Lenovo PC on a Stick (2Gb RAM, 32Gb eMMC, WLAN, BT, Win 10 Home) - £50

GoodBridge

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B015Q2A3NA

A fully functional windows pc. On a stick. For £50.

What a time to be alive

machalla

I like the idea and the price but there are some pretty variable reviews on this particular pc stick.

If I remember rightly if you try to update it to windows 10 it doesn't work. They do at least seem to be shipping some with windows 10 pre-installed.

DopeTech

Seems like a good deal and if there is any problems Amazon are good at swapping/refunding when things go wrong.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

machalla wrote: »

I like the idea and the price but there are some pretty variable reviews on this particular pc stick.

If I remember rightly if you try to update it to windows 10 it doesn't work. They do at least seem to be shipping some with windows 10 pre-installed.

Windows 10 Home is pre installed. Says it on the page.

jharr100

Perfect for kodi ?

Amalgam

The Z3735F Quad Atom is fine for Windows 10, browser, torrent client, Foobar, various other bits all running at the same time. No issues.

Using it in an Asus X205TA as I type, happy.

Edit: People love to give out about these, but the top review on OPs link understands what it is capable of. No issues playing YouTube HD and 1080P in VLC. I've not had any issues myself. h265 video can be a little/very choppy, particularly if the audio packed with it is of high quality.

uck51js9zml2yt

There was an upgradeable Acer mini box from ebuyer on hkud for £59.

On phone so can't link.

Now £79!

Pizzle

Looks interesting. Would something like this work well for displaying Sky Go on a normal TV if connected up to it? Knowing Sky there may be restrictions in place...

machalla

Curb Your Enthusiasm wrote: »

Windows 10 Home is pre installed. Says it on the page.

Some of the reviews mentioned that they still recieved a windows 8.1 version rather than windows 10.

GoodBridge

Seth Cold Blood wrote: »

There was an upgradeable Acer mini box from ebuyer on hkud for £59.

On phone so can't link.

Now £79!

I saw that too and ordered it but ebuyer cancelled my order a couple of minutes after I placed it with no reason given

will56

GoodBridge wrote: »

Seth Cold Blood wrote: »

There was an upgradeable Acer mini box from ebuyer on hkud for £59.

On phone so can't link.

Now £79!

I saw that too and ordered it but ebuyer cancelled my order a couple of minutes after I placed it with no reason given

Ebuyer don't deliver to ROI. They also won't deliver to forwarding address, so that rules out Parcel Motel

foggy_lad

I have just sent one of those Lenovo stick yokes back to Amazon, worst pc ever! slow to start up and impossible to get it working, wouldn't even run windows update properly.

The same pc with windows 8.1 can be got here https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B012VFLIOI/ref=olp_f_primeEligible?ie=UTF8&f_primeEligible=true&f_used=true&f_usedAcceptable=true&f_usedGood=true&f_usedLikeNew=true&f_usedVeryGood=true for under £40

Doodah7

Pizzle wrote: »

Looks interesting. Would something like this work well for displaying Sky Go on a normal TV if connected up to it? Knowing Sky there may be restrictions in place...

I've ordered one this morning to check if it works for this purpose. Not sure why it wouldn't as Sky Go operates within the browser rather than on a specific app.

imitation

foggy_lad wrote: »

I have just sent one of those Lenovo stick yokes back to Amazon, worst pc ever! slow to start up and impossible to get it working, wouldn't even run windows update properly.

The same pc with windows 8.1 can be got here https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B012VFLIOI/ref=olp_f_primeEligible?ie=UTF8&f_primeEligible=true&f_used=true&f_usedAcceptable=true&f_usedGood=true&f_usedLikeNew=true&f_usedVeryGood=true for under £40

One thing worth keeping in mind is that any windows 8 machine is almost unusuable for the first few hours it is connected to the internet, because it is chugging through gigs of hotfixes. Not such a big deal for an i5 laptop with 8gb of ram, but on these budget machines it is. I have had two computers that were unusable like this, but after they were updated they worked perfectly.

Pizzle

tallpaul wrote: »

I've ordered one this morning to check if it works for this purpose. Not sure why it wouldn't as Sky Go operates within the browser rather than on a specific app.

I'll be interested to hear how you get on with it. Tempted to bite the bullet and buy one now while it's only £50...

Doodah7

imitation wrote: »

One thing worth keeping in mind is that any windows 8 machine is almost unusuable for the first few hours it is connected to the internet, because it is chugging through gigs of hotfixes. Not such a big deal for an i5 laptop with 8gb of ram, but on these budget machines it is. I have had two computers that were unusable like this, but after they were updated they worked perfectly.

But these come with Windows 10...

GekkePrutser

Is this one actually fanless for a change? I got the Intel one with Linux and besides it being WAY too underpowered (1GB ram, 8GB storage with < 1GB free on first boot :rolleyes: ) it's also really whiny when it works hard.

Edit: Nope, not fanless again

By the way this is the previous-gen Atom. The current gen is Cherry trail and there won't be another after because Intel has cancelled the platform (Atom Z-Series). So if you're into this kind of stick PC, get a Cherry trail while they last... Or get a core M one, but they are not exactly in the same price range.

Performance-wise they're not bad by the way - especially with 2GB/32GB it should do nicely for light work.

scamalert

theres intel one on amazon 78pound -very similar spec,and basically some windows 10 update that had to be applied crashed every stick due to not enough space for update same 32gig,that said seems decent device for what it is in size and just get wireless mouse keyboard and you have fully working pc-only thing id opt for its windows 7,if possible to install.

foggy_lad

imitation wrote: »

One thing worth keeping in mind is that any windows 8 machine is almost unusuable for the first few hours it is connected to the internet, because it is chugging through gigs of hotfixes. Not such a big deal for an i5 laptop with 8gb of ram, but on these budget machines it is. I have had two computers that were unusable like this, but after they were updated they worked perfectly.

I tried it out over a few weeks to see if it got any better and also to see if I could install windows 10 but neither worked:-(

The_Conductor

One with Windows 10 Home edition here.
It works fine for 15-20 mins- before it overheats.
Note- I was intending to use it exclusively for high def Youtube output to a 1080p panel (for the kids). It'll play in 'Cinema mode' (i.e. the box mode in a browser window) without overheating- but not @ 1080p.

uck51js9zml2yt

Deal expired unless you want to go for a warehouse deal with win 8.1

dor83

My one of these was delivered about an hour ago, didn't take long to set up at all and seems to run ok so far but all I did was set it up and update it really. The was only thing I couldn't figure out how to make it fit to the screen, it started over the edges and the best I could get was a black border on either side but I know I did it on my laptop so I must be doing something wrong.

will56

Is there anyway to change the input type on your TV to PC ?

If not, try adjusting the resolution on the desktop to match your TVs
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]right click on the blank part of the desktop, click on graphic properties, select the Display settings, Advanced settings and then you'll see the options to move or adjust the size of the desktop.[/font]

GoodBridge

I got mine yesterday. Same thing happened to me with the screen. Figured out it was because the telly's "picture mode" was on widescreen but when I set it to auto it was fine. Our telly is philips ambilight something or other. Maybe yours has a similar setting?

Other than that, pretty impressed. It more or less set itself up and ran updates etc. I did remove some of the pre-installed windows and lenovo crapware and last night I was playing 1080 youtube vidoes no probs and 1080p vid files. The little fan in it did kick in a few times though but even then it's *a lot* quieter than the old laptop that was connected to the telly that this is replacing.

I'll have to get a little usb hub as there's only one port but other than that, very happy with it.

Doodah7

Mine came the other day. Wifi on it is poor but a usb wifi adapter has improved it. The best thing is that it works perfectly with both Sky Go and Setanta Go through IE 10 with Silverlight updated.

Riesen_Meal

tallpaul wrote: »

Mine came the other day. Wifi on it is poor but a usb wifi adapter has improved it. The best thing is that it works perfectly with both Sky Go and Setanta Go through IE 10 with Silverlight updated.

Would it be good for Kodi and Netflix?

May invest in one for the Mammy but may wait til Xmas as some of the more powerful ones would be cheaper...

Doodah7

Fieldog wrote: »

Would it be good for Kodi and Netflix?

May invest in one for the Mammy but may wait til Xmas as some of the more powerful ones would be cheaper...

I've no idea about how Kodi works. I can't see why Netflix wouldn't work either. In fairness I've a dozen devices that do Netflix!

dor83

will56 wrote: »

Is there anyway to change the input type on your TV to PC ?

If not, try adjusting the resolution on the desktop to match your TVs
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]right click on the blank part of the desktop, click on graphic properties, select the Display settings, Advanced settings and then you'll see the options to move or adjust the size of the desktop.[/font]

Yeah, got it sorted, for some reason the first time it wasn't giving me the option to fit to screen just center it but it's there now.

tallpaul wrote: »

Mine came the other day. Wifi on it is poor but a usb wifi adapter has improved it. The best thing is that it works perfectly with both Sky Go and Setanta Go through IE 10 with Silverlight updated.

How far is it from your router? I'm getting similar to what I get on my laptop but it is only about 2-3 feet away from the router, I only get around 30Mbps on my wifi with the eircom router I have anyway.

Doodah7

dor83 wrote: »

Yeah, got it sorted, for some reason the first time it wasn't giving me the option to fit to screen just center it but it's there now.

How far is it from your router? I'm getting similar to what I get on my laptop but it is only about 2-3 feet away from the router, I only get around 30Mbps on my wifi with the eircom router I have anyway.

It is about 20 feet away but I get far better reception on my Mac or iPad. It is a great little yoke for its size and price. I only really want it to play Sky Go and Setanta and it does this fine.

jharr100

My one shows limited connection and I have 60 to 70 meg broadband .. been 2 days going through every setting and been on hundreds of forums to no avail!

Doodah7

Update: just picked up a new wireless dongle (TPLink AC600) and now getting 80Mbps!!! Can't complain about the wifi speed.