Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/830466
Some of the larger units like the VoYo or the Kangaroo have internal lithium polymer batteries which can run the units for a short period of time from twenty minutes for the VoYo to several hours for the Kangaroo if you lose external power. This can come in handy on the set where things get unplugged by accident all the time without warning or you have to move from one location to another without having to shut down. All the units mentioned here now come with Windows 10 installed and some are even Dual Boot with Windows and Android 4.4 installed. Although, those units with dual OS have a lot less free space available on the 32GB eMMC internal drive. Most with Windows only, have about 13GB-18GB free and the dual boot with Android drops that free space down to about 8GB to 12GB. However, all units reviewed here have Micro SD card slots so the storage can be expanded cheaply with 32GB to 128GB Micro SD cards. They will all run Microsoft Office full version and will do an admirable job running PowerPoint, Excel or Word. They can play Adobe Director files for interactive display. I have even run older versions of Photoshop (ver. 7) or Photoshop LE and other useful utilities like Video-to-Video encoding software or open source recorders/players like VLC and Audacity. They all have at least one full-size USB port (type A) and some add a second full-size or micro-size OTG USB port. The larger units also throw in a LAN port and USB 3 ports for interfacing external storage or adding additional displays. That's right; with a small outboard Pluggable DisplayLink USB dongle, you can add an additional two displays. So, one of the small sticks can actually feed three different displays at the same time. If you want them to display 30-frame video at full speed, you may have to drop the resolution of the additional displays down to 720p. (A limitation of the USB 2 port.) Although there is not room in this article to review them, if you need an integrated touchscreen display, there are many Windows tablet PCs available using the same chip- sets as the stick and all about one-fourth the cost of the cheapest iPad. Also, small laptops like the Lenovo 100S or 2-in-1 (tablet/laptop combos) like the Vulcan VTA1005XBM 32, are under $200. I've even found eight-inch tablets like the CHUI H8 with 1920x1080 ips touchscreens and USB ports and external HDMI connector for around $150. CONCLUSIONS AND CAVEATS For my use (video playback sources), I found the Quantum Access Atom Z3735F units to be the best. Their lack of USB 3 (which I don't need) improves their performance and the external antenna makes the WiFi and Bluetooth performance much better. If I can find them, I prefer the Windows 8.1 OS for playback. I can install a third- party UI like "Classic Shell" to deal with the lame 8.1 tile-based user interface and get back to an interface more like Windows 7. Windows 10 improved the user interface somewhat, but the problem with Windows 10 is that Microsoft removed the ability to turn off automatic updates in the latest versions and one thing you don't want is to suddenly have your on-set monitor tell you to stand by while it downloads five gigabytes of "important" updates. You can turn off automatic updates in Windows 8.1 and as long as I don't use these devices for surfing the net to questionable websites, I don't have to worry about viruses or security holes. If I'm not using WiFi to remote- ly control the unit, I can just put the OS in Airplane Mode. None of these units come with keyboards or mice, so you will have to add a Bluetooth or USB keyboard and or mouse or touchpad. I am partial to the iPazzport mini- Bluetooth keyboard (model KP-810-19BT). It is about the size of a small TV remote and has a built-in touchpad for mouse control and thumb-operated keyboard with all the keys of a full-sized keyboard, including F1-F12 and cursor arrow keys. This unit is small enough to slip in my shirt pocket or stick behind the monitor with a little Velcro. Besides the Bluetooth version, they also make an RF 2.4 GHz model that has a mini-USB dongle. These can be had for under $20 if you shop around on Amazon or eBay. Tip: If you are stuck with Windows 10 and need to be on the internet for some reason, you can change an advanced set- ting in the network configuration panel to treat your WiFi access point as a "Metered" connection. This will prevent Windows from automatically checking for and download- ing updates over any wireless connection designated as "Metered." However, if you plug in an Ethernet cable that has an internet connection, it will suddenly go to town downloading tons of updates without asking permission. This, while it happens in the background, can adversely affect video playback smoothness or worse case, ask you to restart the computer after it finishes downloading. The small Stick PCs are small enough to slide two or three of them into the pouch on my laptop case with their small power supplies and a small iPazzport wireless keyboard/touchpad and be ready for any video playback "emergency." You know the one, where the Director or Producer comes up and says, "I know we didn't talk about it but can you put up this animated logo on these three sixty-inch displays that the Art Director built into the set last night?" You can save the day and maybe even get a little more box rental for the extra video source feeds.