Pinebooks are built around the same ARM Cortex A53 that the kickstarted Pine board utilized, but instead of being a Raspberry like board, it is a built to order laptop. The 11.6" model is $89 and the 14" model will cost you $99. The screen is 1366×768, it comes with a 640×480 camera as well as a pair of USB ports, audio, miniSD and miniHDMI connectors. Hack a Day ordered one and found that in some ways this is still a work in progress as there are issues with some of the outputs which may soon be addressed in an update to the Ubuntu MATE 16.04 OS it runs. Still a laptop for less than $100 is impressive and might be worth tinkering with, take a more detailed look here.
"The Pine A64 was a 64-bit Quad-Core Single Board Computer which was kickstarted at the tail end of 2015 for delivery in the middle of 2016. Costing just $15, and hailed as a “Raspberry Pi killer,” the board raised $1.7 million from 36,000 backers. It shipped to its backers to almost universally poor reviews."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Big mistake by Big Blue: Storwize initialisation USBs had malware @ The Register
- Foxconn to build production center for Amazon in China @ DigiTimes
- Linux Kernel 4.11 Officially Released @ Slashdot
- UEFI secure boot booted from Debian 9 'Stretch' @ The Register
- ReSound Linx 3D is a smartphone-controlled hearing aid with IoT credentials @ The Inquirer
- Modern “Hackintoshes” show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower @ Ars Technica
- ThunderX3 TGC40 Series Gaming Chair Review @ NikKTech
As someone who follows
As someone who follows linux-sunxi development, let me say that this is not meant as a desktop nor laptop replacement. Think of it as a proof of concept.
There is a *lot* of development between this and what most consumers would consider a finished product. Developers of this chip family will find it fun to play with, but please don’t think you’ll be throwing your laptop out and buying one of these. You will be sadly disappointed.
If you’re not a developer and this device interests you, you might instead look at a low end ARM based chromebook that can run Linux instead of ChromeOS. That’s likely to give you a much more useable desktop like environment.
The real purpose of this device is so that *someday* in the future an ARM based linux laptop could be produced that would be functional for most users. This isn’t that device, but you have to start somewhere. Without something like this, it’s hard to know what you’re missing. So far this device has helped spur development in the power management chip support, battery management, and sleep/suspend/wake support.
Thanks for the comment. I was
Thanks for the comment. I was glad to see that even the Pinebook website has a disclaimer that this shouldn’t be purchased as a desktop or laptop replacement.
I still want one, though. 😉
I still want one, though. 😉
Me too, although I find
Me too, although I find myself curious if it could run TrueOS Pico (or something like it). Turning the laptop into a thin client would sort of be a Chrome Book like thing. The differences are significant. Self hosting is attractive, and building client around an OS API instead of a browser is also seems like it could yield better results.
I own something similar, well
I own something similar, well a few actually. I have 2 rockchip arm laptops, one 9 inch 480p and one 12 inch 720p, both were around 100$, both run Android (big one ice cream sandwich, small one jellybean) and they both have INSANELY long battery lives.
Now while these devices are in no way replacements for a full laptop, its suprising just how funtional they are as entertainment and browsing devices. Many MANY video’s have been streamed on them on various vacations, camp trips, and during power failures, many skype calls, loads of browsing, and even some very fun little games.
My point is that while Ubuntu is by far a more functional full desktop os, trying to make a full system for 100$ on arm prosesors…. The tech just aint there yet. BUT if you just need a cheap portable entertainment device, and you want it to have a keyboard, there are options out there, ya just gots ta look.
I’ve used a Lenovo Chromebook
I’ve used a Lenovo Chromebook that costs around 100$ and it was very usable as an entertainment and browsing device. It would be nice to see some Chromebook like devices with open software.
I also have a $40 android
I also have a $40 android stick, running lollipop that i use to watch cartoons or netflix while I clean/do repairs or upgrades on my main rig. while it is kinda weird using a desktop designed for a 4 in screen stretched to 27″ it’s still shocking just how much you can get done on it. During that time that my main rig was down due to win 10 vs drivers conflicts, and I was 2 busy WAY 2 busy at work to even start to figure out the problem I used the stick as our main PC for about 5 weeks and was SHOCKED at how much we could get done with it.
I’ve has a PineBook for a
I’ve has a PineBook for a week. It is barely usable. Browsing is like using a 56K modem even on a 200mbit fibre wifi. The LibreOffice messes up the formatting on every Office document. You need ARM software- so out of luck with he vast majority of Linux apps.
It’s complete pony. You’d be better buying an old MacBook or PC for running Linux.
I can see loads of use of the SBC for projects – as a laptop this painful.