUs, the BB didn't have the horsepower to keep up with the needs of 4K HTPC duties.

Pros: -Looked cool for when I had it.

Cons: -Finicky on what memory can be used. Doesn't work with Samsung memory apparently. There is a BIOS update that can apparently fix or help this, however I didn't get to test that far.
-Screen flickered on and off repeatedly under Windows 10, off for 3 seconds or more, then back on for a couple of seconds, then back off. Tried rolling back to Windows 7, tried with old drivers, new drivers, still the issue remained. Completely unusable with the Display output, which is what I needed. HDMI seems to be more reliable, however the issue did happen a couple times with that output as well.
-Getting Windows running was a 2 day ordeal that finished with me mirroring an existing HDD onto the one I had installed, (OS wouldnt run) then installing Windows 7, (Hard drive was available to be used after the mirror by windows install) then upgrading to 10, realizing that the video was garbage, then setting back to 7 and trying all distros of the video driver.

Other Thoughts: Don't get this thing. Seriously. It is not worth your time to wrestle with a machine that does not want to work. I am returning this, and I recommend you find another solution for your budget build needs.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Daniel,
Sorry to hear about the issue you reported. Can you provide us with the full specification of your Samsung ram? Before considering an RMA can you check following steps below since many reasons can cause the situation like this ,
1. Check and make sure that power are connected firmly, clear CMOS.
2. Check your other major hardware’s you added to ensure that they are not the cause of the issue.If you have one module make sure it's in dim 1.
3. If you need further assistant, please feel free to contact our technical support department directly at 626.271.1004 from M to F, 6am to 6pm Pacific standard Time.

Thanks for choosing MSI

Best Regards,
MSI Review Team | usreview@msi.com

Pros: small, very small, tucks neatly out of the way

Cons: This is an update to my previous post, I originally purchased this for use on a 4K UHDTV as a HTPC. Well, it now transpires (after contact with MSI that this unit is NOT HDMI 2.0 compatible so no 4K video at 60Hz. I feel that I have been done as all the literature made me believe that HDMI 2.0 was supported.
From MSI: HDMI can support 4K at 30hz

Other Thoughts: This is Intel's reply (as it uses the 5500 GPU):HD5500 (Broadwell) graphics does support 4K@60 in general. Setting this mode requires at least 540MHz core display clock (CDCLK) to drive a ~536MHz dot clock. If the OEM (MSI in this case) does not support 540MHz or higher CDCLK in the system BIOS, the system will not be able to drive 4K@60 over SST, only over MST (tiled display). I would recommend contacting MSI to verify their support for SST and 540MHz CDCLK.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,
Our MSI Cubi barebone does support this resolution in dual memory channel mode. Please do not hesitate to contact us directly at usreview@msi.com and we will be more than happy to assist you, thank you.

Best Regards,
MSI Review Team | usreview@msi.com

Pros: Description here is somewhat confusing, this unit has an Intel Core i3-5005U @ 2.0GHz and the max memory is 16G (remember to use 1.35V SO-DIMM). For what it is worth I did a Windows Experience Index which came up with a figure of 5.7 which is not too bad at all! Purchased this for a HTPC on a 4K TV @60HZ.

Cons: The lid can be quite awkward to install

Other Thoughts: System:
Cubi-004BUS-W3500UXX
2x8G G.SKILL F3-1600C90-16GRSL
Patriot M3 SSD
Win7 64