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News Asus launches Raspberry Pi-like Tinkerboard SBC

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Gareth Halfacree, 20 Jan 2017.

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  1. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Gareth Halfacree, 20 Jan 2017
    #1
  2. Tattysnuc

    Tattysnuc Thinking about which mod to do 1st.

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    Is it me, or have they missed the point with this product?

    Pricing it at nearly double the price of the PI (ok, I'm being sensationalist there) makes no sense to me - it's a one trick pony as a media box and let's face it, the firesticks and other andoid boxes off ebay with Kodi on them do that job quite well at a similar price point...
     
    Tattysnuc, 20 Jan 2017
    #2
  3. yuusou

    yuusou Multimodder

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    If it had USB 3.0, Gigabit Ethernet (it does), 802.11AC and hardware HEVC decoding, then it would be really interesting even at a higher price point.
     
    yuusou, 20 Jan 2017
    #3
  4. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    It *does* do hardware h265, at least, though you have to manually modify Chromium and install an extension to get it to work properly in-browser.

    EDIT: Oh, and there are more piccies over 'ere, if anyone's forgotten what a Raspberry Pi looks like.
     
    Last edited: 20 Jan 2017
    Gareth Halfacree, 20 Jan 2017
    #4
  5. VipersGratitude

    VipersGratitude Multimodder

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    I, for one, would love to see a benchmark-based comparison of the more popular SBCs
     
    VipersGratitude, 20 Jan 2017
    #5
  6. Methanoid

    Methanoid What's a Dremel?

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    The Rockchip should support Android (which the Pi doesnt really - without a GPU driver). That is a plus. But unless it offers 50% performance boost at least I don't see the point. You'd need that to improve RetroPie performance.
     
    Methanoid, 20 Jan 2017
    #6
  7. Guest-16

    Guest-16 Guest

    This. The A17 core is plenty fast though, but there's lots of A53 chips out there coming down in price, too.
     
    Guest-16, 20 Jan 2017
    #7
  8. Dogbert666

    Dogbert666 *Fewer Lover of bit-tech Administrator

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    Small update: Asus got in touch with a little extra info, and I added the following to the third paragraph:

    The Tinkerboard's GPU takes the form of the Mali T760, which Asus claims is capable of upscaling 1080p content to 4K at 30fps as well as handling H.264 and H.265 decoding. There is also an upgrade to the audio compared to the Rasperry Pi, with the Tinkerboard having 192kHz, 24-bit capabilities in this department.
     
    Dogbert666, 20 Jan 2017
    #8
  9. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Another little update, but 'ere in the comments rather than in the article: it's bleedin' fast. Like, finishes SysBench in two-thirds the time of the Raspberry Pi 3 and is more than four times as fast in the Linpack benchmark. The software absolutely sucks, though, and is definitely holding it back, and once again we've got an SBC which boasts "gigabit networking!!!1eleven" and gets 100Mb/s throughput. :rolleyes:

    There's going to be a full review whenever I get a chance to write it up, complete with pretty graphs and everyfink. Keep 'em peeled for that.
     
    Gareth Halfacree, 20 Jan 2017
    #9
  10. asura

    asura jack of all trades

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    Graphs?!? Oh you tease Gareth!
     
    asura, 21 Jan 2017
    #10
  11. bigc90210

    bigc90210 Teh C

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    pleasepleaseplease do a reptropi comparison of the 2!
     
    bigc90210, 22 Jan 2017
    #11
  12. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    No RetroPi, I'm afraid, but I'm throwing a bunch of benchmark results - SysBench, Dhrystone, Whetstone, Linpack, GPIO performance from Python, Ethernet throughput, and power draw - at Matt and seeing what sticks.
     
    Gareth Halfacree, 22 Jan 2017
    #12
  13. Bazz

    Bazz Multimodder

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    Totally, even the Chinese are at this game now, and to start with, were making the Pi look slow and outdated, but profits over performance are now the thing.

    Been looking at small footprint PC's for ages, and as yet haven't found one with a price range which I like.
    Odroid make some interesting products but at a cost, RPi's are still the best at what they do (not what they were designed for).
     
    Bazz, 22 Jan 2017
    #13
  14. VipersGratitude

    VipersGratitude Multimodder

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    VipersGratitude, 22 Jan 2017
    #14
  15. mi1ez

    mi1ez Modder

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    It needs community support to see any sort of success.
     
    mi1ez, 22 Jan 2017
    #15
  16. Arboreal

    Arboreal Keeper of the Electric Currants

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    ^This definitely
    As been said before the RPF has been very canny in building a community from day 1 before venturing into education.
    I'm not aware of any other system that has had that kind of traction
     
    Last edited: 22 Jan 2017
    Arboreal, 22 Jan 2017
    #16
  17. Ending Credits

    Ending Credits Bunned

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    Not true, it's just that that's what most people buy them for.
     
    Ending Credits, 22 Jan 2017
    #17
  18. VipersGratitude

    VipersGratitude Multimodder

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    Indeed. My First Pi ran a media box before I gave it away. My 2nd is a 3D Printer server. 3rd Pi is attached to an autopilot hat inside a quadcopter. 4th Pi is a general utility server (stuff like pi-hole, etc). My 5th is going in to a scratch build astromech droid, although I may opt for the tinkerboard for marginally better computer vision rather than go full-fat Jetson.

    If Tattysnuc's pony has only has one trick, then it's his fault as a unimaginative trainer.
     
    VipersGratitude, 23 Jan 2017
    #18
  19. zimano

    zimano What's a Dremel?

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    Using a 2560 x 1600 monitor so this is attractive to me even if the speed turned out to be the same.
     
    zimano, 23 Jan 2017
    #19
  20. mi1ez

    mi1ez Modder

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    I bought my Pi mainly for gaming and tinkering.

    If I get no Retropie build, I won't get the tinkerboard, but if I do, along with a community of people full of ideas and advice, I'll probably drop some money on this.
     
    mi1ez, 23 Jan 2017
    #20
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