Intel Compute Stick

I found myself in a situation where I needed a windows machine that would be extremely portable and had support to the latest windows OS, but didn’t like the idea of lugging along a laptop or even a windows tablet. Soo, after a bit of researching, I stumbled onto the Pc-on-a-stick thing, and found this Intel Compute Stick from my local retailer for around 160€. A quadcore Atom CPU, 2GB of RAM, 32GB storage, memory card slot for extra storage up to 128GB, runs real windows 10, one USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0, wifi and bluetooth onboard.

The idea is that you connect this to any display with. a HDMI input, and breakout your mouse/keyboard/etc for a thin client/workstation use. But it also boots without anything but power connected so could be used more creatively as well!

Anyone using these kind of stick PCs? I am trying to set this one up as a server type machine, for sending sysex, samples etc to my hardware music machines. I already have an iConnectMIDI1+ that should work as MIDI i/o. I also need it for initializing my new Audient iD22 for standalone converter/iOS use. Still sussing out the perfect way to interface with it (dabbling with Duet Display app with an iPad ATM, but its not working properly yet, some conflict with primary/secondary display with the OS?), maybe I need to setup VMWare horizon or some other remote client system for better interfacing.

The CPU power is of course the biggest bottleneck with this one, but it seems powerful enough for simple utilitarian tasks, like something that @void is cooking up :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: (should run something like the Nord Modular editor jus fine!). Gotta try running Reason with it since reason is so well optimized in terms of CPU requirements. If that won’t run I’m sure at least Rebirth will! You can power it with an ext 2A USB battery too.

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Looks very promising! Will buy one.

…this one looks interesting…not too bad price/feature-wise considering its size, and it would probably make it for a good portable solution or even just as a server as you mention…mm… :relaxed:
i’m guessing processor speed shouldn’t be tooo bad if running Win10?

Well, it runs youtube videos, haven’t really tested it much yet tbh. Not expecting it to run u-he Diva VST anytime soon :diddly:

One caveat though. Contrary to marketing speech, the fan gets a bit wheezy when you push it, so it’s not totally silent… But alot less silent than a tower PC of course (I think even my 2011 MBP is noisier)

:smile: …but it has to run an OS anyway so there’s to be some ‘horse power’ in there to do that…sure, you might not be able to run heavy application on it…but if you can already do something…i mean…for that price tag…i would probably use it as a server of some sort i think…

In a year or two, I expect the power will increase significantly for the same price for this type of devices. If you want better specs, give it some time… But yeah, ypu can already use this one for many tasks. Browsing modern websites not so much (maybe not enough RAM or display mem, dunno? Image-heavy html pages load like its 1996)

Hmm, checking the native Windows Remote Desktop option now. Seems like there are iOS and android apps for connecting to WRD. This might be my best bet for interfacing the intel stick.

Also been reading Intel’s forum about it a lil bit. Seems like there are faulty sticks being sold, so knock on wood you won’t get a DOA unit. Intel states a one year warranty.

There are also more powerful models available with mobile m3/m5 CPUs… I’ll see if I can find a link for yall

Dayum - now I’m lusting for the more powerful model, even though it too will be obsolete in a year or two :diddly:

Aargh! the M3 CPU version seems to be alot faster. The M3 version also seems to run the 64bit version of Win10, and that 4GB of RAM comes in handy!

The M3 version is almost double the price though, or more - A local finnish shop lists a price as high as 420€!

Ok, so since the Atom model at least comes with Win 10 home edition, setting up the WRD took some sussing out. But finally I got something working! Now it’s just a matter of finetuning the resolutions, OS tweaks etc. Here’s my new iD22 happily running on the compustick, the meters at least run surpirisingly smoothly over WRD via local wifi :thup:

Funny how the PO suddenly looks big compared to my new PC lol

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:laughing::grin:
…so the audio interface is connected to the stick and that’s it? …you powering it from an external power supplier? (you could use that as a VM if one wanted to as well? …although…mm…would that make any sense? :expressionless: )

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Yes. The Stick is powered with the supplied adapter (will test with USB battery soon), and I am connected to it with the iOS microsoft remote desktop app.

Shoulda tried recording audio to the stick as well, but still sussing out the config. And you know, life getting in the way of having enough geeky time :nyan:

Back when I was still using Maschine, I was thinking of getting such stick and run my Maschine sw along my hardware. Didn’t get one, but would be one interesting use nonetheless.

An Intel NUC might make more sense for a setup like that than the stick in terms of memory and processing power.

I was thinking that as well, but not sure how much CPU one would need for anything other than strict sample playback.

Indeed, NUCs are much more powerful. Unfortunately, they’re also much bigger and more expensive…

They’re a bit bigger but still relatively tiny for a setup like the one you shown above. Looking at prices and configuration, they’re actually cheaper than an equivalently specced compute stick.

The stick is great if you want to cheapest possible way to run Windows, but if you’re thinking of getting the m3 or m5 version so that you can run Maschine, a DAW, or some other plug-in host, then it’s cheaper to get a NUC with an i3 or i5 and more memory.

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yAgreed. Do you suppose the NUC can also be powered with an USB battery pack?

I was just lusting for the increased specs, the prices are too much for me. I’d rather use the Atom one I bought and wait for hardware improvements, along with the inevitable price drops.

All I need right now is a small portable windows machine for complementing my iPad (casual stuff like initializing the iD22, DLing & buying music from boomkat and uploading to iTunes Match, file management etc), and so far the Atom stick is performing admirably for the money! I think my PO tonic bundle + shipping cost more :nyan:

Only thing that I’m still struggling with is the functionality of my iConnectMIDI1+ interface. I see the device when plugging it in on Device Manager (“this device is working properly”), but none of my MIDI supported applications recognize it… Will need to borrow a USB-MIDI interface from one of my mates to see if this prob is only related to the iConnectMIDI1+ interface. Once I have a working DIN MIDI I/O, I’ll have a working version of the Nord Modular editor on my iPad! :diddly:

Loving the mouse emulation mode in WRD app on iOS by the way. Accurate UI clicketing made possible without requiring a stylus / Apple pencil :thup:

mmm…nnice :relaxed:

Is the USB port on the stick USB 3? Try putting and USB 2 hub in between.

No.