With those specs, expect a lot of blue screens.
Posted on 04/06/2015 12:22:49 PM PDT by Citizen Zed
Better late than never. Intel missed its March Compute Stick PC launch, but the chipmaker is now pushing out the micro-PC through pre-orders on sites like Newegg and Amazon. But will anybody buy it?
Intel first mentioned the Compute Stick at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January. Although it wasn’t on display, the Compute Stick was announced as part of a CES-related press release. Intel described the Compute Stick as a “powerful PC packed into a package the length of a car key.”
You can plug the Compute Stick into an HDMI port and transform any TV or monitor into a computer. Compute Stick comes installed with Windows 8.1, has 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. It connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi, and it has USB and micro USB ports, plus a micro SD slot for additional storage. A Linux version is also available.
Enterprise-Ready?
So what's this new generation compute-on-a-stick device that Intel is promising will be ready to go out of the box and offers high performance and quality going to cost you? The Windows 8.1 version of Compute Stick, which runs four inches long and packs the power of a quad-core Intel Atom processor, is selling at Newegg for $150.
Without the Windows licensing fee, the Compute Stick is a little cheaper. It runs $89, though news reports suggest some stores are tacking a few dollars on top of the suggested retail price. The Ubuntu Linux version sells for as much as $110 on some sites.
Intel is positioning its Compute Stick as perfect for light productivity, social networking, Web browsing and streaming media. But it’s also “business-ready” and paves the way for thin-client solutions for small and midsize businesses that need ultra portability and plug-and-play simplicity.
Stacking Up Sticks
We caught up with Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT, to get his thoughts on Intel’s Compute Stick and how it stacks up to the competition. He told us it’s an intriguing solution for certain applications but it's arriving later to market than some competitors.
As examples, King pointed to Dell’s Wyse Cloud Connect stick solution for Windows and Linux, which hit the market last fall. And just last week, ASUS and Google announced the Chromebit, a stick-shaped solution preloaded with the Chrome OS, he said.
“Though the form factor of the devices is similar, they appear intended for somewhat different use cases,” King said. “Intel seems mainly aimed at traditional PC use cases where ultra-portability is a critical issue.”
As King sees it, the Chromebit could broaden the market for Chromebook-style features, and Google and ASUS claim that it can also be used for applications like digital signage.
“The Wyse Cloud Connect is actually the most complete solution in that Dell is offering supporting technologies and solutions, including security services that are necessary for effectively supporting commercial applications,” he said. “In fact, it's likely that we'll eventually see Intel's vendor customers leveraging the Compute Stick with their own branded software and service offerings, and getting their developer partners involved. If that happens, computers on a stick could really takeoff.”
My wife’s laptop is a hard drive-less SLAX Linux build in a 8GB USB port.
I like the concept, not sure where it goes though
With those specs, expect a lot of blue screens.
That video/gif is so well done that it looks like it was a real episode
“I like the concept, not sure where it goes though”
Into your pocket.
Buy a $10 USB stick and download a free copy of linux.
Heck my son did this a couple years ago.
I think it’s a great idea for schools and businesses, but I don’t like the idea of most/all of my data being stored in a Cloud, or in THE Cloud, or in any place other than my computer.
I’ll stick with a computer that has a hard-drive - at least until they are no longer available.
That’s different. That’s just the OS on a medium [usb stick]
Intel has a HDMI dongle like device that has cpu/memory/storage and the OS either Windows or Linux.
A $10 USB memory stick DOESN’T HAVE A CPU.
Yeay, I have an Ubuntu memory stick ... It’s just a boot drive.
This thing they’re talking about is a COMPUTER.
A computer that you have to plug into another computer.
Big deal, it's on a stick. The real question is whether it's served deep-fried in cake batter?
You can plug the Compute Stick into an HDMI port and transform any TV or monitor into a computer. Compute Stick comes installed with Windows 8.1, has 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. It connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi, and it has USB and micro USB ports, plus a micro SD slot for additional storage. A Linux version is also available.
Article doesn't say how it handles human interface. Bluetooth?
For the Tech Ping list.
Bluetooh according to PC World:
Bookmark
Is this Intel’s version of the raspberry pi?
WebTV, 2015?
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