Print

[N8CBX]

This thing apparently is a computer in a "dongle". It plugs into the monitor's HDMI port. Keyboard/mouse will need a USB-hub (only one USB port), and it needs a 5V external supply. Comes with Win8.1 or Linux.
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/compute-stick/intel-compute-stick.html
It was mentioned in the current QST (August 2015)
Jan N8CBX

[N8CBX]

Okay, here's another "computer-in-a-dongle"version (iView Cyber PC). This comes with a lot of accessories including a wireless keyboard all for $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883400001
Jan N8CBX

[K4JK]

These are pretty cool. Someone on the Flex boards was saying he able to run SmartSDR on one and it worked OK.

You can also get one of the Intel ones with Linux for $100 (currently sold out):  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883800005

[W1BR]

So, these basically are Thin Client devices that are used with USB port equipped monitors?

Pete

[K4JK]

So, these basically are Thin Client devices that are used with USB port equipped monitors?

Pete

Well, they're full fledged computers running windows/linux so they aren't thin-clients by the traditional definition.

They plug into a monitors' HDMI port to output video. Everything else is self-contained as they have built-in wifi. All you need to add is a bluetooth keyboard/mouse (unless you buy one that comes with them)


Or, you could use a USB hub and a traditional USB keyboard/mouse.

[KD8MJR]

I have seen these before, but this one got me real interested but you guys should consider a few things first.

1) There is an external 5V 2A power supply to power it.

2) Don't be fooled by the video rendering abilities, the GPU is doing all the work, for regular work it will most likely be pretty slow.

3) These devices are prone to various crashing issues.  IMHO I think it has a lot to do with heating issues.

Overall they are nice to experiment with but at $150 you can get other options that may be bigger but are also more flexible.

73s
Rob

[W8JX]

I have seen these before, but this one got me real interested but you guys should consider a few things first.

1) There is an external 5V 2A power supply to power it.

2) Don't be fooled by the video rendering abilities, the GPU is doing all the work, for regular work it will most likely be pretty slow.

3) These devices are prone to various crashing issues.  IMHO I think it has a lot to do with heating issues.

Overall they are nice to experiment with but at $150 you can get other options that may be bigger but are also more flexible.

73s
Rob

It has a quad core 64bit Atom CPU with a turbo speed of 1.83 ghz bases on latest atom technology and a .022 micron die that only uses 2.2 watts so it should be faster than old XP laptops by a wide margin. Same with graphics. While slow by todays standards it is fast by standards of a few years ago. Any weakness in design is only 2gb of ram. 4gb would be better and make it a serious little work horse.

[SWL2002]

One thing that might help compare this to other CPUs is its Passmark rating.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Atom+Z3735F+%40+1.33GHz&id=2326

It has a Passmark score of 884.

Here is another link that you can compare that rating to other CPUs:

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Atom+Z3735F+%40+1.33GHz&id=2326

[M0GVZ]

With SmartSDR its the GPU capabilities which are important. I have a Lenovo Thinkpad x200 Core 2 Duo laptop which has switchable onboard graphics. Using the onboard Intel graphics, SmartSDR isn't the most pleasant thing to use. Switch to the ATI Radeon 3200HD graphics and its a different story.

[KD8MJR]

It has a Passmark score of 884.

 884 is really sloooow.
My bigger worry is how often these things crash and sometimes die.  You just cant cram something that small into a package with no fan and expect heat not to be an issue.


73s
Rob

[SWL2002]

With SmartSDR its the GPU capabilities which are important. I have a Lenovo Thinkpad x200 Core 2 Duo laptop which has switchable onboard graphics. Using the onboard Intel graphics, SmartSDR isn't the most pleasant thing to use. Switch to the ATI Radeon 3200HD graphics and its a different story.

PowerSDR was written using .NET WinForms, but SmartSDR uses .NET WPF, which takes advantage of offloading drawing the GUI to the GPU (unlike WinForms). Also, no DSP is done on the PC unlike PowerSDR which depends entirely on the PC's CPU.  PowerSDR benefits from a multi core CPU with a big cache.  SmartSDR benefits from a good GPU (as you have found out).

[W8JX]

It has a Passmark score of 884.

 884 is really sloooow.
My bigger worry is how often these things crash and sometimes die.  You just cant cram something that small into a package with no fan and expect heat not to be an issue.


73s
Rob

It is the way things are going. With a maximum power draw on CPU of 2.2 watts heat is not a issue. I would not depend on pass mark today as it does not tell true story . current generation atom is a whole new animal. Old atom was designed for low power and did not have a out of order instruction in it and it had to flush buffer and start over when it hit one leading to slow performance in some areas. New/current atom has new core logic and handles out of order code instructions without choking. It was left out on old to meet low power footprint but new one on small die can have it and low power too. 4 full cores will give it good performance.

[SWL2002]

It has a Passmark score of 884.

 884 is really sloooow.
My bigger worry is how often these things crash and sometimes die.  You just cant cram something that small into a package with no fan and expect heat not to be an issue.


73s
Rob

It is the way things are going. With a maximum power draw on CPU of 2.2 watts heat is not a issue. I would not depend on pass mark today as it does not tell true story . current generation atom is a whole new animal. Old atom was designed for low power and did not have a out of order instruction in it and it had to flush buffer and start over when it hit one leading to slow performance in some areas. New/current atom has new core logic and handles out of order code instructions without choking. It was left out on old to meet low power footprint but new one on small die can have it and low power too. 4 full cores will give it good performance.

Passmark does not tell the true story about what, precisely?  It certainly tells the true story about how it compares to other CPUs when running a typical application. 

[K5TED]

The Compute Stick behaves as one would expect a quad core Atom to perform. I've had 2 of them plus a Chinese version, the Mele PCG-01, running mostly non-stop for three weeks as part of a digital signage development project.

The Intel is plastic and actually has a tiny fan, while the Mele is metal, no fan, has an additional micro USB port (1 micro usb power port, 1 micro usb host port, 1 full size host port), plus the added bonus of an external wireless antenna.

The Intel comes with a wall wart USB power supply, and a HDMI extender cable, and a HDMI coupler. The Mele kit omits the extender.

The devices perform well on video playback. The Intel wireless radio isn't great in a congested office environment, experiencing sporadic disconnects, while the Mele has been solid. On the Intel, we find the wireless works better with Bluetooth turned off.

Skype audio/video works fine on either model. As is expected, Flash, Java, and moronic video ad heavy pages will load at a snail's pace if you have autoplay enabled.

The USB host port is 2.0 and can support a USB/Ethernet combo hub for more connectivity  options.
 
This device would be an acceptable alternative to SmartTV apps, Roku, Chrome Stick, Firestick or Apple TV if you need more than canned entertainment apps but not full powered PC on your TV.

It would also serve as a light duty shack PC to control radios, run HRD, loggers, spotters, etc.

The next gen Intel Stick out in Q4 2015 will be a Core M, supposedly the same-ish price point.

[W8JX]

Passmark does not tell the true story about what, precisely?  It certainly tells the true story about how it compares to other CPUs when running a typical application.  

It is a GENERAL benchmark that does not properly access multi core performance. Also passmark can include marginal performance in areas that are not even a concern for planned use of stick. GPU performance (which is mostly independent of CPU and controls screen refresh/res/performance) is not considered in passmark. I was used single core atom (over clocked) and dual core for years and they do a fair job in non game tasks. I got a dell Android tablet a few months ago with a quad core Atom with built in GPU that drives a 2560 x 1600 display on tablet with ease even with high def video which takes some CPU and GPU power to do