Intel Sterling City BOXSTK1AW32SC
Intel Atom x5-Z8300, 2 GB, 32 GB, Intel HD Graphics
Question about Intel Sterling City BOXSTK1AW32SC
Hello Community: My father's PC is out of the way and he wants me to build him a new one, however his requirements are super low. He needs: Internet, Ricardo, Ebay, Outlook email etc. Printing and scanning, and occasionally attaching a camera to transfer pictures. He wants a monitor, not a laptop, plus a mouse and keyboard. My idea is to connect an Intel Sterling City to an HDMI screen. Connect a wireless keyboard and mouse via USB. Use his external drive for storage. But now I need USB ports for the printer. Can I use the USB ports from the monitor? Are they controlled by the Mini PC? Otherwise there is the option of a USB bank where I have additional connections, but the Mini PC is also supplied with enough power to supply all these devices. The external HD in particular will probably need its own power connection. Or will an external HDD which is powered by USB be enough? I really have no idea about these things and can hardly find any specifications on the Intel site. Mercii LG
Helpful answer
Hello, I hope an reply in English is enough for you.
I use the Intel Stick Computer only when I need Windows, which is not often. I use Ubuntu as my main OS.
However, the Compute stick is perfectly OK as main PC as long as it is doing only email, web browsing and a little office work. 'Photo editing, video editing, large amounts of spreadsheet work with lots of macros etc are not an option.
You are right about power, There is an HDMI port from the Compute stick to drive the monitor and enough for a keyboard mouse. However, if you want to drive an external storage, connect a tablet to do data transfer, connect a Handy for data transfer, etc. then you will need a powered USB hub. The hub will take one of the USB ports on the Stick, which means that only the mouse or the keyboard will connect to the Stick. Therefore the mouse and the keyboard are best connected to the powered USB hub., Then you have more connectivity options, but lots of cables and three power cables : one for the Stick, one for the monitor and one for the USB hub.
If this is to be the main computer but you still want something small and cheap, I would recommend something like the Acer Revo One or something based on the Intel NUC. There are lots of these about. I would also have a look at one of the following items, which can be pretty good “computers” but also good portable devices as well: GPD P2 Max, One Mix 3 Yoga, Chuwi MiniBook, or One Mix 1S Yoga. I have not used one of these but they look like they may tick most of your needs.
P.