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Intel Compute Stick

intel.com

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Re: Intel Compute Stick

#311

Post by kbaker »

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…

The NUC we just got at work to play around with uses standard laptop size RAM in 2 SO-DIMM slots.

For storage, there are two NUC models - a slimmer one has just room for an mSATA SSD, then there is a thicker one the mSATA/mini-PCIe slot with a standard 2.5" mounting tray.

You will still have to get a WiFi adapter if you need WiFi. There are lots of standard half-size mini-PCIe WiFi cards.

Not sure how the video works yet, but if you order one make sure to get a mini-HDMI to HDMI or a mini DisplayPort to regular DisplayPort adapter.

Re: Intel Compute Stick

#313

Post by commandar »

yellowapple wrote: post #308
baldfat wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

>particularly when it comes to mirroring a tab with a video playing.

That has nothing to do with the processing power of the Chromecast and everything to do with the casting system. It's all just a video stream to the Chromecast.

Re: Intel Compute Stick

#314

Post by keville »

rsync wrote: post #296
boyaka wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got my Dad a NUC for Christmas...He hasn't really been using it yet. I think this might have been a more interesting and simple gift, wish it came out in time. I did get to play with the NUC because I wanted to have it all configured and ready to use. It was interesting to see how they got all of the components packed in and I was impressed by the performance. Main issue I had was graphics support, because I wanted…

"I got my Dad a NUC for Christmas...He hasn't really been using it yet." I never understood why he did that. It was a good NUC and he needed a good NUC. If he had used it or even honed it, or took it out of his pocket and looked at it -- that's all he had to do.

Pretty sure this comment flew East of most readers' heads. ;)

Re: Intel Compute Stick

#315

Post by tailrecursion »

Intel's compute stick strikes me as a vehicle for "Windows 8.1 with Bing", which also appears in cheap laptops. There are already many powerful followons to the Raspberry Pi, with 1-2 GB RAM and up to four ARM cores for $40-$100. Microsoft must have jogged Intel and said, Do something!

Re: Intel Compute Stick

#316

Post by Goronmon »

yellowapple wrote: post #308
baldfat wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

Got my Fire TV stick before Christmas (impulse purchase when it was available for $19). I find it to be a much more useful device in general. Actually being able to select apps/videos through a UI on-screen is much better than dealing with a separate device, and having a dedicated remote to be more usable as well. The videos themselves seem play better.

I now use that over the PS4 for streaming video now. Chromecast I found really only useful for casting Youtube videos, which is a really niche use for a dedicated device.

Re: Intel Compute Stick

#317

Post by gaius »

robertfw wrote: post #292
ultrafez wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not really an excuse to waste more resources though. Saying "this only wastes a tiny amount of resources compared to this other thing" isn't justification to waste it anyway.

agreed. baby steps!

A baby probably has thousands of times the environmental impact of this. Possibly millions.

Re: Intel Compute Stick

#318

Post by nhayden »

theandrewbailey wrote: post #312

Off topic: while running Noscript I know I am just begging for broken websites, but this page shouldn't be outright unstyled without JS.

I run into lots of sites that won't load at all with scripts off. Just a blank screen. Or image sharing sites (flickr) where the image you want to see won't load at with scripts off.

Re: Intel Compute Stick

#319

Post by Roodgorf »

scholia wrote: post #309
Roodgorf wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That's a good point, the recent push by Microsoft towards mobile devices has undoubtedly led to significant improvements. Without some hard data I am certainly being speculative, just speaking from experience.

Re: Intel Compute Stick

#320

Post by baldfat »

Goronmon wrote: post #316
yellowapple wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Got my Fire TV stick before Christmas (impulse purchase when it was available for $19). I find it to be a much more useful device in general. Actually being able to select apps/videos through a UI on-screen is much better than dealing with a separate device, and having a dedicated remote to be more usable as well. The videos themselves seem play better. I now use that over the PS4 for streaming video now. Chromecast…

I also bought mine for $19. It is used for streaming Amazon Prime. I tried to like it but using my phone and computer with Chromecast is so much easier. 50%+ of my use is to watch YouTube videos with Family and Friends.
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