Intel Compute Stick Stick PC (Atom BOXSTK1AW32SCL/2GB/32GB/Windows 10/Integrated Graphics), Black

I am writing this review after about a month of extensive use.To start with, the installation is next to minimal. Just insert the stick into the HDMI Port of the TV and keep clicking 'Next'. A word of caution though - please keep handy a wireless/ USB mouse and keyboard for installation. During initial installation, it shows the instructions in three languages in rotation - English, German and Chinese/ Korean. Just don't get alarmed. Wait for the English instruction to appear during each step. Once installed it will go to the home page of Windows 10.Windows 10 here doesn't has Office preloaded into it. Although it does has a shortcut to Microsoft Office Suit, it is a paid version for some Rs 499/- for a month. Now there are three ways of working around it here:-1. Buy the Office Suit by clicking onto the shortcut.2. Download any of the free office apps on the windows store (yes, it supports all widows apps as a normal windows phone would).3. Connect to the internet via Wi-Fi and download Liber Office Software.Personally, I would recommend downloading Libre software from the net. Primarily because it has all the functionalities of Microsoft Office Suit. Right from Excel, Word, PowerPoint and everything that Microsoft Office suit has to offer. And it is equally easy to use.Another feature of this stick is that it supports all the apps of the windows store and you can do almost everything here that you do on your smartphone. And that includes playing games!I was apprehensive about buying this product and therefore did a lot of research online. A lot of sites said that this PC stick gets slow if a number of apps are opened. Not true. It works flawlessly even while playing games and watching movies. Another thing that is mentioned on a few sites is that the stick gets 'piping hot' after a few hours of usage. Again totally misleading! In order to check this claim, I put a few movies in loop overnight. And next morning I touched the stick and found the temperature to be same as it would be after a few minutes of use. So the fact is, the stick gets only slightly hot which is normal for any electronic product of this size.Another thing that was mentioned on various sites is that the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi don't work in tandem. Which means, when Bluetooth of this device is switched on and connected to any external device, the Wi-Fi is automatically disconnected. This again is false. I browsed the internet using Wi-Fi and at the same time tried connecting Bluetooth and transferring files from my phone to the stick PC. And again it performed smoothly. Neither the Bluetooth nor Wi-Fi got disconnected. I am uploading a screenshot of the simultaneous working of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi so see for yourself.It has two USB Ports. One will be occupied by the wireless mouse and keyboard. The second one can be used to connect External HD. I have a 500GB External HD and it worked smoothly when connected.And finally, in case you don't want the data to be consumed unnecessarily then I suggest you right click on the tiles (the square shaped icons on the right when windows icon is selected) and select 'Switch Live Tile Off '. It took me a couple of days to realise this. If you don't do this then these apps will keep running in the background and your data will be consumed unnecessarily. So depends if you want to exercise this option or not.Overall, it is an amazing product worth its price. If you are in a dilemma whether to buy this or android mini desktop, I would strongly recommend you to go with this one. Primarily because this is a full fledged PC that can be carried anywhere with ease. And it works offline too unlike an android mini desktop that requires Wi-Fi/ internet connection to work.

I am a Mac user and I have moved from Mac mini to Compute stick - I have found this setup to be extremely efficient, useful and space saving.Windows 10 loads up quick,2GM Memory is good enough for most surfing, office work . I image editing software like Polarr but Adobe Photoshop cc or Lightroom cc won’t work.There is about 19GB space left in the stick after Windows 10 OS.For iPhone hotspot, I have install iTunes and then updated windows driver from microsoft- it works like a charm.Bluetooth works fine but more than one connection and either the mouse(bluetooth) or the audio headphone becomes erratic.HDMI works and the USB 3.0 port takes in the USB 3.0 compatible hub.I also run Virtualbox inside windows 10 for windows 2000 and that works too.There is a slot for micro SD- max capacity is 128GB- I haven't used it yet.

I needed a desktop solution for very basic work usage (2-3 light webapps, nothing more). Laptops were not necessary, since portability wasn't a requirement.Having ruled out assembled desktops due to multiple reasons (poor local after-sales support and space constraints mainly), I initially decided to buy an Intel NUC. I have had very good experience using them in the past. Then I came across this little guy...I won't repeat the specs, but you will know by now that this is intended for very light usage. Which is fine by me.Package is very minimal as expected, with HDMI adapter cable and power cord (with wall socket adapters for multiple countries including India).First thing I did was upgrade Windows 10 to latest version 1909. It shipped with 1809. BIOS upgrade and WiFi drivers next. Remember to clean up older installation of Windows after upgrade via Cleanup tool, since it takes quite a large chunk of space.There is some slowness in the system, either due to the CPU or the slow flash storage (or both). But like I said, if your requirements are grounded, then you won't mind.Storage is expandable via microSD, so onboard 32 GB isn't as bad as it sounds. It'll be slower than onboard storage, though.It has one USB 3 port and one USB 2 port (both type A, not type C). Although they are supposed to be full-powered ports (0.9A from USB 3, 0.5A from USB 2), Intel recommends that you use a powered USB hub for devices that require more power, such as external drives.One strange thing I noticed was that full HD video playback on Youtube was struggling on Google Chrome, but Edge handled it just fine. Task manager showed that GPU wasn't used that much in Chrome, so hardware acceleration wasn't happening. Perhaps it's a display driver issue. Didn't investigate further, since it won't be used for videos, but something to keep in mind.One nice feature is that you can configure it to boot automatically after you turn on the power supply, so that you don't have to reach for the power button. You'll have to do this in the BIOS.Sleep and Hibernate options are disabled, for understandable reasons (no power backup for sleep, slow and small disk for hibernate).Its most limiting factor is the 2 GB RAM. 4 GB would be greatly appreciated.All in all, I think it is a very good basic PC option for the price. I believe this is the cheapest desktop PC solution you can buy from a reliable manufacturer, and it is simpler than buying an Intel NUC (you'll have to install RAM and storage yourself). Just understand its limitations before committing.

Don't buy this unless you really need it. There are laptops in 9k-12k range (like Acer Switch 10E) having exactly same config and extra screen, keyboard, battery, etc. 7k-8k price would be okay for this.It's powerful as expected. Good for office, browsing and media use.I tested Ubuntu, Android-RemixOS and few other distros, all of them work nicely but WiFi is almost unusable in Android. Windows 10 eats half of RAM, so linux is better choice for this. HDMI-to-DVI adapter didn't work.