There’s no shortage of tiny, low-power single-board computers that can run Android, Ubuntu, or other operating systems. What helps set the pcDuino line apart is that these little developer boards also support the Arduino ecosystem which means you can add Arduino shields to extend the capabilities of the little device and use Arduino programming tools.

The first pcDuino board launched about a year ago, and now there’s a new model with a faster processor, more storage, and other improvements.

pcDuino3

You can pick up the new model from the LinkSprite store for $77. What you get for the money is a pcDuino3, featuring:

  • 1 GHz Allwinner A20 ARM Cortex-A7 dual-core CPU
  • ARM Mali 400 dual-core graphics
  • 1GB of RAM
  • 4GB of flash storage
  • MicroSD card slot for up to 32GB of additional storage
  • HDMI 1.4
  • 1 USB host port, 1 USB OTG port
  • 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet
  • 3.5mm audio jack
  • IR receiver
  • Support for Android 4.2 and Ubuntu 12.04

The device also has the same Arduino sockets as an Arduino Uno, including 14 GPIO, 2 PWM, 6 ADC, 1 UART, 1 SPI, and 1I2C as well as support for camera, battery, and SATA connectors.

The pcDuino3 measures just 4.8″ x 2.6″.

While the Allwinner A20 chip isn’t exactly a speed demon, it’s a lot faster than the Allwinner A10 chip used for the first pcDuino. It also supports 1080p HD video playback.

If you’re just looking for a device to turn into a media center or to use as a cheap, low-power desktop, there are probably better options. But if you’re looking for a hackable platform, the pcDuino3 looks like an interesting option.

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14 replies on “pcDuino3 is a $77 Android, Ubuntu single-board PC with Arduino support”

    1. Those 2 board (pcDuino and RIOT) are in different leagues. pcDuino has an Arduiono on it!
      btw…. riot is very weak (solo iMX soc)… anyway i like the 4 USB and 2 SD slots!
      If you want some decent devboards/htpc/whatever…. take a look at
      -Wandboard
      -Cubox-i
      -Udoo
      -Radxa
      -BeagleBone Black
      -CubieTruck
      -Odroid
      …. and the list stays open…….

  1. So, would this thing work as an always-on single disk server? It’s not often that these ARM boards have SATA, so that makes it somewhat more attractive.

  2. The SATA connector seems like a nice feature and not present on similar boards such as Raspberry Pi.

  3. I think UDOO is a better solution for those who want an arDuino+aplication microprocessor combo

  4. Mali400 has nothing to do with video decoding. That’s handled by the VPU, CedarX.

  5. Does this suffer from lack of hardware video drivers as other arm-based linux systems seem to encounter?

    1. I suppose so… because we’re talking about Allwiner. Sadly very few SOC manufacturers opens their drivers to communities.
      I hope that will change ……

      1. Also, few ARM SoC manufacturers support their binary blobs for newer kernels. Not much options for an upgrade path.

    1. Nothing wrong with a little off-the-shelf action as long as it works in the application.

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