Tech: These devices can make your TV smarter

In the 1960s David Moore founder of Intel observed how engineers were able to double the number of transistors in an integrated circuit every two years This observation later referred to as Moorersquos Law may not hold true with respect to the time taken to bring these small transistors into the market However Moorersquos Law has made it possible to shrink your desktop into a tiny pluggable device that weighs just 45 grams and is slightly bigger than a USB data cardLeft Panache Air PC and right iBallrsquos Splendo presents the functionalities of a desktop PC in a portable stickTwo such devices based on Intelrsquos Compute Stick platform or PConStick are now available in the Indian market mdash iBallrsquos Splendo and Panache Air PC Both devices feature the same hardware specs and look similar as well apart from their label tagsWhat we likeThe Intel Compute Stick packs an Intel Atom quad core processor Z3735F clocked at 133GHZ and the RAM stands at 2GB It gets Intel HD Graphics 311Mhz646MHz embedded on it is capable of playing 1080p videos and should play 3D content as well Though we didnrsquot test any 3D content due to lack of a 3Denabled TV we were satisfied with playback of 1080p videosThere was no lag or motion jitters The device gets WiFi receptor bgn built into it and supports Bluetooth 40 It gets a USB 20 and a micro USB port to connect external gadgets such as hard disks wireless mouse and keyboard or a Windows remote controller and micro USB for power input Therersquos a builtin power button as wellBoth the devices get a micro SD slot however while iBall Splendo supports up to 64GB Panache Air PC can support up to 128GB The Splendo is available only in a 32GB model whereas Panache offers both 16GB and 32GB models Both come with a tiny HDMI extension chord a USB charger detachable in iBall Splendo and USB converter chord to connect USB devices to the Micro USB portWhat they can doBoth devices bring the functionalities of a desktop PC on to your TV or any display device that comes with an HDMI input You can use it to browse the Web watch YouTube videos play movies download your favourite movies and TV shows edit documents read and reply to emails as well as Skype video chat on your TV by connecting a webcamyour phones camera to the device or install a BitTorrent client to download and share files with your peers with very little consumption of power You can also install media centre apps like Kodi earlier XBMC to set up your personal media libraryPanache Air PC vs iBall SplendoOur final question Which is better There isnrsquot much difference between both devices in terms of hardware except that Panache Air PC costs a bit more than the iBall Splendo While the Splendo comes for R9999 for the 32GB model the Panache Air PC costs Rs 10999 for 32GB model Besides the Splendo comes with a free wireless mouse and keyboard while the Air PC offers no freebies However Panache offers a 1year replacement warranty which is not available with iBallAnd the winner isThough the Panache Air PC costs Rs 1000 extra it is a better choice simply because of the oneyear replacement warranty Therersquos more the Panache Air PC also comes preinstalled with Windows 10 OS whereas the iBall Splendo is propped with Windows 81 OS Though the Splendo is upgradeable to Windows 10 it would require you to first upgrade to the latest version of the Windows 81 nearly 700MB download and then to Windows 10 above 2GB download We arenrsquot sure how many users would be comfortable with this Besides while a free wireless keyboard and mouse sounds tempting the freebies were of poor quality We would rather have iBall slash the prices a bit than force us to take home a low quality keyboard or mouseDonrsquot miss Read how to set up a personal media centre using Kodi app on either the Panache Air PC or iBall Splendo on the WebLog on to wwwmiddaycom Available on Snapdealcom and Amazonin Price Rs 9999 Splendo Rs 10999 Air PC