Intel Compute Stick Reviews

[B-Riz]

Let's make a compendium.

http://www.maximumpc.com/intel_compute_stick_review_2015

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015...a-full-pc-thats-tiny-in-size-and-performance/

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2911...v-smart-but-its-short-on-other-use-cases.html

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9167/intel-compute-stick-review

 

[B-Riz]

I'm to the point where I think 2GB of RAM in any Win 8.1 device is too little.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I think it is a niche device that could be useful for business users, especially folks who travel.

 

[Kaido]

I've had the Lemel version for a little while now. It gets too hot (especially with GPU usage) & there's no turbo (disabled, apparently - don't know if the Intel's turbo is disabled or not). Sluggish performance without turbo; when it gets hot, performance slows down (heat-based throttling I guess). Would wait until a 14nm Cherrytrail version appears to re-evaluate. There's a couple other versions out, I think MeLE has one & Mouser (theirs has a tiny fan built-in).

It's a cool concept. Most stuff needs the HDMI extension to fit (especially if the TV is flush on a wall, where the computer would stick out into the wall, or if the ports are too close together or next to a plastic piece that interferes with placement). iirc none of them have baked-in CEC support for control. Another generation or two & it will be a pretty good product. Google's Chromebit is going to provide some nice competition; it's smaller & uses an ARM CPU:

http://www.cnet.com/products/asus-chromebit/

It will be interesting to see if Intel steps up their integrated GPU game (HD, Iris Pro, etc.) & shrinks it down to have decent graphics on a stick computer...

 

[Kaido]

I'm to the point where I think 2GB of RAM in any Win 8.1 device is too little.

If the CPU has turbo enabled, then 2 gigs isn't too bad for light usage. But yeah, more would be welcome. iirc Cherrytrail supports up to 8 gigs, so that will be a much better platform imo.

 

[Kaido]

I think it is a niche device that could be useful for business users, especially folks who travel.

I think the best niche would be as a streaming HTPC using stuff like Steam Stream, KODI, Plex, etc. No computer box required, but you can access anything...web-based stuff, Flash, etc. If they add built-in CEC support for control, that'd be awesome as well.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Let's make a compendium.

http://www.maximumpc.com/intel_compute_stick_review_2015

On the outside, the Compute Stick is minimalistic in design. It's slender and black and has slits for intake and a small fan that exhausts hot air. The fan isn't loud by any measure, but does emit a high-pitched whine.

The compute stick has a fan? Where in the world did they fit it? Seems a little strange, I don't think any of my quad-core Bay Trail-T tablets have a fan.

Edit: The more I think about it, the more I think that's a serious fail. I guess it's Intel's way of planned obsolecence? When the fan fails, you replace the unit?

 

[jaydee]

This will be much more relevant with 4GB RAM/64GB of storage and when you can deliver power over HDMI port (or DP?). Even at a ~$225 price point would be worth it. Maybe Gen2...

Even a 2GB / 32GB no-OS version for Linux with power over HDMI for $200 would be quite interesting. Doubt it would ever be a big seller, but pretty neat and I believe would attract a big following in the Linux community.