Intel’s new PC on a stick is available for pre-order now via Amazon and Newegg – it will ship at the end of April.
Don’t think of it like something that would replace your desktop PC – it’s not case – but think of it as a step in the right direction.
What can it actually do?
Well it’s a PC on a stick that can turn your TV into a Windows, or Linux machine – just by sticking the USB dongle into a port.
Users that were lucky enough to get a hold of pre-release dongles have reported that while the stick can’t replace your desktop PC, it tries incredibly hard to do so – and it can run simple games from Steam, stream Netflix shows, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Youtube runs smoothly.
Also users have reported that they didn’t encounter any problems whatsoever when loading PowerPoint and other presentation software – this can come quite in handy if you pair it up with a projector.
It has an SSD storage of 32GB, so don’t expect to fill the stick with HD movies, but you can add a 256 GB Micro SD card and you can boost the storage size up to 8 times – you’ll have your very own mini system.
It sports a Intel Atom 64 bit Quad-core Processor, with 2 GB of RAM, WLAN 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN, Bluetooth 4.0, 1 HDMI port, and 1 USB 2.0 port.
Bluetooth makes it easy as pie for you to connect a wireless keyboard and a mouse.
It’s definitely not for gaming, but some users have managed to install even World of Warcraft – no, it doesn’t run smoothly as you think, it’s somehow stuck at 20-25FPS, but it isn’t that bad, it’s actually quite great if you think how much a little dongle costs.
Newegg is selling the USB stick for $150 and it also comes with a licensed version of Windows 8.1, but I’ve seen other retailers selling the device with Linux software on it for $100 – $11 more than the official $89.
I’m really intrigued about Intel’s new PC on a stick, and what its capabilities truly are – I need to test it out myself.
Are you going to exchange your old laptop with Intel’s new PC on a stick?
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