I'm testing this useful device as a replacement for my HTPC. So far, so good. Forget hauling around a USB stick. How about the whole darned PC - not much bigger!

I have found it to be surprisingly fast, and so far it runs everything the old HTPC did. It offered a Windows 10 upgrade right off the bat - so far I have declined.

Right now I am testing DVD Profiler and my plugins. Everything works as expected with BulkEdit, PTouch and SideCar. LoadDVD did not install, but this is a bug some people hit, that up until now, I have not been able to reproduce. Maybe now I can fix it. I think it has more to do with being a clean system, than with being the Intel Stick.

The biggest limitations of the Intel PC Stick for me are: Wi-Fi speed (no wire connection), limited C drive space and USB 2.0. I did install a 128GB microSD card, and that is working great for installing programs and data. The DVD drive, 4TB hard drive and USBUIRT blaster, all worked as before. I have yet to test the webcam or playing a Blu-Ray, but I don't expect problems, based on what I have experienced so far.

The HD graphics are crisp, and VLC player plays everything I can throw at it, just like the old desktop machine, except there is not enough horsepower to run advanced de-interlacing, but blend works OK.

All in all, a great solution. When the next version comes out (USB 3.0 and 4K video), I will probably replace my other desktop.

By the way, the stick gets its power from a USB jack that is normally supplied by its own high power brick. But I just plugged it into the same USB 3.0 hub that the devices are attached to. It has a massive power supply.

Yeah, I agree that this supports modern trends in computing.

My previous HTPC had basically three connections: Network via wired connection, HDMI for output, and USB via a powerful hub. I just pulled out the old machine, and substituted the stick - except that the stick uses Wi-Fi instead of a wired network connection.

The USB hub is used to connect a couple of hard drives, a Blu-Ray/DVD player, webcam, IR blaster, Hauppague HDPVR, Cyberpower UPS, and wireless keyboard / mouse transceiver, and now it also supplies power to the Intel Stick.

My son told me that he heard that the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi cause issues when used together. I don't know about that - my wireless keyboard uses proprietary RF communications, so I have not tested Bluetooth.

So far, everything is working just as it had before, alas at only USB 2.0 speeds instead of USB 3.0.

A bit of an update. To solve the stuttering during HD streaming over Wi-Fi, I added a USB gigabit ethernet device. It also serves as a mini-hub, adding 3 more USB 3.0 slots to my existing hub. Works beautifully. I can't wait for the 64 bit, USB 3.0 version of the stick.