TinyPCÂ© equipment is popping up everywhere now!

onebuck · 05-25-2012, 08:47 AM

Hi,

TinyPC© equipment is popping up everywhere now.

VIA reveals Rasberry Pi competitor running Android;

Quote:

Chip maker VIA as unveiled a competitor to the Raspberry Pi, an ARM-based System-on-a-Chip running Android that will cost only $49 USD (£31 GBP). Similar to the RasPi, it’s built on ARM11 architecture, however the board itself I somewhat larger, with a Neo-ITX form factor that is about twice the size.
The APC has a bit more power – first of all it has double the RAM at 512 MB, and it has a CPU that clocks slightly better at 800 MHz. As the board is much bigger, it also allows it to have a lot more ports, adding more USBs, a VGA connector, and a microSD slot replacing the full SD slot on the RasPi. It also has onboard storage of 2 GB.
Complete Story

A tiny PC that runs Linux and Android 4.0 and costs just $74;

Quote:

Featuring a single-core 1.5GHz AllWinner A10 Cortex A8 ARM processor, Android 4.0, 512MB of DDR3 high-capacity memory, and WiFi connectivity, the MK802 is now available on Aliexpress for $74 including free shipping to the United States via China Post.
With a MALI400 graphics processing unit, the device from Chinese brand rikomagic features 4GB Flash storage, a microSD slot, and two USB ports: one full-sized and one micro, according to CNXSoft. Video output is via 1080p HDMI -- an HDMI cable needs to be added separately -- and users can tap either an Android virtual keyboard or add a wireless mouse and keyboard.
Perhaps best of all is that users can run Ubuntu, Debian, or another Linux distribution of their choice via microSD card.
Complete Story

I ordered a RaspPi earleir in the year through Elements/Newark Electronics, arrival to be late summer. I think that I will order a VIA APC now to play with since the cost difference is not that great. APC is about twice the physical size of the Pi but you get more memory, VGA port. Nice looking board! Check the VIA website for more details. Availability;

Quote:

excerpt from VIA;
We will be accepting pre-orders soon and anticipate APC will ship early July, 2012.

Quote:

May 22, 2012
VIA Initiates APC: The $49 Android PC
APC integrates memory, storage, and a full set of consumer I/O features in a small footprint Neo-ITX motherboard that can be connected to a TV or monitor.

I am going to see how difficult it is to get Slack on the APC. China board is a little more expensive and not packed with as much power as the APC.

nixblog · 05-26-2012, 01:48 AM

That VIA device looks quite interesting...

TobiSGD · 05-26-2012, 06:46 AM

As far as I have read in different forums the VIA board has crappy graphics that will have problems with FullHD video-playback, so maybe (if video playback is your purpose) it may be better to wait for th Pi.

onebuck · 05-26-2012, 07:23 AM

Hi,

Quote:

Originally Posted by TobiSGD

As far as I have read in different forums the VIA board has crappy graphics that will have problems with FullHD video-playback, so maybe (if video playback is your purpose) it may be better to wait for th Pi.

Care to point to some references that will solidify/verify a problem? Just curious about other experiences and how the users got a board since it will be available;

Quote:

VIA website for more details;
We will be accepting pre-orders soon and anticipate APC will ship early July, 2012.

Possibly prototype boards or evals?

TobiSGD · 05-26-2012, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onebuck

Hi,

Care to point to some references that will solidify/verify a problem? Just curious about other experiences and how the users got a board since it will be available;Possibly prototype boards or evals?

http://phoronix.com/forums/showthrea...177#post264177 for example.

jefro · 05-26-2012, 03:56 PM

New hardware is like a new movie. Unless I see it ...

Phoronix is usually a good site but the article is poor on this one.

Until some mass of people really test it, we won't be able to tell.

onebuck · 05-26-2012, 05:52 PM

Hi,

Quote:

Originally Posted by TobiSGD

http://phoronix.com/forums/showthrea...177#post264177 for example.

Thanks!

piratesmack · 05-28-2012, 01:03 AM

I can confirm that ARMedslack runs on the Allwinner A10 devices like the $74 PC posted above.

A couple issues though:
-Framebuffer console is broken in Allwinner kernel
-No GPU acceleration (open GPU drivers are being worked on by the lima project http://limadriver.org/)

I think these will be fixed eventually, there are developers working on it.

Still, it is pretty usable with LXDE or XFCE or one of the lighter window managers.