It seems that power is supplied through GPIO. So some soldering is required. I love these boards, but they need to realize that not everyone feels comfortable firing up a soldering iron. On Mon, Sep 16, 2019 at 12:30 PM D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk < talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
This is an inexpensive Atom-based Single-Board Computer (SBC). It created a flurry on Amazon a few months ago and then seemed to go out of stock. I just assumed that it was some surplus board that was being blown out. Maybe it is.
Now it is being sold by AmeriDroid, a distributor/vendor of several interesting single-board computers. Cheap!
https://ameridroid.com/products/atomic-pi
Why I think that this is interesting:
- SBC is an interesting form factor
- cheap: US$37.95 for board + US$12.95 for power + ? for shipping. That's cheaper than a Raspberry Pi 4b with 4GiB.
- x86 so any off-the-shelf distro should work. And the video driver is in-tree open source (a big missing piece with ARM). It would run Windows 10 but has no licence.
- OK resources: + Intel Atom x5-Z8350 (hence name) + 2G RAM (not expandable) + 16G eMMC (preloaded with some Linux) (should perform better than Raspi's SD) + SD socket (supports up to 256G) + gigabit ethernet, dual band WiFi, Bluetooth + some kind of potentially interesting audio amplifier + HDMI + USB 3.0 port + fanless, with a big heat sink
- oddities + need to add a weird power supply connector and a power supply + need to add WiFi antennae + no case + I don't really understand the choice of power supplies offered by AmeriDroid. The cheaper one has higher output (possibly useful in support of the audio amp).
Why I won't buy it:
- I have too many small PCs already. And too many unfinished projects.
- 2GiB is a little cramped these days. First-world problem! But it is certainly fine for most SBC applications.
I recommend browsing Ameridroid.com for other interesting toys. --- Post to this mailing list talk@gtalug.org Unsubscribe from this mailing list https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk