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Small low cost linux pc's, an overview from 11-2012
Published: 07-11-2012 | Author: Remy van Elst | Text only version of this article
❗ This post is over twelve years old. It may no longer be up to date. Opinions may have changed.
Table of Contents
- Table of Contents
- Raspberry Pi
- Cotton Candy
- Gooseberry
- Rascal Micro
- ODROID-X
- CuBox
- Pandora
- Price
- VIA Android-PC (APC)
- AllWinner MK802 Mini PC
- Allwinner MK808 Android PC
- Ben Nanote
- Norhtec Gecko Surfboard
- Cappuccino PC
- Zipit Z2
- Goal
- Specs
- TrimSlice
- OLinuXino
- Plug Computers (SheevaPlug, GuruPlug etc)
- Other Boards
You might have heard of the Raspberry Pi, or the Cotton Candy, or the Snowball. Those are, besides nice pi, candy and snow, also small Linux pc's. Most of them have an ARM chip, a small amount of memory and run some for of Linux.
This page will provide an overview of what is on the market, specs, an image,
and links to the boards. It is probably not complete, and if I forgot one,
please leave a comment. I think I'll be doing another overview at the end of the
year.
Prices are in US dollar unless otherwise stated. It is the starting price for
the cheapest model where applicable.
USB is always 2.0 unless otherwise stated.
If specs are known, I add them, (HMDI 1.4, 10/100/1000 base T ethernet), if not
then it is like (HDMI, RJ-45 ethernet).
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Table of Contents
- Raspberry Pi
- Cotton Candy
- Gooseberry
- Rascal Micro
- ODROID-X
- CuBox
- Pandora
- Via APC
- AllWinner MK802
- Allwinner MK808
- Ben Nanote
- Norhtec Gecko Surfboard
- Cappuccino PC
- Zipit Z2
- Trimslice
- OLinuXino
- Plug Computers
- Others
Raspberry Pi
Goal / Info
- stimulating the teaching of basic computer science in schools. *
Specs (model B)
- Broadcom BCM2835 SoC
- 700 MHz ARM1176JZF-S core ARM11 CPU,
- 512 MB RAM (pre october 2012 models have 256 MB RAM) (shared)
- 2x USB, 1x RJ45 100mbit, 1x 3.5mm jack audio, HDMI 1,3 & 1,4, Composite RCA (PAL & NTSC)
- SD card slot for storage. No internal HDD.
Operating System(s)
Linux (Debian, Arch, Fedora), RISC OS
Price
Cotton Candy
Goal / Info
allows users a single, secure point of access to all personal cloud services and apps through their favorite operating system, while delivering a consistent experience on any screen. The device will serve as a companion to smartphones, tablets, and notebook PC and Macs, as well add smart capabilities to existing displays, TVs, set top boxes and other media that supports USB mass storage."
Specs
- 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 CPU
- Mali-400MP ARM GPU
- 1 GB RAM
- 802.11 b/g/n Wifi, Bluetooth 2.1.
- 1x HMDI, 1x USB, 1x female MicroUSB
- MicroSD card Slot
Operating System(s)
Linux (Ubuntu), Android
Price
Gooseberry
Goal / Info
Ive set up Gooseberry for one chief reason, the time the Raspberry Pi is taking to get here!
Specs
- 1.0 GHz Allwinner A10 Soc
- 4 GB nand flash internal storage
- Micro SD card slot
- 802.11 b/g/n/ Wifi
- 1x HDMI (Mali 400 MHz), 1x 3.5mm jack
Operating System
Android ICS only. Arch and Ubuntu expected.
Price
40 UK Pounds
Rascal Micro
Goal / Info
The Rascal is a small, open source computer that works with Arduino shields. Inside, it runs Linux, and you can program it in Python. The Rascal comes with a web-based editor and lots of examples that you can modify to make whatever you want.
Specs
I could not find any good hardware specs, if you know them, please leave them in the comments.
- Open source computer that works with Arduino shields
- Programmable in Python
- Serves webpages
- Web server includes an editor
Operating Systems
ODROID-X
Goal / Info
Not found.
Specs
- 1.4 GHz Samsung Exynos 43412 ARM Cortex A9
- 1 GB RAM
- Mali 400 GPU, Micro HDMI
- 50pin IO expansion port for LCD/I2C/UART/SPI/ADC/GPIO interfaces
- 6x USB 2, 2x 3.5MM Jack
- 1x 10/100MB Ethernet (RJ-45)
- SDHC card slot
Operating Systems
Android 4 ICS, Ubuntu ARM, Fedora ARM, Arch Linux ARM
Price
129 US Dollar
CuBox
Goal / Info
CuBox Developer Platform is a highly energy efficient and miniature open source development platform for different applications, like multimedia, set-top-box, NAS, automation and other applications.
Specs:
- Marvell Armada 510 SoC
- 800 MHz dual issue ARM PJ4 processor, VFPv3, wmmx SIMD and 512KB L2 cache.
- 1 GB RAM
- 1x HDMI, 1x SPDIF, 1x eSata, 2x USB, 1x Micro SD, 1x Micro USB (for console)
- 1x Gigabit ethernet
- Infrared. Special No-JTAG Unbrick
Operating System(s):
Linux (Ubuntu), Android
Price:
$135
Pandora
Goal / Info
*designed to take advantage of existing open source software and to be a target for homebrew development and emulation. *
Specs
- TI OMAP3530 SoC
- 600 MHz ARM A8 CPU
- 512 MB RAM
- 802.11 b/g Wifi, Bluetooth 2.0,
- 800x480 4.3" resistive touch screen, 2 analog controllers
- TV out, 3.5mm jack, 2x USB, 2x SD card slot
- 43 key QWERTY keyboard
Operating System(s):
ngstrm Linux
Price
EUR: 440.
OpenPandora Homepgage
VIA Android-PC (APC)
Goal / Info
APC was born from our love of computers and our realization that the PC needs a fundamental redesign. The redesign that we offer is a computer that is more accessible, and more valuable, because youre not paying for functions that you dont need and wont be using.
Specs
- 800 MHz VIA CPU
- 512 MB RAM
- 2 GB NAND Flash memory
- 1x RJ-45 10/100 mbit ethernet, No WIFI (only via USB Dongle)
- 1X HDMI, 1x VGA, 4x USB, 2x 3.5MM Jack (audio-out adn audio-in), 1x MicroSD slot
Operating System(s)
Android (2.3)
Price
$50
APC Homepage
AllWinner MK802 Mini PC
Goal / Info
None, a cheap china-made clone/mix of the above.
Specs
- Allwinner A10/ 1GHz Cortex-A8 CPU
- 512MB RAM, 4GB Storage
- 802.11b/g/n Wifi
- 1x MicroSD Slot, 1x USB, 1x HDMI
Operating System(s)
Android, Linux (Ubuntu).
Price
$75 base price, varies where you buy it.
Allwinner MK808 Android PC
Goal / Info
None, cheap china made clone/mix of the above, upgrade of the MK208
Specs
- 1.2 GHz Rochip RK 3066, CORTEX-A9 CPU
- Mali-400MP ARM GPU
- 1 GB DDR3 RAM
- 8 GB NAND Flash
- B/G/N Wifi
- HMDI Port
- 1x USB 2.0
- 1x Micro USB
Operating System
Android Jelly Bean 4.1
Price
$60 base price, varies where you buy it.
Webshop that sells the MK808
Ben Nanote
Goal / Info
: bn. The Chinese character signifies an origin or the beginning place; It signifies exactly what the first version of the NanoNote is: a beginning. The version of NanoNote is an ultra small form factor computing device. The device sports a 336 MHz processor, 2GB of flash memory, microSD slot, head phone jack, USB device and 850mAh Li-ion battery. It boots Linux out of the box and also boots over USB. Its targeted squarely at developers who see the promise of open hardware and want to roll their own end user experience. Its the perfect companion for open content; we envision developers turning the device into a music or video player for Ogg or an offline Wikipedia or MIT OpenCourseWare appliance. Or you can simply amaze your friends by creating an ultra small handheld notebook computer. You choose the distribution.
Specs
- 336 MHz JZ4720 MIPS CPU (MIPS, Yay!)
- 32 MB RAM (yes, Megabyte)
- 320x240 3" screen (40x15 console)
- 2 GB NAND Flash, 1x MicroSD slot
- 1x USB Mini B
- 59 key keyboard
Operating System(s)
Linux (Debian MIPS)
Price
Norhtec Gecko Surfboard
Goal / Info
*The Gecko Surfboard is one of the easiest, most energy efficient and least expensive platforms to get on the web. The Gecko Surfboard is the size of a standard keyboard but inside is a full x86 computer. *
Specs
- 1 GHz Xcore86 x586 Device on Chip CPU
- 512 MB RAM
- 1x internal Sata
- 1x RS232, 1x VGA, 1x TV/Composite, 2x USB, 2x SD, 1x RJ-45
- Integrated Keyboard
Operating System(s)
This is an x86, so Windows, Linux, Android, BSD, Haiku, ReactOS or whatever you can hack on it.
Price
$120
Norhtec Surfboard
Cappuccino PC
Goal / Info
Not Found
Specs
Differs per model, these are the specs for the SlimPRO SP645 Mini PC model
- Support Intel Core2Duo T9400/T9600/T7500, P8600/8400 and Celeron M 575/585 CPU
- Intel GM45 / ICH9M
- Support Max 8GB DDR2 667/800 Dual Channel SODIMM with 64Bit OS
- On-board Gigabit LAN, 1394 firewire port
- Optional 2nd COM Port,2nd Gigabit LAN or 3 Gigabit LAN coexist with Optical Drive
- Optional Mini PCI Express slot and Express Card slot add-on, DVI port add-on for dual display, Parallel Port, 4 DVR Input
- 5.75"(W) x 10.0"(D) x 1.65"(H) (14.6 x 25.4 x 4.2 cm)
Operating Systems
These machines are x86 so anything you can run on x86 hardware, like ReactOS, Haiku, Syllable OS or MikeOS. Or just any Linux distro, and maybe even Windows.
Price
Starting at 400 dollars.
SlimPRO Model and many more Cappuccino models
Zipit Z2
Goal
The Z2 is a handheld device which was originally marketed to children for chatting on instant messenger services through wifi without the need for a costly cellphone and associated service plan.
Specs
- 312 MHz XScale PXA270 CPU
- 32 MB RAM
- Backlit QWERTY Keyboard
- 2.8" QVGA Screen (320x240)
- MiniSD Slot
- 3.5MM jack
- 802.11 b/g Wifi
Operating Systems
This is the nice thing about this device, it runs Linux, and you can hack it to
run Debian with FluxBox and the Dillo Webbrowser.
Here is a step by step guide to setup debian
Price
Around 40 dollars on ebay, not in production anymore.
TrimSlice
Goal / Info
Trim-Slice is the first desktop computer powered by NVIDIA Tegra 2. It is a miniature fanless dual-core ARM Cortex A9 computer that provides outstanding multimedia experience.
Specs
- NVIDIA Tegra 2 SoC
- 1 GHz ARM Cortex A9 CPU
- 1 GB RAM
- 1x Sata internal, 1x SD slot, 1x Micro SD Slot
- 1x RJ-45 1000 mbit ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wifi, Bluetooth
- 1x HDMI 1.3, 1x dual head DVI
- 4x USB, 1x RS232, JTAG, Composite
Operating System(s)
Android, Linux (Ubuntu)
Price
$213
TrimSlice website
OLinuXino
Goal / Info
OLINUXINO is Open Source software and Open Source Hardware, low cost EUR 30 Linux Industrial grade single board computer with GPIOs capable to operate -25+85C. OLINUXINO is completely open source - including hardware and software, this means you have access to all CAD files and sources and you can reuse them for your own personal or commercial project. There are NO restrictions to manufacture and sell these board for your own use or resale.
Specs (iMX233-OLinuXino-MINI)
- 454 MHz iMX233 ARM926J CPU
- 64 MB RAM
- 40 pin GPIO
- SD Card
- TV/PAL/NTSC Output
- 3x USB
- UEXT Connector
- optional Wifi via RTL8188CU module
Operating Systems
Linux (Arch), Android, Open Embedded Linux
Price
$ 35
OlinuXino website
Plug Computers (SheevaPlug, GuruPlug etc)
Goal / Info
designed to allow standard computing features in as small a space as possible.
Specs
- ARM CPU, varies between 600 MHz to 1.5 GHz
- RAM varies from 256 MB to 1 GB
- Plug directly in wall socket
- 1 or more RJ-45 ethernet ports
- 1 or more USB ports
- Some have 802.11 b/g Wireless
Operating System(s)
Linux (various)
Price
Varies per plug PC.
Wikipedia Article about Plug Computers
Other Boards
- Beagleboard
- BeagleBone
- Fit Pc 2i
- PandaBoard
- SnowBall
- PC Engiles ALIX boards
- Armadeus Systems
- GUMSTIX Overo
- CubieBoard