Intel Compute Stick Review
At CES 2015, Intel quietly announced its upcoming Bay Trail-based Compute Stick. Last week we got to check out a sample unit up close and personal.
Why you can trust Tom's Hardware
Box Contents
The sample kit that Tom's Hardware received for testing included the following:
- Intel Compute Stick pre-loaded with Windows 8.1 with Bing 32-bit;
- 5V, 2A wall mount USB AC-DC power adapter;
- 3 inch USB cable for the power adapter;
- 8 inch female to male HDMI cable;
- AC plug adapters for US, AU, EU and UK sockets.
According to Intel, the retail version of the Compute Stick will have the same accessories as listed above, adding a quick start guide, and safety/regulatory paperwork to the package.
Stay On the Cutting Edge: Get the Tom's Hardware Newsletter
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Nvidia GeForce 256 celebrates its 25th birthday — company talks about a quarter century of GPU progression
Intel LGA1851 socket has a new ILM that helps CPUs run a bit cooler — MSI claims 1ºC to 2ºC lower CPU temperatures
Quartz mine crucial for making chips reopens ten days after Hurricane Helene's devastation
-
elbert I would like to see xbmc performance. I would also like to see if the stick can both run playon server and watch playon on this single device.Reply -
TechyInAZ Thx for the review Tom's Hardware!Reply
No matter how slow that usb "PC" is, it's still amazing that you can run a computer off a single little thumb drive shaped device and doesn't have problems even overheating.
I think this stick is designed more for demo purposes. Demonstrating that technology is advanced enough now that we can pack PC's in form factors unimaginable a few years ago. -
John Philips Probably it could be faster with Enlightenment Desktop.Or one day somebody can put Windows xp or anything else...Reply -
americapat why a fan? Strange that the networking sooo slow, shouldn't be par with Samsung ATIV Smart PC 500T? Price a little high too.Reply -
mapesdhs "... single channel DDR3L running at 1333 GHz ..."Reply
Really? Can they put that in next-gen GPUs? ;)
Overall, I don't see the attraction over a normal HTPC, and in time TVs
are going to become more than quick enough to run general apps. Wouldn't
surprise me if the next move with TVs is to integrate a small PC inside
them somehow, assuming TV makers see a market for it.
Ian.
-
zodiacfml Pricey. The Linux version price is more logical yet it could have at least have 5Ghz WiFi.Reply
Only small business can appreciate this for signage/display purpose. For home, you're better off with a Windows based tablet with HDMI output.