But if you ditched the USB-C port with Power Delivery for a dedicated Power Delivery, that wouldn’t help, right? You can make the device bigger to make more connections possible, but these larger devices do exist, and the whole selling point is the compact size. This is no different with other small devices like the raspberry pi. This device has a lot of connections for its size!
The complaint here isn’t that the power goes beyond USB-C, but that there aren’t enough USB-C connections (with USB 4). If you put an additional dedicated power connection on it, you can also put a third USB-C port on it, of course, the internal hardware can handle that.
There must be a downside if a standard USB-C charger doesn’t work with devices like this that don’t use much power! USB-PD currently reaches 240 watts. It will soon be able to charge a whole range of devices via USB-C in the European Union. In a few years (Spring 2026), laptops will also be included. The whole idea behind this is that you get great compatibility between chargers.
An additional advantage of USB-C as a mandatory standard is that you can assume that almost every new workplace from now on, under capable management, offers the ability to connect everything via a single USB-C cable (USB-PD, video, ethernet and peripherals). There is a good case for using such a small PC with you instead of a bulky laptop if your workplace has all the equipment anyway. This device weighs 238 grams. This is lighter (2 grams) than the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max, the lightest laptops at an hourly price starting at just 800 grams.
With a dedicated power connection with its own power connection, you’re clashing with the full use case of a compact, lightweight PC. That might be fine for a lot of people, but there are actually excellent hardware available for that (including from Minisforum itself). I stress that the downside is not that the power exceeds USB-C, but that there are too few USB-C / 4 ports for some people (excellent downside, this will be an issue for enough people and should be taken into account when buying).