32GB primary storage is small, but you can plug in a low-profile flash drive (like http://amzn.com/B00LLER2CS ) and easily make room for all other applications, media, or games (emulators mostly).
You need to consider that you need to plug in things like mouse and keyboard as well. So easily, you will need to shell out extra money for a USB hub with that comes with external power since it may not be enough power to feed to keyboard + mouse and extra storage.
Actually that's not really a solution, as I've found out with 3 devices (i of them an ICS clone, but it was confirmed to me that ICS also has it). The problem is that there is one single radio dealing with WIFI and BT, so the best-case scenario is that you will have mouse skipping while transferring wfi data at lower speeds (e.g. while streaming). Worst-case, wifi data will be interrupted and you will need to "freeze" the mouse to decrease you chanses at "try again" lottery. PS: in theory routers which do not support WMM (old ones) or have it disabled go into the lottery category (it can be called differently depending on brand).
It likely uses some form of WIMBoot to minimize the amount of disk space used by the OS. That should, hopefully, keep the OS from using more than 10-15 GB on disk. Even after extended periods of time.
Some software programs only allow install on the primary drive. Even if you specify another drive partition, it puts in plenty of stuff in the primary drive. The User's profile folder is also on the primary drive. Pretty soon, the amount of free space goes down.
Compound the above with the fact that eMMC storage needs some free space to keep operating optimally, it just doesn't make sense to have a Windows PC with 32GB eMMC storage.
32GB is fine for tablet use-cases, or in cases where you know the number / size of programs that you plan to install beforehand. For general-purpose PC use, a 64GB primary drive is what I would recommend at the minimum.
For general computing uses I completely agree that more space is needed. Windows store apps only install on the primary drive (unless you are familiar enough with file system junctions/links to move it to a separate drive). But I don't get the general computing vibe from devices like this.
This seems more of a Chromebox or Android TV competitor than a desktop replacement. Something your stream content to more than store and process content locally. At least that's what I would use something like this for. More than enough power to run Win10 plus stream 1080p content through JRiver or Kodi/XBMC, and still have enough space to run some other apps or games ... though maybe not many.
Exactly this kind of stick but with Android TV is what I would like to see!!! The Android ones tend to be underpowered in every sense. But this has the right combination of RAM/storage/CPU/GPU... and they screw it by using Windows 10.
This is quite silly to be honest. The Windows OS pretty much takes up a chunk of that 32GB, and users do not have any option to expand the storage without the card reader and with a paltry 1 USB port. For 129 bucks, I think the money is better spent on buying a more capable and flexible NUC even though it costs more
actually on the Intel Compute Stick I'm currently upgrading from 8.1 to 10 has 18GB of free space (3GB reported as used by the bone stock OS). Funny thing is the total amount of free space on the stock partition is only 21,9GB which means the VIM and recovery partitions use up somewhere in the area of 11GB in total. Not too shabby considering it's a full blown Windows installation. I'm curious to see what the stats will be like once I've finished upgrading it to Windows 10
ok, you realize this is not a desktop or tablet PC right? It is basically aimed at apps and streaming, hence storage being secondary since the idea is that your terrabytes of MKVs will be streamed over wifi from your main PC. Thus storage is irrelevant.
"As I have mentioned in multiple reviews, 32GB of primary storage is hardly enough after a couple of major updates." Is this in reference to reviews of Windows 10 systems, though? My understanding is that Windows 10 is substantially more compact than Windows 8.1 due to use of compression in system files and the elimination of the recovery partition. It appears a full Windows 10 install should be about 8GB total.
Still I agree from the perspective that 32GB is going to be cramped no matter what — even if Windows 10 were 0 bytes I'd have trouble getting along with only 32 GB of free space on a Windows PC.
AFAIK Windows update does not delete the update files after it's succussfully applied to the system. So while the user can delete it themselves, it's pretty annoying to do it frequently
This isn't meant to be a main PC, but rather a streaming\media stick. Its fine for that amount. I have a win 8 64gb tablet that I have a few games, a few movies and some docs, an still have over half of hdd free. A cloud based PC is not meant as a main PC, its to be used for a small set of purposes/uses.
As a streaming/ media stick, I think the price of 129 bucks is quite steep considering that there are capable streaming sticks at a third of this price. This is better because its more versatile since its a micro PC. However, just like the current Intel Compute Stick, there seems to be too many limitations to it.
It's a much nicer looking design that I would hope doesn't require active cooling. I have a sneaking suspicion that it'll require a fan though which strikes me as not very elegant, but probably unavoidable because of the size. Like a lot of other people, I'm disappointed by the 32GB of local storage and that alone would prevent me from even thinking about purchasing one. While it might do as a purpose-limited streaming device, I'm always a little reluctant to buy something that isn't able to adequately act as a one and only PC (which is totally unreasonable given the number of working laptops I have laying around that I could use instead). The unfortunate part is that the storage capacity is really the only glaring hurdle in the way of a compute stick-like system from being someone's one and only desktop PC as long as their expectations of performance are pretty modest.
where on earth will they fit a fan to this??? about the storage, this is not meant to be a primary computer, and with cloud storage I really think 32gb should be "just enough". also, please use a BT keyboard/mouse with it, there is no sense attaching cables to it.
my only concerd would be the power source. if it uses a micro-usb for power then it means that this thing can work with 5V and 0.5A only? that would be awesome, just plug it directly to your TV like the ChromeCast dongle. but if it requires a power brick it loses some potential.
I can see the motivation for making this stick small and elegant, but dropping the SD card slot? This will drive many potential customers away. Maybe there'll be a "VivoStick XL" soon?
The only use I can see with 32GB is carrying as a portable, security-conscious computing terminal (e.g., running "Tails" on it or somewsuch). That's assuming such an OS will support the hardware.
Removal of the MicroSD slot is a big deal in this case. I'd like to see someone make a slightly bigger ComputeStick that could slot in one's own M.2 SSD after the fact. That would take care of the issue.
It's awesome media player though... I have a Tronsmart NUC based on similar H/W and it's great behind the TV. It plays most common codec in HW including hevc (h265) 8bit and does very well with 10-bti in software too. But NUC form factor isn't as unobtrusive as the stick which is what appeals about the Vivostick...
There's some variation though in the various offerings coming soon. I found this Indiegogo project with a similar stick that seems to have better specs called Magic Stick (not massively enthusiastic about the name):
Key bits: Cherry Trail Z8700 + 8GB Ram + 64GB MMC + USB 3.1 and 2 USB 3... starts at 99 for a lower spec one up to 250 for the top end... there's more about it here: http://igg.me/at/magicstick/x/1979944 I don't think it's a stretch to think they'll actually ship because it's really incremental improvements on the reference design rather than any ground breaking R&D...
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nathanddrews - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
32GB primary storage is small, but you can plug in a low-profile flash drive (like http://amzn.com/B00LLER2CS ) and easily make room for all other applications, media, or games (emulators mostly).watzupken - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
You need to consider that you need to plug in things like mouse and keyboard as well. So easily, you will need to shell out extra money for a USB hub with that comes with external power since it may not be enough power to feed to keyboard + mouse and extra storage.mr_tawan - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
Since it comes with 2 USB ports, I'd plug an flash drive in one port, and mouse+keyboard wireless reciever in the other.That should be enough without resorting to hub, although I don't think any of these two have enough power for external harddrive.
nandnandnand - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
Skip the wireless USB mouse and use a wireless Bluetooth one!mathew7 - Thursday, September 3, 2015 - link
Actually that's not really a solution, as I've found out with 3 devices (i of them an ICS clone, but it was confirmed to me that ICS also has it). The problem is that there is one single radio dealing with WIFI and BT, so the best-case scenario is that you will have mouse skipping while transferring wfi data at lower speeds (e.g. while streaming). Worst-case, wifi data will be interrupted and you will need to "freeze" the mouse to decrease you chanses at "try again" lottery. PS: in theory routers which do not support WMM (old ones) or have it disabled go into the lottery category (it can be called differently depending on brand).neonspark - Thursday, November 5, 2015 - link
ICS is not based on cherrytrail is it?Jammrock - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
It likely uses some form of WIMBoot to minimize the amount of disk space used by the OS. That should, hopefully, keep the OS from using more than 10-15 GB on disk. Even after extended periods of time.https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/Dn5943...
ganeshts - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
The OS is not the only issue.Some software programs only allow install on the primary drive. Even if you specify another drive partition, it puts in plenty of stuff in the primary drive. The User's profile folder is also on the primary drive. Pretty soon, the amount of free space goes down.
Compound the above with the fact that eMMC storage needs some free space to keep operating optimally, it just doesn't make sense to have a Windows PC with 32GB eMMC storage.
32GB is fine for tablet use-cases, or in cases where you know the number / size of programs that you plan to install beforehand. For general-purpose PC use, a 64GB primary drive is what I would recommend at the minimum.
Jammrock - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
For general computing uses I completely agree that more space is needed. Windows store apps only install on the primary drive (unless you are familiar enough with file system junctions/links to move it to a separate drive). But I don't get the general computing vibe from devices like this.This seems more of a Chromebox or Android TV competitor than a desktop replacement. Something your stream content to more than store and process content locally. At least that's what I would use something like this for. More than enough power to run Win10 plus stream 1080p content through JRiver or Kodi/XBMC, and still have enough space to run some other apps or games ... though maybe not many.
neonspark - Thursday, November 5, 2015 - link
why would you even conceive this as a desktop replacement? I mean really. This is a HDPC replacement. It is never meant as a desktop replacement.neonspark - Thursday, November 5, 2015 - link
no modern program demands C:\drive installation.TylerGrunter - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
Exactly this kind of stick but with Android TV is what I would like to see!!!The Android ones tend to be underpowered in every sense. But this has the right combination of RAM/storage/CPU/GPU... and they screw it by using Windows 10.
neonspark - Thursday, November 5, 2015 - link
just install linux if you care so much about not having windows. android tv is a flop anyway.watzupken - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
This is quite silly to be honest. The Windows OS pretty much takes up a chunk of that 32GB, and users do not have any option to expand the storage without the card reader and with a paltry 1 USB port. For 129 bucks, I think the money is better spent on buying a more capable and flexible NUC even though it costs morevectorm12 - Monday, September 7, 2015 - link
actually on the Intel Compute Stick I'm currently upgrading from 8.1 to 10 has 18GB of free space (3GB reported as used by the bone stock OS). Funny thing is the total amount of free space on the stock partition is only 21,9GB which means the VIM and recovery partitions use up somewhere in the area of 11GB in total. Not too shabby considering it's a full blown Windows installation. I'm curious to see what the stats will be like once I've finished upgrading it to Windows 10neonspark - Thursday, November 5, 2015 - link
ok, you realize this is not a desktop or tablet PC right? It is basically aimed at apps and streaming, hence storage being secondary since the idea is that your terrabytes of MKVs will be streamed over wifi from your main PC. Thus storage is irrelevant.nmm - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
"As I have mentioned in multiple reviews, 32GB of primary storage is hardly enough after a couple of major updates."Is this in reference to reviews of Windows 10 systems, though? My understanding is that Windows 10 is substantially more compact than Windows 8.1 due to use of compression in system files and the elimination of the recovery partition. It appears a full Windows 10 install should be about 8GB total.
Still I agree from the perspective that 32GB is going to be cramped no matter what — even if Windows 10 were 0 bytes I'd have trouble getting along with only 32 GB of free space on a Windows PC.
mr_tawan - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
AFAIK Windows update does not delete the update files after it's succussfully applied to the system. So while the user can delete it themselves, it's pretty annoying to do it frequentlydsraa - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
This isn't meant to be a main PC, but rather a streaming\media stick. Its fine for that amount. I have a win 8 64gb tablet that I have a few games, a few movies and some docs, an still have over half of hdd free. A cloud based PC is not meant as a main PC, its to be used for a small set of purposes/uses.watzupken - Friday, September 4, 2015 - link
As a streaming/ media stick, I think the price of 129 bucks is quite steep considering that there are capable streaming sticks at a third of this price. This is better because its more versatile since its a micro PC. However, just like the current Intel Compute Stick, there seems to be too many limitations to it.yannigr2 - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
Cherry Fail. But I have to give ASUS credit for the design.BrokenCrayons - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
It's a much nicer looking design that I would hope doesn't require active cooling. I have a sneaking suspicion that it'll require a fan though which strikes me as not very elegant, but probably unavoidable because of the size. Like a lot of other people, I'm disappointed by the 32GB of local storage and that alone would prevent me from even thinking about purchasing one. While it might do as a purpose-limited streaming device, I'm always a little reluctant to buy something that isn't able to adequately act as a one and only PC (which is totally unreasonable given the number of working laptops I have laying around that I could use instead). The unfortunate part is that the storage capacity is really the only glaring hurdle in the way of a compute stick-like system from being someone's one and only desktop PC as long as their expectations of performance are pretty modest.marc1000 - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
where on earth will they fit a fan to this??? about the storage, this is not meant to be a primary computer, and with cloud storage I really think 32gb should be "just enough". also, please use a BT keyboard/mouse with it, there is no sense attaching cables to it.my only concerd would be the power source. if it uses a micro-usb for power then it means that this thing can work with 5V and 0.5A only? that would be awesome, just plug it directly to your TV like the ChromeCast dongle. but if it requires a power brick it loses some potential.
VC_89 - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
It must be requiring atleast 2A at 5Vmarc1000 - Thursday, September 3, 2015 - link
if this is real, it is a shame. i can see a great value in plugging this at the back of a simple monitor or TV powered only by the existing USB port.Pissedoffyouth - Tuesday, September 8, 2015 - link
Maybe it's time to make HDMI 2.2 or something provide 25w power or somethingMrSpadge - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
I can see the motivation for making this stick small and elegant, but dropping the SD card slot? This will drive many potential customers away. Maybe there'll be a "VivoStick XL" soon?unialie - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
Any news if the new cherry trail sticks will have 32bit EFI like the bay trail ones?LoneWolf15 - Friday, September 4, 2015 - link
The only use I can see with 32GB is carrying as a portable, security-conscious computing terminal (e.g., running "Tails" on it or somewsuch). That's assuming such an OS will support the hardware.Removal of the MicroSD slot is a big deal in this case. I'd like to see someone make a slightly bigger ComputeStick that could slot in one's own M.2 SSD after the fact. That would take care of the issue.
MarcusSt - Friday, October 23, 2015 - link
It's awesome media player though... I have a Tronsmart NUC based on similar H/W and it's great behind the TV. It plays most common codec in HW including hevc (h265) 8bit and does very well with 10-bti in software too. But NUC form factor isn't as unobtrusive as the stick which is what appeals about the Vivostick...There's some variation though in the various offerings coming soon. I found this
Indiegogo project with a similar stick that seems to have better specs called Magic Stick (not massively enthusiastic about the name):
Key bits: Cherry Trail Z8700 + 8GB Ram + 64GB MMC + USB 3.1 and 2 USB 3... starts at 99 for a lower spec one up to 250 for the top end... there's more about it here: http://igg.me/at/magicstick/x/1979944 I don't think it's a stretch to think they'll actually ship because it's really incremental improvements on the reference design rather than any ground breaking R&D...