Need a teeny tiny computer that can run Android or Linux? Only have $20? Well you're in luck. When we first met the Orange Pi (get it?) the company was selling a nice Raspberry Pi clone for $15. Now they're selling a souped up version with all the trimmings.
The board includes an Ethernet port and three USB ports. It has 1GB of memory, H5 High Performance Quad-core 64-bit Cortex-A53, and a standalone graphics chip. It supports camera input as well as HDMI out and even has a physical power switch and IR blaster. In short it's a mini computer that can probably play some games, display some HD video, and generally be used in all sorts of home-brew projects.
You can check out the specs here and order online. If you only have $5 you can pick up an Orange Pi Zero with Wi-Fi and Ethernet built-in. It's no Raspberry but who doesn't love oranges?
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Orange Pi 3 H6: An updated version of the Raspberry Pi competitor that starts at US$29.90
Following the recent RAM upgrade for the Orange Pi, Shenzhen Xunlong Software has released the Orange Pi 3 H6, a new version of its single-board computer. The Raspberry Pi competitor is equipped with an Allwinner H6 SoC that integrates four ARM Cortex A53 cores that clock up to 1.8 GHz and an ARM Mali-T720 GPU. The SoC is complemented with 1 GB or 2 GB of LPDDR3 RAM depending on the model purchased and 8 GB of eMMC flash storage. There are also two versions with no pre-installed storage.
All four models are otherwise equally equipped though. The Orange Pi 3 H6 has an HDMI 2.0a port, a Composite video output and a 3.5 mm jack. There is also a Gigabit Ethernet port and a Wi-Fi module that supports up to IEEE 802.11 ac and Bluetooth 5.0. Moreover, Shenzhen Xunlong Software has equipped the device with four USB 3.0 Type-A ports, one USB 2.0 port and a TF card slot.
$30-40.
Previously: The New 64-bit Orange Pi is a Quad-core Computer for $20
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 08 2016, @08:58PM
Yet another poorly supported piece of hardware that you have to fight to get working 1/2 way.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday November 08 2016, @09:09PM
But, hey, you saved $15 - so that's worth at least what? Two or three hours of hardware debugging (with expensive test equipment) and Google searches?
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/06/24/7408365/
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 08 2016, @09:11PM
^ Pretty much this. Why should I want this?
ARM processor... nothing fancy (or more open)
ARM GPU.... no open (or closed) drivers (there seems to be that someone is reverse engeneering them currently)
Network chipset... who knows what it is? Or if it is supported.
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Tuesday November 08 2016, @10:27PM
If you look at the comments section at CNXSoft [cnx-software.com], you'll find this board is actually the first of it's kind to offer an EEPROM. The hope being that, eventually, a uboot firmware could be fitted for generic sdcard and network booting.
So, while it's true that it's not as well supported as the raspi, it's also true that the linux-sunxi is quite accomplished at reversing and mainlining ( https://linux-sunxi.org/Linux_mainlining_effort [linux-sunxi.org] ) and there are ready-made images for the boards that are updated regularly.
compiling...
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 08 2016, @10:42PM
Being burnt by getting a Banana PI, i think ill stick with better supported hardware. Raspberry may not be the 'best' out there but at least it 'works' without fighting with it...
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Wednesday November 09 2016, @01:16AM
Seeing how there's no huge performance \ feature gap to justify the risk, I guess your position is reasonable enough.
Hopefully around early\mid 2017 you'll change your mind once SoCs & boards like https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/874883570/marvell-espressobin-board [kickstarter.com] start coming out.
compiling...
(Score: 2) by turgid on Wednesday November 09 2016, @08:46PM
Don't worry, in a couple of years Microsoft will have ported Windows to it and made a browser-based development environment hosted Windows 10.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 08 2016, @09:10PM
Please don't waste our time with false price headlines.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 08 2016, @09:13PM
What, you're telling me you can't walk to orangepiss HQ?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 08 2016, @09:33PM
Ok, I can be reasonable. I won't complain about Soylentnews leaving out the shipping cost if they also include the increased cost of the food(oranges not raspberries of course), and shoes I would have to buy for my 3000km walk to the orange Pi retail outlet. :)
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 08 2016, @09:39PM
It's in the links:
The Orange Pi Zero [hackerboards.com] is selling for $7 plus shipping to the U.S., for a total price of $10.30, with 256MB RAM or $9 ($12.30) for the 512MB version.
Orange Pi PC2: [aliexpress.com]
US $5.45 to United States via AliExpress Standard Shipping
Estimated Delivery Time:19-39days
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 08 2016, @09:15PM
Posted Sep 7, 2015?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 08 2016, @09:41PM
Where are you seeing that?
The two linked sites that give a date show "yesterday" and "Nov 3, 2016".
Did I miss something?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 08 2016, @09:43PM
nvm, I missed the second tech crunch link. mod parent "wrong", please.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday November 08 2016, @09:55PM
We actually can't.
We live in a happy world where we can applaud you in many ways. But, while we can disagree with you or tell you you're a troll, we cannot bluntly express our conviction that you are factually wrong.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 08 2016, @11:46PM
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday November 09 2016, @12:59AM
Sure, but imagine the world-ending confusion which could result from a SoylentNews comment being read and acted upon by someone interrupted before they can read the friendly fact-checking reply!!!!!
Not that anyone could find any recent examples of incorrect things being said in a setting in which the lack of instant rebuke would result in some witnesses propagating demonstrably absurd statements as truth...
(Score: 2) by Zinho on Wednesday November 09 2016, @04:27AM
But, while we can disagree with you or tell you you're a troll, we cannot bluntly express our conviction that you are factually wrong.
Sure you can, "disagree" is totally an option. It doesn't mod down, but it at least communicates "wrong".
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
(Score: 2) by mendax on Tuesday November 08 2016, @11:33PM
I thought that it was yellow, sort of the color of Mountain Dew, and if you're like me a caffeine addict, it has as much caffeine.
Anyway, I like the idea of cheap little computers like this. It bodes well for the future, does it not?
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 08 2016, @11:50PM
It does not.
(Score: 2) by jmorris on Wednesday November 09 2016, @12:00AM
Everyone will be comparing to the Pi 2 and 3. This one has real ethernet vs a USB to Ethernet adapter while the Pi has Wifi+BT. The video on this is busted though since no driver support while the Pi is just outdated and poorly supported and kinda busted. This one would probably make a better head headless machine. Both are kinda pointless in including a 64bit processor and only 1GB memory, best to run a 32bit OS since 64bit code tends to be larger, in fact there isn't yet a supported 64bit image. The Pi has a much larger ecosystem and more people to help you work around bugs.
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Wednesday November 09 2016, @06:23AM
I actually got lost on the OrangePi website because of so many models with similar names. The specs are also relatively vague (I cannot find processor speeds), so comparison is a little tricky.
However, I am intrigued by their "premium" model, the OrangePi Plus2, because it includes an SATA connector. I primarily use my Raspberry Pi as a home web server, and running off of a proper disk instead of an SD card would be a large benefit.
http://www.orangepi.org/orangepiplus2/ [orangepi.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 09 2016, @06:30AM
It is an actual native SATA port, or is it one of those USB to SATA port adapters?
If it is a real port, combined with gigabit ethernet, it is an awesome board. If it has native ethernet, but usb SATA it isn't really any better than the alternatives (especially if that gigabit ethernet port can't actually run at line speed, like so many of the arm socs with 'native' ethernet can't.)
(Score: 3, Informative) by Subsentient on Wednesday November 09 2016, @02:10AM
This [pine64.org] for example, is cheaper, for $15, and is also a quad core 64-bit ARM PC.
I'm using one as my server [universe2.us], running Debian AArch64 right now.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti