ARM PC/HTPCs are getting interesting! (Via's APC (Android PC) announced).

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Tue, May 22, 2012 at 01:26:20PM -0400, Scott Sullivan wrote:
> # Via APC
> 
> Via has just recently announced a Neo-ITX form factor (drops into
> any miniITX or microATX) Android PC board. It is expected to retail
> around the $49 price point.
> 
> http://apc.io/about/
> http://www.viagallery.com/Subcategory/apc.aspx
> 
> While the lack of SATA and/or miniPCIe leaves a something to be
> desired, I find it interesting to see a major board designer getting
> into this low cost ARM system market.
> 
> # Mele A1000/A2000
> 
> Personally, I just received last week my Mele A1000.
> 
> http://www.dealextreme.com/p/mele-1080p-android-2-3-internet-tv-set-top-box-w-wifi-optical-3-x-usb-hdmi-av-lan-sd-119913
> 
> It's got a very full feature set at a reasonable price. Allwinner,
> the makers of the A10 SoC are open-source friendly and have released
> all the source code. There are now workable Debian and Ubuntu Images
> for this device.

I _hate_ their model name.

When working with ARM Coretex designs, where you have Cortex A8, Cortex
A9, do _not_ go making a Cortex A8 design and name it A10.  That's just
obnoxious.

> http://rhombus-tech.net/allwinner_a10/hacking_the_mele_a1000/
> 
> The A2000 is the same main=board with a smaller case and no HDD
> enclosure. The specs for it on Dealextreme are just wrong so I'm not
> posting the link.
> 
> # General
> 
> The OLPC XO proved you really could ride Mores Law in the other
> direction. Raspberry Pi gave it mass appeal.
> 
> With the market going the way it is, I'd like to hear from GTALUGers.
> 
> 1) What they would be doing with these devices?
> 2) What would you expect in term of support before you try one?
> 3) What feature set do you think these boards/systems should be
> targeting? At what price would you pay for that feature set?

Well personally I have an i.mx53 quick start board, which I got for $100
US (plus $50 for the hdmi interface that I wanted).  I also intend to
get the cubox to use as a mythtv frontend.

The i.mx53 is to play with and help the debian armhf port work.  It has
1GB ram and is quite fast, even though it is only a Cortex A8.  A Cortex
A9 would be quite a bit faster still.  I would love to get a hold of an
i.mx6 based board, but I don't know of the devel boards are out yet or
how much they would be.

I think most of the arm boards don't have enough ram.  To me, less than
1GB is just a mistake.  SATA support is pretty much essential, and I
would really like gigabit ethernet, although I suppose 100Mbit could do.
Digital video output is also nice, unless it is just a server, in which
case serial is fine.  Analog VGA is of no interest what so ever for
anything.

-- 
Len Sorensen
--
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