[GTALUG] "Atom Pi"

[Ansar Mohammed]

It seems that power is supplied through GPIO. So some soldering is required.

I love these boards, but they need to realize that not everyone feels
comfortable firing up a soldering iron.



On Mon, Sep 16, 2019 at 12:30 PM D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk <
talk at gtalug.org> wrote:

> This is an inexpensive Atom-based Single-Board Computer (SBC).  It
> created a flurry on Amazon a few months ago and then seemed to go out
> of stock.  I just assumed that it was some surplus board that was
> being blown out.  Maybe it is.
>
> Now it is being sold by AmeriDroid, a distributor/vendor of several
> interesting single-board computers.  Cheap!
>
> https://ameridroid.com/products/atomic-pi
>
> Why I think that this is interesting:
>
> - SBC is an interesting form factor
>
> - cheap: US$37.95 for board + US$12.95 for power + ? for shipping.
>   That's cheaper than a Raspberry Pi 4b with 4GiB.
>
> - x86 so any off-the-shelf distro should work.  And the video driver
>   is in-tree open source (a big missing piece with ARM).
>   It would run Windows 10 but has no licence.
>
> - OK resources:
>   + Intel Atom x5-Z8350 (hence name)
>   + 2G RAM (not expandable)
>   + 16G eMMC (preloaded with some Linux) (should perform better than
>     Raspi's SD)
>   + SD socket (supports up to 256G)
>   + gigabit ethernet, dual band WiFi, Bluetooth
>   + some kind of potentially interesting audio amplifier
>   + HDMI
>   + USB 3.0 port
>   + fanless, with a big heat sink
>
> - oddities
>   + need to add a weird power supply connector and a power supply
>   + need to add WiFi antennae
>   + no case
>   + I don't really understand the choice of power supplies offered by
>     AmeriDroid.  The cheaper one has higher output (possibly useful
>     in support of the audio amp).
>
> Why I won't buy it:
>
> - I have too many small PCs already.  And too many unfinished
>   projects.
>
> - 2GiB is a little cramped these days.  First-world problem!
>   But it is certainly fine for most SBC applications.
>
> I recommend browsing Ameridroid.com for other interesting toys.
> ---
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