The Raspberry Pi folks have been getting a lot of attention for their $35 PC with an ARM-based processor and support for some open source software. But as the cost of computer components continues to drop, the Raspberry Pi is hardly the only inexpensive PC capable of running Linux.
The Mele A1000 is a system that sells for $70 and up and which features a number of components that the Raspberry Pi lacks — including a SATA port, a case, and a faster processor.
Powered by a 1 GHz Allwinner A10 ARM Cortex-A8 processor, the Mele A1000 should be noticeably faster than the Raspberry Pi, which has a 700 MHz ARM11 chip.
While the Mele A1000 is described as a TV box, it’s basically a little ARM-based computer with HDMI, VGA, USB, and Ethernet ports, as well as support for an external SATA hard drive.
Ali Express is selling the box for $70 plus shipping, or you can spend $100 to get a version from DealExtreme with a remote control, external hard drive cover, and Android 2.3 software.
Now for the most interesting part (if you happen to be a free software enthusiast): The folks at Rhombus Tech have been working on a free and open source platform based around the Allwinner A10 chip.
The project is entirely GPL compliant, and the goal is to work with a Chinese company to produce a PCMCIA-sized computer which is capable of running Linux-based software without any proprietary, closed source drivers. Rhombus Tech hopes the platform can be used in all sorts of devices including tablets, notebooks, desktop PCs, and in-car systems. Theoretically the price could be as low as $15 per unit… assuming an order size of 100,000. Right now the cost is higher.
But thanks to the efforts of the folks at Rhombus Tech, developers have access to all the drivers needed to make use of any device with the Allwinner A10 processor, and that includes the Mele A1000.
Some folks have already started to port Ubuntu Linux to run on the set-top-box.
With a little more work, it’s not hard to imagine the Mele 1000 becoming a $100 desktop PC running Ubuntu or another Linux distribition, or a media center PC capable of running the new Ubuntu TV software.
thanks aftermath!
Leave a Reply
22 Comments on "Mele A1000 is a $70 hackable, Linux-friendly ARM-based PC"
Interesting. I was really puzzled by the hard drive poking out of the top until I remembered another tidbit I had read recently. I read that in Asia these days the bootleggers were selling hard drives preloaded with stuff. So I guess they are treating hard drives like cartridges now?
At any rate, this is a very fascinating gadget.
SATA helps greatly, as it can be hot swapped. And now that you mention it, i keep seeing multi-drive “docks” from asian companies these days.
neat
noticably faster???
the cpu in the allwinner is a monster compared to the pi
..no sound in, so no skype..
You are forgetting the pair of USB ports. Buy a USB headset or Skype handset and yer good to go.
Look at the last image, there’s a CVBS-IN and MIC pins right where the VGA connects to the main board. Remember this is a hackable system. So it’s possible to go in and solder those connectors and mod a port for them.
There is also a UART port connector and two unused internal USB connectors.
Though from what I understand this is more a development kit, partly why it’s hackable, and they’re still waiting on the final board, which may reduce the price a bit.
The Allwinner A10 board itself is just suppose to be a $15 system by itself and it’s unlikely the whole system will add much to the price. So we may see this drop to below $50 once they finish the design and mass produce it.
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/articles/allwinner_a10_gplcompliant_computer_15
http://www.cnx-software.com/2012/03/20/allwinner-a10-cortex-a8-based-hackable-mele-a1000-android-stb/
Just too tempting. This is a raspberry pi killer on the software side. I personally could care less about the embedded controller stuff, the sata makes io not the bottleneck. Now just hoping this is fully hacked, the lima driver is developed and the next gen hardware is sub $50.
The 15 USD price is the target BOM cost, so the final price would be higher (at least double price).
Shipping: US $58.53 to Finland Via EMS
Urmm…No thanks.
cool
With Android and a remote, this sounds like a great replacement for my current set-top, which I mainly use for Netflix and streaming from a NAS.
You can use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse with this device. The company also sell a 2.4GHz “smart” remote (Mele Fly A10).
The device supports HDMI, VGA and composite output.
FXI Tech Cotton Candy has much better features but costs 200 USD.
Mele A1000/A2000 will receive an Android 4.0 update in due time.