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Intel Compute Stick

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Re: Intel Compute Stick

#301

Post by gizzlon »

fidotron wrote: post #53

Hardware like that makes me yearn for one with no wireless and a pair of Gigabit Ethernet ports to use as a firewall and server. It's fairly interesting to note what it's not: Android or Chrome OS. I suspect Microsoft will do quite well out of this, especially in the digital signage market, anywhere which is reasonably price sensitive but if developer time and cost can be reduced then they get a lot of leeway. Still,…

> Hardware like that makes me yearn for one with no wireless and a pair of Gigabit Ethernet ports to use as a firewall and server.

Yeah, me too.. I currently use a fan-less Via board with integrated 686 compatible CPU. It's been great, but it's now 7 (?) years old so it might be time for an upgrade. Wonder if they still make them, they never got the attention they deserved.

Edit:

The boards are called EPIA and come in different sizes: http://www.viaembedded.com/en/products/boards/

Mine has this processor - It's not Intel or AMD, but "Pentium compatible" :)

  cpu0: VIA Esther processor 1000MHz ("CentaurHauls" 686-class) 1 GHz
Edit 2:

Seems like these haven't matured a lot, and are expensive and hard to come by compared to other mini-itx boards. Do like the fanless, integrated processor on mine though, and that the power consumption is really low.

Re: Intel Compute Stick

#302

Post by papaf »

fidotron wrote: post #53

Hardware like that makes me yearn for one with no wireless and a pair of Gigabit Ethernet ports to use as a firewall and server. It's fairly interesting to note what it's not: Android or Chrome OS. I suspect Microsoft will do quite well out of this, especially in the digital signage market, anywhere which is reasonably price sensitive but if developer time and cost can be reduced then they get a lot of leeway. Still,…

I run one of these and I am quite happy with it:

http://archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv7/marvell/mirabox

The arch support is good (apart of wireless).

Re: Intel Compute Stick

#303

Post by hvidgaard »

fit2rule wrote: post #253
discardorama wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... and the Linux version will have half the RAM (1GB instead of 2GB) and a fourth the storage (8GB instead of 32GB). I think I might pass on this.

I'll happily buy the higher-end version and handle the Linux install myself, as long as I can remove the Windows license and get a subsequent refund from Microsoft. But if thats not possible then I'll just wait until some other manufacturer makes a bad-ass Linux version for the same price, or less ..

With all likelyhood it comes with "Windows 8.1 with Bing", which means Intel will have paid 0$ to put it on there. There is no refund to get, and the extra cost is supposed to be justified by the extra ram and storage space.

Re: Intel Compute Stick

#304

Post by spinchange »

untog wrote: post #136

I was pleasantly surprised to find the Intel NUC ("next unit of computing ", sigh) devices recently - I've bought one and it sits under my TV. Having a full PC instead of a Chromecast/Roku stick/whatever really is awesome. Not only can I use every streaming option out there, I can also browse the web and order food, look up maps, etc. etc. It'll be interesting to see how these perform, but if they are similar to the…

This post and comments thread have brought the NUC to my attention for the first time and they look really cool. Curious, though, how did you handle storage? It appears they don't ship with memory? Do you just install your own in its chassis or use external?

I currently "tab cast" from a laptop running Chrome to a Chromecast for viewing non-video web content on the big screen, but these NUCs look really cool. I can totally see the value in having a full blown PC like an NUC or this compute stick as well.

Re: Intel Compute Stick

#305

Post by fit2rule »

hvidgaard wrote: post #303
fit2rule wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll happily buy the higher-end version and handle the Linux install myself, as long as I can remove the Windows license and get a subsequent refund from Microsoft. But if thats not possible then I'll just wait until some other manufacturer makes a bad-ass Linux version for the same price, or less ..

With all likelyhood it comes with "Windows 8.1 with Bing", which means Intel will have paid 0$ to put it on there. There is no refund to get, and the extra cost is supposed to be justified by the extra ram and storage space.

That is not just crap, but that is actually rather crap.

Re: Intel Compute Stick

#306

Post by tacotime »

kbenson wrote: post #285
Alupis wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was in the market for a small low-power home server, I actually found the NUC's to be overpriced and under-performing. There's no i7 option, and they will run you about the same base price as an Gigabyte Brix which does offer i7 and/or i5's with more powerful graphics (and AMD APU options for very nice graphics if required). My home server did not require much graphics of course, but the i7 quad core is very m…

I don't think Intel necessarily wants to dominate or even lead the market with these offerings, they want to spur the market to fill the niche now that they've shown the demand and the ability(and the parts for sale). Intel didn't want to sell ultrabooks itself, but it very much wanted a vibrant marketplace so it could sell more high-end parts, and keep Apple from leveraging their market position for better pricing f…

I agree. I think they want to more or less be the apple of more open hardware. They aren't planning to make money off NUC, they're planning to make money off their chips. This is ultimately a strategy for getting more people to want more of their chip. Right now all the slickest devices are arm powered... so many shiny glassy sleek looking cell phones and tables and hardly an x86 in sight... They're not selling $/performance here, that's just a barrior to entry, they're selling a vision and a brand... intel inside

Re: Intel Compute Stick

#307

Post by undersuit »

rebootthesystem wrote: post #289

I've been looking for a board like this that has HDMI in and out for real time image processing. It seems nobody makes such an animal.

Your dream board would have far to small of a market because no one is going to license a hackable system that can sit between two HDCP devices for HDCP. If the board doesn't have HDCP why would you pay the HDMI royalties. Would be much simpler to use DVI capture card and HDMI->DVI adapters.

Re: Intel Compute Stick

#308

Post by yellowapple »

baldfat wrote: post #261
Jormundir wrote: post #135

This looks awesome. Finally a piece of tech I actually want, and by Intel of all companies. The bigger consumer companies have been shuffling their feet, releasing arbitrary, very closed off pieces of tech that I don't really need. I really applaud Intel for making the tiny little PC I've been wanting for media and linux tomfoolery. The Chromecast was a no-go, and now with an apple tv, I'm feeling a little too enclos…

> The Chromecast was a no-go I find that the Chromecast is the perfect tech item. It does a few things and does them extremely well. Part of the reason why it out sold and is out used more then any other media player.

I've personally found the Chromecast to be a little underpowered in a lot of circumstances, particularly when it comes to mirroring a tab with a video playing. I ended up ordering one of those Fire TV sticks because Gary Busey told me to, and because it has way better specs; still waiting for it to arrive, but a couple of family members have already tried it out with a lot of success, and I imagine it'll go well with the Fire HDX my grandma got for Christmas.

Meanwhile, this Intel stick looks even better. Between this and the announcement of a new NUC with an i7, it looks like I'll be saving up for a couple more Intel-powered Linux devices this year.

But yeah, the Chromecast is still handy sometimes, and it does do some things well (like YouTube and Pandora). It's just not always the best fit for everyone.

Re: Intel Compute Stick

#309

Post by scholia »

Roodgorf wrote: post #294
tankenmate wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Linux version has only 1GB RAM and only 8GB onboard flash.

Sure, but Linux can also generally run much more efficiently than Windows. I think having Linux on the cheap version could conceivably be both a cut in licensing fees and also a way to make economy hardware specs viable.

I wonder how big the gap is now. It would be interesting to see some benchmarks comparing Windows 8.1 with Bing (where the 32-bit version runs in 1GB) with an equivalent full-spec Linux.

Re: Intel Compute Stick

#310

Post by xgbi »

spinchange wrote: post #304
untog wrote: post #136

I was pleasantly surprised to find the Intel NUC ("next unit of computing ", sigh) devices recently - I've bought one and it sits under my TV. Having a full PC instead of a Chromecast/Roku stick/whatever really is awesome. Not only can I use every streaming option out there, I can also browse the web and order food, look up maps, etc. etc. It'll be interesting to see how these perform, but if they are similar to the…

This post and comments thread have brought the NUC to my attention for the first time and they look really cool. Curious, though, how did you handle storage? It appears they don't ship with memory? Do you just install your own in its chassis or use external? I currently "tab cast" from a laptop running Chrome to a Chromecast for viewing non-video web content on the big screen, but these NUCs look really cool. I can t…

You have to add SO-DIMM RAM and a mSata drive. There's also a mini PCI-e for a Wifi card.
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