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Bryan
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PCs on a stick - The Future of Travel Computing?

Check out this project at Kickstarter  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/484889112/the-pocket-tv-makes-any-tv-a-smart-tv

And an Android one with a review over at Liliputing  http://liliputing.com/2012/05/74-pc-on-a-stick-features-allwinner-a10-cpu-android-4-0.html

It depends why you carry a laptop with you, but many travelers would be able to leave it at home once they get one of these. For me, my work requires consultation over Skype video conferencing, so plugging in a webcam is essential.

There are some disadvantages. You can't just start using this in the middle of the airport because you need to plug into a tv. But I find that if you stay at a motel, or even rent a furnished apartment, TV's with HDMI/USB are available. Also in places like Korea and Japan, there are special study rooms / coffee shop hybrid places that have those TV's on the wall for you to do presentations.

At this stage in the development of these small PC's, you'll find yourself plugging in tonnes of peripherals.

What are your thoughts on this kind of computing? Does it work for you?

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I thought of this idea for anyone who can''t afford an ultrabook right now, and who mainly does less CPU intensive computer use. Get a Motorola Atrix lapdock (new for $50 on sale sometimes) and plug a mini PC like the MK802 into it. Now you have a really slim portable computer capable of booting Ubuntu for about $125. There might be some portability benefits like leaving your lapdock at your apartment and plugging the MK802 into a TV if you're just staying at a hotel for a day or two.

Whether it will be right for you depends on how you use your computer.

Creator of SETT. Adventurer.
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I can't really imagine using this in place of a laptop, especially now that laptops are so tiny and awesome (check out the Asus UX21A, which will be my next laptop once they release it). However... I really want something like this for my RV to run security cameras / downloads / etc for while I'm gone. Probably going to go with a Raspberry Pi at some point.

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