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Lenovo Announces a $130 Windows PC in a Stick

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Re: Lenovo Announces a $130 Windows PC in a Stick

#21

Post by mirimir »

I wonder if any hosting providers are offering such micro PCs, or planning to. They would be a great alternative to VPS, arguably with better security. I've seen some Raspberry Pi hosting, but its USB NIC is too slow.

I'll update this if I find anything.

Re: Lenovo Announces a $130 Windows PC in a Stick

#22

Post by jdietrich »

If you're wondering about the target market for these devices, the main answer is digital signage. Those LCD signs in train stations and shopping malls constitute a huge market for small, low-powered and fanless computers. There are at least a dozen SaaS startups in this space, targeting a wide variety of hardware and OSes.

Re: Lenovo Announces a $130 Windows PC in a Stick

#24

Post by basch »

unklefolk wrote: post #23

I don't understand why they have added a tiny speaker to this gadget. It wouldn't imagine it is very loud and in most cases would be stuck around the back of your TV. Could someone enlighten me to when a speaker would be useful?

beep beep error error

Re: Lenovo Announces a $130 Windows PC in a Stick

#25

Post by thisishugo »

mirimir wrote: post #21

I wonder if any hosting providers are offering such micro PCs, or planning to. They would be a great alternative to VPS, arguably with better security. I've seen some Raspberry Pi hosting, but its USB NIC is too slow. I'll update this if I find anything.

You could take a look at Scaleway[0]. They provide ARM-based dedicated servers (with caveats).

[0] http://www.scaleway.com

Re: Lenovo Announces a $130 Windows PC in a Stick

#26

Post by ZenoArrow »

mirimir wrote: post #21

I wonder if any hosting providers are offering such micro PCs, or planning to. They would be a great alternative to VPS, arguably with better security. I've seen some Raspberry Pi hosting, but its USB NIC is too slow. I'll update this if I find anything.

The Odroid C1 would be a better match for this than a Raspberry Pi 2. They both cost $35, but the Odroid C1 has Gigabit Ethernet plus a faster CPU (based on these tests at least... http://www.androidauthority.com/raspberry-pi-2-vs-odroid-c1-... ).

Re: Lenovo Announces a $130 Windows PC in a Stick

#27

Post by TazeTSchnitzel »

unklefolk wrote: post #23

I don't understand why they have added a tiny speaker to this gadget. It wouldn't imagine it is very loud and in most cases would be stuck around the back of your TV. Could someone enlighten me to when a speaker would be useful?

Diagnosing faults

Re: Lenovo Announces a $130 Windows PC in a Stick

#28

Post by ZenoArrow »

jdietrich wrote: post #22

If you're wondering about the target market for these devices, the main answer is digital signage. Those LCD signs in train stations and shopping malls constitute a huge market for small, low-powered and fanless computers. There are at least a dozen SaaS startups in this space, targeting a wide variety of hardware and OSes.

I doubt that this particular Lenovo mini PC is targetting that niche. You wouldn't need 32GB of storage for something as basic as digital signage, and there are Android-based alternatives for 3x cheaper... http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/mini-pcs/mk808-android-mini...

Re: Lenovo Announces a $130 Windows PC in a Stick

#29

Post by kev6168 »

Just the other day I was thinking it would be nice if a cell phone can fire up multiple normal OSs (i.e., desktop Linux/Windows/OSX), so at hotel/library/friend's home/etc., one can pull it out of pocket, connect to a display and hack away.

I wonder when we can have that level of power and convenience in our regular phones.

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