Over the years Intel has introduced a number of new computer form factors that either became a hit, fizzled out, or moved on to live a more quiet life. The New Unit of Computing (NUC) decidedly became a hit with so-called Mini PCs now everywhere, while the Intel Compute Stick has been largely forgotten. In a recent video by the [Action Retro] one such Compute Stick is poked at, specifically the last model released by Intel in the form of the 2016-era STK1AW32SC, featuring a quad-core Intel Atom x5-Z8330 SoC, 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB eMMC storage.
As the name suggests, this form factor is very stick-like, with a design that makes it easy to just plug it into the HDMI port of a display, making it a snap to add a computer to any TV or such without taking up a considerable amount of space. Although Intel didn’t make more of them after this model, it could be argued that devices like the Chromecast dongle follow the same general concept, and manufacturers like MeLe are still making new PCs in this form factor today.
In the video this 2016-era Compute Stick is put through its paces, wiping the Windows 10 installation that was still on it from the last time it was used, and an installation of Haiku was attempted which unfortunately failed to see the eMMC storage. Worse was the current Ubuntu, which saw its installer simply freeze up, but MX Linux saved the day, providing a very usable Linux desktop experience including the watching of YouTube content and network streaming of Steam games.
Although dissed as ‘e-waste’ by many today, if anything this video shows that these little sticks are still very capable computers in 2025.
My work office has several of those plugged in to the screens hanging around the office. A few are used as narrowcast, a few were used as presentation screens but I think these all got upgraded, and others power the screens above the IT department showing the status of stuff and call/ticket queues.
They used to crash frequently, and me being tall and having narrow wrists was the natural candidate to once a month unplug and replug them for a few screens, but those issues have gone now (they probably use an auto-reboot-every-week-script now)
“They used to crash frequently”
This was my experience with the one I had, to the point I ended up returning it after a few weeks of struggling with it. No matter what operating system I put on it (Windows 10 it came with, various Linux distros, and OpenBSD) it would either hang or reboot itself every couple of hours. In hindsight it was probably a heat issue, which is likely why Intel abandoned the form factor. With the much more powerful NUC you could just mount it on the back of a monitor or TV using the existing VESA mount holes, so the need for a stick format went away.
We had maybe five of these (early model, I guess) used in similar ways and with the same problems. The last one was tossed within a year. Good on paper and from a known company, I assumed a bad batch.
Had much better luck with FitPCs from Compulab, have one in the closet, that must have been running continuously ~15 years, starting on Win7, now Win10.
A right angle adapter would have that stick hang down properly.
They came with HDMI extenders. On some TVs (which was probably the use case for these) the HDMI cable was on the side pointing out so it would have been easy to use as is.
i was a little excited about an intel that has low enough power draw / heat dissipation that it could work in this form factor. seems like it would have to be much cooler even than the celeron n4000, which is intel’s pi-killer chip in my experience (because it runs cool so long as there’s no load). but the comments about the frequent crashes i guess end that hope. oh well :)
Unlike others, I’ve had good experience (no crashes or hangs after months to years) with an older version of the Intel computer stick. I did have to figure out how to boot without a monitor https://rightsock.blogspot.com/2020/05/intel-compute-stick-wont-boot-without.html?m=1 but I also would not recommend updating to Ubuntu 24, where the installer now freezes on you if you restrict it to 1 GB of ram.