Not for everyone: Intel Compute Stick is a PC that fits in your pocket

NEW YORK — Remember when the guts of a desktop computer lived in a large chassis or tower?

The Intel Compute Stick that can transform a spare monitor or TV in your house into a fully functioning Windows 8.1 computer is about the size of a pack of chewing gum. It plugs into an available HDMI port on said TV or monitor.

We've seen similarly designed dongles before — Google's $35 Chromecast, Amazon's $39 FireTV Stick, Roku's $49.99 Streaming Stick — any of which can dish up Netflix and myriad other TV and video channels you might choose to digest. But none of them pack a full computer.

The Intel Compute Stick houses a quad-core Atom processor, 2-gigabytes of memory and 32GB of flash storage. The stick has room for a full-size USB 2.0 port, a Micro SD card slot, along with the requisite Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Intel graphics and audio capabilities are also built in. And of course Microsoft Windows 8.1 (with Bing) is preloaded.

You'll be able to upgrade to Windows 10, too, once Microsoft's new operating system arrives later this year. The computer comes with six months of McAfee anti-virus protection as well.

While the Intel Compute Stick doesn't boast top of the line specs, the innards do add up to what is a perfectly capable real deal computer, one you can get for just $150.

Intel will be selling a less expensive version in June with the Linux operating system.

There must be something to the idea of a tiny, easy-to-transport computer, because Google and Asus are teaming up on a sub-$100 dongle called Chromebit that is due out this summer. It promises to turn a TV or monitor into a Chrome OS-based computer.

Keep in mind if you buy the Intel Compute Stick, you'll need that spare monitor or TV and you must also supply your own keyboard and mouse.

Which brings me to the question at hand: Do you need this thing? The answer depends on your circumstances, of course, but to dispense with the obvious this is never going to be your go-to or only computer, not that Intel is positioning it that way.

But the Compute Stick provides a way get a relatively cheap second or third computer in your house, or to take on vacation, especially if you have that available monitor, mouse and keyboard.

I suppose some folks will want to surf the Web and otherwise bring the computing experience to the large screen television in the living room, though I can't imagine you'll want to routinely edit an Excel spreadsheet on the big TV.

For most people a budget laptop will be a stronger option for getting work done.

Moreover, if all you want to do is stream Netflix or some other entertainment channels, than the aforementioned Roku, Amazon and Google sticks represent a better and far cheaper option.

Intel's stick is not a heavy-duty gaming machine either, but it's more than adequate for casual games. I can certainly envision the kids having a go at Minecraft on the TV.

Intel also plays up some commercial possibilities: using the stick for digital signage, perhaps, or in a kiosk application. A conference room would be another possibility.

To set the thing up, you plug one end of the stick into an HDMI port; an HDMI extender is supplied in case the port is hard to reach. You'll also have to connect the Compute Stick to power.

I did encounter installation hassles, For starters, though Bluetooth is supported, you can't set up the computer with a Bluetooth keyboard. That's because Bluetooth requires a driver to be loaded by the operating system.

That leaves you with two other choices. You can use a wired USB keyboard for the initial setup and then pair the Bluetooth keyboard once in Windows. Or you can use a wireless (RF based) keyboard by plugging the keyboard's dongle into the USB port on the monitor.

I found a couple of old Dell USB keyboards, but when I plugged them directly into the USB port on the Compute Stick not all the keys I pressed registered.

And a second Compute Stick that Intel sent me didn't work at all when I plugged it into a TV.

Something else to consider: Windows 8.1 works best in many cases with a touchscreen, but you may not have an available touchscreen monitor. Touchscreens require the HDMI input for video and a separate USB input for the touch so if you do have a capable monitor you'd need to plug the Compute Stick into both ports to get touch going.

Meantime, If you insert the Compute Stick into a regular TV, you may have to muck with the TV video settings to make scale properly.

The Intel Compute Stick is portable, cheap (compared to other computers, not streaming sticks), an actual PC. But it's geared more for techies than something I'd recommend to mainstream consumers.

Email: ebaig@usatoday.com; Follow @edbaig on Twitter

The bottom line

Intel Compute Stick

$150, www.intel.com

Pro. Can turn a spare display with an available HDMI port into a full-fledged PC. Portable and relatively cheap.

Con. You must supply display, keyboard and mouse. Some installation hassles.