[Hamara-devel] Just Got Raspberry Pi Delivered

[Jonas Smedegaard]

Quoting Vikas Tara (2015-10-30 11:48:10)
> We have been using raspberry pi because we got to it first - but we're 
> not particularly tied to it.
>
> A more powerful board (more memory than rpi2) would be helpful in any 
> case.
>
> The plan is to have a very cheap pre-installed hamara SBC available 
> for people to buy - would be interested in your recommendation of what 
> that SBC should be.

"cheap" and "more powerful" pulls in opposite directions ;-)

Short answer: Use OLinuXino A20 LIME2!

More details...:

Raspberry Pi 2 Model B:       EUR 32.87
Raspberry Pi 2 official case: EUR 7.61

OLinuXIno LIME2:              EUR 45
OLinuXIno LIME official case: EUR  5

Difference is ~EUR 10 (INR 723), which gets you...:

 * Bootable - i.e. usable at all - with Debian
   (both require non-free blobs for OpenGL, but rPi to even boot)
 * OSHW - i.e. code to compute board design is openly licensed
   (both are DIY-friendly, but RPi only have schematics released)
 * CPU is generally cheap - price less tied to board popularity
   (both boards are cheap, but rPi rely on special Broadcom deal)
 * Faster CPU for single-threaded code
   (CPU speed is always good, but more cores only sometimes¹)
 * Properly maintained kernel - e.g. upgrades and security-fixes
   (both use recent kernel, but rPi is not in mainline git)
 * Faster ethernet with less CPU load
   (both has ethernet, but rPi is only 100Mbit and USB-based)
 * Integrated support for LiPo battery
   (both are low-voltage, but rPi lack battery charging circuit)
 * Less (~50%) power consumption while idle
   (consumption while running difficult to measure+compare)
*  Faster (theorethically 200%) memory transfer rate
   (both have 1GiB RAM, but rPi is only DDR2)

If price matters more then consider OLinuXIno LIME which has some but 
not all of above benefits but half the memory.


 - Jonas


¹ https://blog.codinghorror.com/choosing-dual-or-quad-core/

-- 
 * Jonas Smedegaard - idealist & Internet-arkitekt
 * Tlf.: +45 40843136  Website: http://dr.jones.dk/

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