After launching a $25 single-board computer capable of 4K video playback this summer, Libre Computer is back with several new models… and this time prices start at just $9…Â if you back the company’s crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter.
The new board is called Tritium, and it’s about the size and shape of a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, but this little Linux-compatible computer comes with a choice of three different processor and memory configurations:
- Tritium IoT with Allwinner H2+ 32-bit CPU, Mali-400MP2 graphics, 512MB of RAM, and Linux support for $9 and up
- Tritium 1GB with Allwinner H3 32-bit CPU, Mali-400MP2 graphics, 1GB of RAM, and Linux or Android 7.0 support for $19 and up
- Tritium 2GB with Allwinner H5 64-bit CPU, Mali-450MP4 graphics, 2GB of RAM, and Linux or Android 7.1 support for $29 and up
In other words, even the highest-priced model is cheaper than a Raspberry Pi. But it’s worth noting that none of these systems includes built-in WiFi or Bluetooth, so you’ll need to add your own USB dongles if you want those features.
All three models have four USB 2.0 ports, an Ethernet jack, a microSD card slot, an eMMC interface, and a CMOS camera interface.
In addition to the bare boards, Libre Computer is offering a couple different “kit” options:
- Basic Kit with 8GB eMMC module, heatsink, power supply, active cooling case
- Complete Kit with larger eMMC module, microSD card, HDMI cable, RF remote
Interestingly, Libre Computer notes that its new Allwinner-based boards aren’t as fast as the “Le Potato” board that it launched this summer. But while Allwinner doesn’t necessarily provide a lot of assistance to the free and open source software community, there’s an active community of third-party developers working to bring Linux support to the chips. They’ve already made a fair amount of progress adding support for Allwinner chips to the mainline Linux kernel.
Libre Computer says it’ll provide Ubuntu 16.04 and Android Nougat builds that can be run from eMMC or microSD storage.
via CNX Software
Allwinner does not give me warm and fuzzy feelings about any sort of story going forward. Basically you get a BSP for a reasonably current kennel at Kasich time and you’ll be stuck with it forever
Lots of SBC for under $35. Software support and availability are my two biggest concerns. Price is not that big of an issue. When prices get too low, I wonder about component quality and the motivation of the seller to build such a product.
I would pay for an Intel Core Celeron SBC that had a 40 pin header with native I2C, SPI and GPIO.
Sounds like you’re describing one of the Up boards: https://www.up-board.org/
Definitely costs more than $35: https://up-shop.org/4-up-boards
Hmm… Maybe the $9 one as an Octoprint server? I could connect several printers to it, I could hook up the camera for timelapses and maybe an SPI touchscreen for some shortcuts (preheat, auto-home, print calibration cube, etc.). Dunno. I’m pretty happy with the OPiZero I use for this right now, which has the same hardware, just fewer GPIO, no camera port and only one USB. Although I could hook up another USB to the GPIO if I wanted to. Also, the OPiZ has built-in WiFi. After consideration, thanks, but pass…