2015-06-10Staff Report 2 Windhoek With high demand in the technology sphere, international innovators are increasingly competing in offering fast and convenient technologies. One of the latest on the market is the Intel Compute Stick gadget, also referred to as the “Intel mini PC”. According to a review issued by Green Enterprise Solutions, which is a specialised IT company based in Windhoek, the Intel Compute Stick excels as a media streaming, web-browsing machine, and it’s a PC that can fit into one’s pocket as well as in the palm of the hand. Streaming 1080p over sites like YouTube and Netflix works flawlessly. The device plugs into a display’s HDMI port, and when connected to Wi-Fi and peripherals offers the full Windows 8 experience. The stick runs Windows 8.1 with Bing as the default search engine system. However, as it’s a full Windows PC, once a user is up and running they can install whatever they would like, including Windows 10. Similarly to all current PCs, the stick has its limits and the highlighted ones are that tablet-grade performance isn’t suitable for heavy tasks. The great news is that it’s eligible for a free Windows 10 upgrade later this year. The stick houses a lightweight Atom processor that’s usually found in Intel-based tablets meaning one should not expect to do any heavy image editing or high-end gaming. The device needs to be plugged in to power at all times – there’s no battery via its Micro-USB port, and Bluetooth performance is finicky at best. Ideally, the device should not serve as a primary PC in one’s home or office, however it should not be dismissed either. Hobbyists and tinkerers especially may find the stick as an absolute adventure. design. The stick cannot draw power over HDMI and there’s no battery, so it needs to be kept plugged in too as there’s a Micro-USB charging port on the side. It is powered by a quad-core 1.3GHz Intel Atom Z3735F processor paired with 2GB of RAM, and has 32GB of storage space. A micro SD card slot on the side can support up to 128GB cards. There’s a USB port on the side, so one can plug in external devices or a USB key, and Wi-Fi b/g/n connectivity is built in. Bluetooth 4.0 is also available. 2015-06-10Staff Report 2
