It looks like a product not particularly solving any solution. The Chromecast solves a problem. This does not.
Lenovo Announces a $130 Windows PC in a Stick
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Re: Lenovo Announces a $130 Windows PC in a Stick
#32I 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-... ).
Thanks!
Now only if someone were providing hosting for them ...
Maybe Raspberry Hosting[0] would be interested ;)
Re: Lenovo Announces a $130 Windows PC in a Stick
#33Just 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.
this year, bq + ubuntu will launch a phone that does just that http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2015/06/first-ubuntu-phone-with-c...
Re: Lenovo Announces a $130 Windows PC in a Stick
#34It looks like a product not particularly solving any solution. The Chromecast solves a problem. This does not.
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Re: Lenovo Announces a $130 Windows PC in a Stick
#35Too bad it makes me have to move my flat tv 10 cm of the wall. An HDMI connector at an angle would have been nice (or I could buy an extension HDMI cable of course.).
The forthcoming Google Chromebit has a clever design that pivots so you can choose if you want the connector straight at the end or at a 90 degree angle to the rest of the stick.
Re: Lenovo Announces a $130 Windows PC in a Stick
#36Every single TV in my house as a Windows device plugged into it. We've tried Roku, Chromecast and others - but you can't beat Windows if flexibility is what you want.
Having just a Chromecast sucks because you need a whole other smart device to actually do things. The Roku is a little better, but honestly it's too slow to navigate.
With Windows, I can do whatever the heck I want. We can play classic game emulators with Xbox controllers, watch ripped exercise DVDs with VLC media player (my wife does this), we run Netflix for Windows or Kodi to watch movies/TV and then of course we can do anything that a Chromecast does by simply opening Chrome (with adblock). It's awesome.
Re: Lenovo Announces a $130 Windows PC in a Stick
#37If 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...
I wish the MK808 was a plug and play digital sign, but it's actually kind of a pain to set up and use. I've got one sitting in a drawer.
If someone came out with a stick computer that simply connects to wifi and displays a webpage in a relatively modern browser at 1080 (or at least 720) and makes it easy, I would buy several of them at a nice premium over whatever the hardware normally costs.
I actually think an Android hacker or RaspberryPI hobbyist could make some money selling something like that.
Re: Lenovo Announces a $130 Windows PC in a Stick
#38Is this just a rebranded Intel Compute Stick? http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/compute-stick/intel-c...
Don't be hasty! Lenovo probably "upgraded" it with performance improvements like failing to validate SSL certificates.
Came here to say this. No thanks, Lenovo, I can get the same performance and form factor directly from Intel with no "added value" spyware, and I can even get it with Linux preinstalled if I want.
Re: Lenovo Announces a $130 Windows PC in a Stick
#39I 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.
OVH offers dedicated servers using Intel Atom N2180 processors, which have a proper NIC (but no SSD).
Re: Lenovo Announces a $130 Windows PC in a Stick
#40Just 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.
That's not so much a computing power limitation but a limitation imposed by the manufacturers on what you can run. The Nokia N900 had Linux running on it in 2010.
If you're one of the lucky few with an Ubuntu phone, you can do this as well.