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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

#51

Post by lorenzhs »

revelation wrote: post #39
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.

OVH offers dedicated servers using Intel Atom N2180 processors, which have a proper NIC (but no SSD).

They do! See http://www.kimsufi.com/ (which belongs to OVH). The SSD box is terrible value though. I have a KS-1 for ~6€/month (incl VAT) and while it isn't a particularly fast machine, it fulfils all my server needs. It's also incredibly cheap for a dedicated server.

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

#52

Post by hbharadwaj »

kev6168 wrote: post #29

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.

Continuum as well by Microsoft

Reference: http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/6/8560195/microsoft-continuum...

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

#53

Post by eli »

ZenoArrow wrote: post #48
eli wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 And…

"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." What did you find painful about using it? Looks like it supports custom ROMs, did you try using something like CyanogenMod (or the Finless ROM mentioned in the linked article)?

I tried one firmware (maybe it was finless?) downloaded from a sketchy looking site that cause the wifi to no longer connect. There did not some to be many firmware choices that supported 1080 output. Even getting an app to run automatically on bootup felt like a chore.

Regardless, I would gladly pay twice as much for the device if it came already set up. I am very pro-hobbyist, but in this case I want a fully formed product.

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

#54

Post by lorenzhs »

WorldWideWayne wrote: post #50
artmageddon wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you say device, can you give an example of what you're referring to? My wife got a me a Chromecast for Christmas, a great friend of mine got me a FireTV stick for my birthday loaded with emulators on it, but I'd really like to be able to carry a full-fledged PC around if that were possible.

Sorry, nothing really portable - we have a couple of Zotac ZBOX "nano PCs" ( http://www.amazon.com/Zotac-ZBOX-CI320NANO-U-W2-nano-Plus-Wi... ) and the others are an old laptop (Dell XPS L502X) and an old Shuttle SH67H3 barebones PC. Each site except the laptop also has a Logitech K400/r wireless keyboard/touchpad which is great except when it occasionally loses signal.

But that's 8 times the price of a Chromecast (if you include the keyboard and mouse).

For me, a Chromecast is very close to the perfect device, as my iPad lives in the living room most of the time and allows me to conveniently control the Chromecast, without any keyboards or mice lying around. While it's not as powerful or flexible as your setup, I prefer its convenience. It does everything I need it to (Netflix, Youtube, other players [ZDF Mediathek etc], play local files with Plex or Videostream for Chrome, ...), and does so hassle-free. For surfing, I prefer the iPad over the TV anyway.

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

#55

Post by eloisant »

ZenoArrow wrote: post #2

Is this just a rebranded Intel Compute Stick? http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/compute-stick/intel-c...

Basically to make a computer that small and cheap, you need a small and cheap CPU. That's pretty much it.

That's why Chinese no-brand maker have been making those since the Intel Baytrail was released:

http://www.geekbuying.com/category/Windows-Mini-PCs-1655/

It's nice to see a device from a well-known brand that stays close to the anonymous Chinese manufacturers, but at the end of the day the innovation that makes it possible comes from the chip makers.

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

#57

Post by kev6168 »

eli wrote: post #42
kev6168 wrote: post #29

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.

Wouldn't you need a keyboard too? Might as well just bring an Air at that point

When everyone's cell phone has that amount of power and can function as a PC, it's likely many places (hotels, airport, cafe, offices) will try to accommodate them by providing lots of display/keyboard sets.

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

#58

Post by artmageddon »

lorenzhs wrote: post #54
WorldWideWayne wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, nothing really portable - we have a couple of Zotac ZBOX "nano PCs" ( http://www.amazon.com/Zotac-ZBOX-CI320NANO-U-W2-nano-Plus-Wi... ) and the others are an old laptop (Dell XPS L502X) and an old Shuttle SH67H3 barebones PC. Each site except the laptop also has a Logitech K400/r wireless keyboard/touchpad which is great except when it occasionally loses signal.

But that's 8 times the price of a Chromecast (if you include the keyboard and mouse). For me, a Chromecast is very close to the perfect device, as my iPad lives in the living room most of the time and allows me to conveniently control the Chromecast, without any keyboards or mice lying around. While it's not as powerful or flexible as your setup, I prefer its convenience. It does everything I need it to (Netflix, You…

The only problem I've had with the Chromecast is that the wifi connection feels a little finnicky at times, and maybe I'm just not using it right, but if you can't actually get it on the internet, it doesn't do much for you. That said, I still really like it.

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

#59

Post by artmageddon »

mariusmg wrote: post #16
GFischer wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has the same processor and specs. Also, that was one of the lowest-content and worst-thought-out TechCrunch writeups I've seen ("If you’ve ever wanted to plug a Windows machine into your TV for a little hot and heavy Excel slinging, you’re in luck"... really? I've done so with Laptops for the last decade). And they even acknowledge "These single-stick computers are nothing new " (heck, we've got some Intel Compute…

Really? You don't appreciate the effort of coming up with the phrase "hot and heavy slinging" in a article about TV dongles ? :)

Especially when it's used in conjunction with "Excel"...

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

#60

Post by ZenoArrow »

eli wrote: post #53
ZenoArrow wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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." What did you find painful about using it? Looks like it supports custom ROMs, did you try using something like CyanogenMod (or the Finless ROM mentioned in the linked article)?

I tried one firmware (maybe it was finless?) downloaded from a sketchy looking site that cause the wifi to no longer connect. There did not some to be many firmware choices that supported 1080 output. Even getting an app to run automatically on bootup felt like a chore. Regardless, I would gladly pay twice as much for the device if it came already set up. I am very pro-hobbyist, but in this case I want a fully formed…

"Regardless, I would gladly pay twice as much for the device if it came already set up. I am very pro-hobbyist, but in this case I want a fully formed product."

So something as simple as a Raspberry Pi B+ ($25), an OmniVESA (approx $7), a USB WiFi dongle (approx $9), a 4GB MicroSDHC card (approx $6), a micro USB charger (approx $4) and a short HDMI cable (approx $7). Total cost $58. Could add a cheap case if you wanted. Perhaps there are ways to do all this cheaper with an Android mini PC, but a RasPi setup would be very flexible, and wouldn't require too much setup. It's also easy to boot straight into a web browser (can find some distro recommendations here https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=8502...).

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/RASPBERRY-PI-83-16317-...

http://shop.pimoroni.com/products/omnivesa

http://www.amazon.com/Raspberry-Pi-WIFI-Adapter-Dongle/dp/B0...

http://www.amazon.com/Sandisk-MicroSDHC-Memory-Adapter-Packa...

http://www.amazon.com/BlackBerry-Folding-Blade-Micro-USB-Cha...

http://www.amazon.com/Your-Cable-Store-Foot-Plated/dp/B00474...

Even though you're ideally looking for an off the shelf solution, hope these suggestions are of some use.

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