Basics for a noob! What do I need to know.

[alzoo]

Hi everyone,  happy new year for 2020!

I recently just bought myself a mini PC.  it is a ACEPC T11, the main reason I bought this is it's small and has the ability to add a 2.5 sata disk which I did.

This mini PC is a intel atom cherry trail z8350 and it has a AMI uEFI  BIOS.
It came installed windows 10 home and i've installed all the latest drivers etc which all work fine, however the VGA port does not seem to work, HDMI video is fine.  ACPEPC support have not been very helpful as I did not by it directly off them or Amazon.

Anyway I would like to see if I can update the firmware of the BIOS etc, and have no idea where to start, what I can refer to see if I can update it, or if it will work or not - let alone understanding the update process.

I also see that there is a uEFI shell,  I would also love to know what this is, how it works and if I can confirm if the VGA port can be configured (on/off) by it perhaps..  if anyone can point me to the right direction in the forum for this, I would be greatly appreciative.

I have been provided as well as download several BIOS firmware files from ACEPC however, 
1. I don't know what version I'm on, 
2. if these files are newer versions 
3. if they are compatible.  

How can I determine all this?  I can't see anything in the bios setup about the version.  Here is what the splash screen says when it boots.

Version 1.17.1249. Copyright © 2017 American Megatrends, Inc.
BIOS Date: 07/30/2017 16:28:19 ver: 1ATFG10
Press <DEL> or <ESC> to enter setup.

I have also used a UEFITOOL to read a BIN file I was provided, I can't seem to see if there would be a version number in there I can refer to see if the file is compatible or newer.  I did find the following "Information" in the "ME" subtype region of the "Intel" image.

Full size: 15F000h (1437696)
Version: 2.0.2.3095

These references don't align and due to my noob experience I can't tell if it would work let along if I am referring to the correct thing.

Before investigating all this, I blindly did try the AMI firmware update utility 5.06.01 on the bin file however I got an error
"Secure Flash function is not supported on this file"  a google on this led to that it could be I need a newer version flash utility.

It's at that point I thought it best I ask here first before going forward as I don't want to brick my mini PC.

Many thanks, look forward to your replies  
Alzoo