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Posted

Hi All - I am debating getting an Intel ComputeStick or an Asus VivoStick as sort of a portable media and arcade device. I have my full blown set up at home but would want something I can travel with that can be used for media like Kodi, Plex, etc.. and retro emulation like NES, SNES, Genesis, etc... 

I would use a couple of bluetooth NESPro30 Controllers since they also travel well.

Is anyone doing anything like this? Any luck? Do any of you have these stick PCs and have feedback?

Posted

I have the MeegoPad T02 PC on a stick and it works it isn't the most powerful solution but it will handle Plex and any thing 8-16 bit easily. I was interested in the Asus model but since I read it didn't have a micro SD slot that is a killer for me but that was awhile ago before it was actually released just something to check on before pulling the trigger a 32GB drive isn't going to get you to far without additional storage.

Posted

Thanks - Yea VivoStick still doesn't have MicroSD which is a let down because it is certainly the better looking stick and has the Asus Apps to act as a casting device. Do you run LaunchBox on your stick? Or a different front end?

Posted

They also have this one which has a slightly better processor 64GB of storage and a Gigabit LAN port.

I use it with BigBox and it works but I wouldn't say great I keep the art very minimal on it due to the storage constraints I only have Front Box art for games and banners for platforms. Even using the clear logos in the wheel hurts performance so have to keep it light.

Posted (edited)

I mean its running on an Atom with 2GB of RAM you can't expect the world from it.

Those 4GB models may perform much better.

Edited by DOS76
Posted

Yea the higher model is $400+ which isn't worth it. 

A Raspberry Pi Zero can run Attract Mode which has wheels and videos so I was hoping the Compute Stick could run a light theme. 

I love LB and BB but I might try emulation station for the Compute Stick if it's less resource intensive. 

Posted

It's also unfair to compare LaunchBox / Big Box to anything else, even other Windows front end software that runs on a full dekstop, let alone something designed the the Pi. Worse case scenario, if you're comfortable returning items online, you could always try 1, then another, until you find one that does behave how you need. In this case, small form factor PC's and PC's on a stick will get better the more money you put in to them. Like for example, I am looking to get a GPD Win at some point, and that thing is fairly expensive for what you get, but you get a lot, and it could run LB/BB fairly well in a low performance state. I would turn off Ram caching, animations, reduce the amount of images and even run a batch to reduce the resolution of all of the images.

Posted

I completely agree LaunchBox is without question the best front end available and I don't mind that it's resource heavy because its using those resources to bring me a beautiful experience. That's why I pay for it and use it every day. Whatever I put on my PC stick for example doesn't need to be nearly as pretty, but I would like something that looks fairly nice.

Posted

In LB turn the RAM cache all the way down if you get a 1 or 2 GB model. If you get the 4GB model your sort of in new territory as I've never ran it on an atom with 4GBs only 1 and 2 I think it will improve the performance for sure.

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