The new mini-PC from Intel is not all that great

Jul 16, 2015 08:25 GMT  ·  By

The Intel Compute Stick sounds great on paper, and it's also shipping with Ubuntu, but you shouldn't really get your hopes up. The Windows version is not all that great, and it's quite possible that the Ubuntu edition is not up to par either.

When Intel announced that it was planning to build and release a small PC the size of a USB stick, we all got very excited, especially since the company was planning to have a Windows version and an Ubuntu version. It turns out that it's quite difficult to get a hold of an Ubuntu version in some parts of the world, but we got to play a little with the Windows edition and the news is not good.

First of all, the Intel Computer Stick is huge, and you don't really realize until you hold one in your hand. In fact, it's so big that it has cooling fans. It's not a problem if you think about it. It's basically a small PC that should be quite powerful. And here lies the problem. It is not good enough to run Windows 8.1.

Intel Compute Stick is crawling away

We're still trying to get our hands on the Ubuntu version, now more than ever, but the performance of the Intel Compute Stick is disappointing. I'll explain this in a single phrase, so it's clear. If you have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth running at the same time, you won't be able to use it properly. Somehow, Intel missed this issue and shipped the stick with a problem. It might get corrected in a future update, but it's not a good sign.

The Ubuntu version of the Intel Compute Stick uses the same processor and Intel Atom Z3735F Quad Core, but it has only 1GB of RAM and less storage space. It remains to be seen how Linux will fare, but if Intel didn't give this product enough attention for Windows, it's hard to imagine doing better with Ubuntu. We'll keep you apprised with more information once the Linux version will land for testing.

Ubuntu in the Bios for Intel Compute Stick
Ubuntu in the Bios for Intel Compute Stick

Photo Gallery (2 Images)

Intel Compute Stick size
Ubuntu in the Bios for Intel Compute Stick
Open gallery