PC On A HDMI Stick
Discussion
I just saw these on the BBC News app. A Windows 8.1, quad core, 2GB ram, 32GB SSD. Uses your telly as the monitor and you have to buy a wireless keyboard & mouse.
Seems to be tablet type of hardware.
Turns your telly into a full PC. Put it in your pocket and use it on any HDMI screen.
Costs about £150.
So has anyone brought one and if so what are your thoughts on it? My XP Notebook needs replacing and this seems pretty cheap for a simple web browser device.
Bob
Seems to be tablet type of hardware.
Turns your telly into a full PC. Put it in your pocket and use it on any HDMI screen.
Costs about £150.
So has anyone brought one and if so what are your thoughts on it? My XP Notebook needs replacing and this seems pretty cheap for a simple web browser device.
Bob
But the idea sounds goodIt's not a fabulous idea.
When you use your telly as a PC you are going to struggle until you drop the resolution down to 1080x780 or similar, the text is just too small and you're sat back on your sofa. Think how far away from your PC you usually sit? Have you seen the size of the icons if you run an HDMI cable to your 40" telly?
For word processing, surfing etc it's seems like a good idea, but I think not.
For content streaming on the other hand it sounds great. But we're stretching the concept of PC. What it is going to excell as is Media Streamer.
27" iMAC screen at distance of 50 cm to user is a big screen, but appropriately scaled.
Just my thoughts. How is it better than Chromecast? Or stream from NAS?
When you use your telly as a PC you are going to struggle until you drop the resolution down to 1080x780 or similar, the text is just too small and you're sat back on your sofa. Think how far away from your PC you usually sit? Have you seen the size of the icons if you run an HDMI cable to your 40" telly?
For word processing, surfing etc it's seems like a good idea, but I think not.
For content streaming on the other hand it sounds great. But we're stretching the concept of PC. What it is going to excell as is Media Streamer.
27" iMAC screen at distance of 50 cm to user is a big screen, but appropriately scaled.
Just my thoughts. How is it better than Chromecast? Or stream from NAS?
The_Doc said:
It's not a fabulous idea.
When you use your telly as a PC you are going to struggle until you drop the resolution down to 1080x780 or similar, the text is just too small and you're sat back on your sofa. Think how far away from your PC you usually sit? Have you seen the size of the icons if you run an HDMI cable to your 40" telly?
For word processing, surfing etc it's seems like a good idea, but I think not.
For content streaming on the other hand it sounds great. But we're stretching the concept of PC. What it is going to excell as is Media Streamer.
27" iMAC screen at distance of 50 cm to user is a big screen, but appropriately scaled.
Just my thoughts. How is it better than Chromecast? Or stream from NAS?
1080p is perfectly fine on a 42" from across the room and as someone else says, if you can't read the text change the DPI scaling to 125% or 150% and retain the resolution for films When you use your telly as a PC you are going to struggle until you drop the resolution down to 1080x780 or similar, the text is just too small and you're sat back on your sofa. Think how far away from your PC you usually sit? Have you seen the size of the icons if you run an HDMI cable to your 40" telly?
For word processing, surfing etc it's seems like a good idea, but I think not.
For content streaming on the other hand it sounds great. But we're stretching the concept of PC. What it is going to excell as is Media Streamer.
27" iMAC screen at distance of 50 cm to user is a big screen, but appropriately scaled.
Just my thoughts. How is it better than Chromecast? Or stream from NAS?
I have my homeserver connected via HDMI and have never had a problem at 125% DPI scaling:
ETA: Better than CC as it is a full pc you can take anywhere and you will prob also want to use it to stream from a NAS if you don't have a smart tv/games console
Edited by R8VXF on Sunday 19th April 17:12
It's interesting, but I can't really see who would buy one instead of a decent laptop, a tablet or a Chromecast etc.
I've never tried to do it, but I can cast my phone screen to a chromecast and add a bluetooth keyboard and mouse to that (I think?) Or I can just plug my phone into the monitor with a HDMI cable.
I've never tried to do it, but I can cast my phone screen to a chromecast and add a bluetooth keyboard and mouse to that (I think?) Or I can just plug my phone into the monitor with a HDMI cable.
paulrockliffe said:
It's interesting, but I can't really see who would buy one instead of a decent laptop, a tablet or a Chromecast etc.
I've never tried to do it, but I can cast my phone screen to a chromecast and add a bluetooth keyboard and mouse to that (I think?) Or I can just plug my phone into the monitor with a HDMI cable.
A "decent" laptop or even tablet would cost a lot more. The chromecast is more specific in it's application. There's deffo a user case for this, it's just quite narrow.I've never tried to do it, but I can cast my phone screen to a chromecast and add a bluetooth keyboard and mouse to that (I think?) Or I can just plug my phone into the monitor with a HDMI cable.
I have an Android stick, and I think it's great as I'm visiting a lot of hotels for work, and I can always just plug in the HDMI thing and play movies from a MicroSD slot. The chromecast would require internet or wifi, and doesn't do anything on it's own (I've got two chromecasts at home and love them though!).
less then £100
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Compute-Stick-Window...
I ordered one of these on Friday, very similar specs, I'll let you know how it goes when it arrives.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/MINIX-Windows-Updatable-Bl...
Be careful with which one you buy as it looks like some of the Chinese versions (e.g. wintel) come with trial version of windows that can't be activated.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Compute-Stick-Window...
I ordered one of these on Friday, very similar specs, I'll let you know how it goes when it arrives.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/MINIX-Windows-Updatable-Bl...
Be careful with which one you buy as it looks like some of the Chinese versions (e.g. wintel) come with trial version of windows that can't be activated.
Does anybody have personal experience or good knowledge as to what some of the best options for mini-PC's like the Minix one linked to above might be, as opposed to 'sticks'.
We might look at buying a few for light office duties to replace some old machines, they are only required for light duties -- Chromebits would be up to the job processing wise except for one native Windows app which we need to run. And as all the machines have wired keyboards and mice it's easier and likely more cost efficient in the long run to look at mini-PC's as opposed to stick PC's so as we don't have to replace keyboards and mice as well. On-board storage is also not much of an issue, 32/64/128gb would suffice.
We might look at buying a few for light office duties to replace some old machines, they are only required for light duties -- Chromebits would be up to the job processing wise except for one native Windows app which we need to run. And as all the machines have wired keyboards and mice it's easier and likely more cost efficient in the long run to look at mini-PC's as opposed to stick PC's so as we don't have to replace keyboards and mice as well. On-board storage is also not much of an issue, 32/64/128gb would suffice.
I have a customer that uses these in a digital signage capacity. Rather than having an ultra small form factor machine or a thin client hooked into the network to stream his presentation, he simply loads his advertising materials onto them and then plugs them into the screens on his trade counters. Has saved him a fortune but the down side is changing the content has become a bit more difficult
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