Geekbuying is launching a small computer with an octa-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.1, Gigabit Ethernet and support for 4K video playback. It’s called the Geekbox… and it’s being positioned as much more than just another media streamer.

The Geekbox comes with Android and Ubuntu dual-boot software preloaded and there’s an option to install Rockchip’s Light Biz OS version of Android.

And you can also open up the Geekbox case, remove the system-on-a-module that houses most of the tiny computer’s guts, and use it for other projects.

geekbox_12

For example, Geekbuying also sells a 7.9 inch, 2048 x 1546 pixel display panel for the Geekbox, and a LandingShip printed circuit board that adds additional input and output options, support for a 2.5 inch SATA drive, LEDs, camera and display connectors, and a 60-pin GPIO header, among other things.

The Geekbox is available for pre-order for $110, but you can get a $20 coupon by leaving a comment on the Geekbuying promo page.

The box includes a microSD card slot, HDMI 2.0 port, a micro USB port, two USB ports, and a Rockchip RK3368 ARM Cortex-A53 octa-core processor with PowerVR SGX6110 graphics. It also comes with an infrared remote control.

The TV box has a fanless design, but there’s a connector for a fan if you plan to build your own device that could benefit from an active cooling system.

Update: Some initial source code and files are now available at GitHub.

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17 replies on “GeekBox is an Android & Ubuntu mini PC… and developer platform”

  1. Yoohoo! finally! i’ve been waiting for something like this for years.

    1. That’s what happens when you market to enthusiasts instead of the masses. Volume counts.

  2. Agree with Mosh, I had an original MK802 and a cubietruck, they were cool devices, but the closed source video drivers ruined it. The other thing is ARM is just so much slower than x86, if you look at the rpi2 with it’s open source video drivers, the web browsing is still horrible compared to my ECS liva.

    I’m staying away from ARM for any kind of mini PC.

    1. Performance under linux distributions definitely is lacking for ARM because of the video drivers. Sadly it doesn’t need to be that way. My Asus C201P (Rockchip 3288 with 2GB) with ChromeOS easily out performs my Intel Liva (Intel N2807 with 2GB) running Fedora. Would be nice to run Fedora on the Asus.

      1. Put ChromeOS on your liva and it will should run faster than your Asus.

  3. I am with you mosh Geekbuying is still selling the Tronsmart garbage that I am stuck with and telling the buyers to keep updating and sending videos, Brad Linder you should change the header to let’s wait and see if this one works. I don’t trust their branded hardware because they stuck buyers with a bunch of garbage boxes for the past. Buy an intel-chipped box from newegg or somewhere with a real return policy, folks.

    1. This is Tronsmart marketing team here, sorry to hear the problem you encountered. We do response to all the support emails, but I am afraid our service people missed your message before. Please let me know your email address or contact [email protected] directly. We will handle with your case, and provide repair or replacement service asap. Look forward to your response, and we will offer the best solution for you.

      1. Now people pay attention because I am going to show the whole ordering from china ride here Just emailed Tronsmart as requested. stay tuned. Thurs. Nov 26 2015

  4. As someone who’s not a developer but a little more than an average consumer, I’m done buying any ARM based mini-PC boxes/sticks in favor of Intel Atom based ones. The whole rarely maintained closed driver ARM world is just a huge pain for someone like me. I want to tinker with my device’s software but I’m not qualified enough to modify the Linux kernel (if it’s even possible due to the closed driver situation). The best I can do is just update to newer kernels.

    The non-maintained driver situation doesn’t seem to change much due to ARM Holdings’ policy of forcing closed source software. Meanwhile, Intel is putting a lot of resources into creating/maintaining open source drivers and working with the developer community.

    1. I’d agree except that Intel-based hardware seems to be going rather “closed” as well. Recent tiny machines leave you high and dry if you don’t drink the “Windows” 8.x/10 Kool-Aid by including eMMC storage useless in Windows 7 or earlier, often lack decent video driver support prior to Win8.x, etc. AMD might be better about this yet… but I don’t need hardware running at clock rates above its real abilities that catches on fire or just self-destructs. Even if you are willing to live in the fringe space of Linux you often find a hard pairing between a hunk of hardware and a specific Linux distribution & version.

      1. And they’re bug ridden. BayTrail is still broken in modern kernels and while Intel is working on it from kernel to kernel release, it’s been years now and even the pstate driver isn’t working right.

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