Earlier this year at the Consumers Electronics Show (CES) 2015, Intel unveiled the pocket-friendly Intel Compute stick with Windows on it. The USB stick came with Windows 8.1 with Bing pre-installed on it, carrying a budget-friendly price tag of $149.99. It now appears that other PC manufacturers are entering this PC on a USB stick market as well.
Lenovo has announced the Ideacentre Stick 300, a USB stick with Windows 8.1 as its operating system pre-installed on it. The company announced that the USB stick will initially ship with Windows 8.1, but customers will be able to upgrade it to Windows 10 once the new operating system launches on July 29th as a free upgrade — sounds great, right?
“We’ve looked at the computing needs of travelers, business people and families, and realized that a truly portable and affordable solution would be a significant benefit to users of all kinds,” said Jun Ouyang, vice president and general manager, Worldwide Desktop and Visuals, Lenovo. “Our goal with the ideacentre™ Stick 300 is to give those users a sense of freedom and enhanced mobility, while packing a serious punch in a small device.”
The Lenovo USB-sized PC is a little cheaper than Intel Compute Stick, costing $129 — so don’t expect it to feature eye-popping specifications. It’s mostly designed for home users and those who are on-the-go and wants a full fledged Windows operating system while they are traveling.
As for the specifications, the Lenovo Ideacentre Stick 300 ships with Intel Processor Z3735F, 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. There’s WiFi and Bluetooth present to offer seamless connectivity any time, anywhere. It also features an HDMI connector, a micro USB 2.0 port, a full-sized USB port, and an SD card reader.
Although the company didn’t reveal the exact availability date, they did mentioned that customers interested in the mini PC will be able to get hold of it in July from Lenovo’s website and retail shops.
