7 ms·

You can get Orange Pi One for ~$14 with delivery - which looks more powerful http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Orange-Pi-One-ubuntu-linux-and-android-mini-PC-Beyo

You can get Orange Pi One for ~$14 with delivery - which looks more powerful http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Orange-Pi-One-ubuntu-linux-and-android-mini-PC-Beyond-and-Compatible-with-Raspberry-Pi-2/32603308880.html http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Orange-Pi-One-ubuntu-linux-an...

amelius 10y ago
Orange Pi is Cortex-A7, while this one is Cortex-A8.
- makomk 10y ago
  Orange Pi is based on a much newer generation of SoC - A7 is newer than A8, and the Orange Pi is also quad core rather than single core and built on a more modern process node. They're not really direct competitors though since they have such different peripheral sets and intended uses - the C.H.I.P can be battery powered and has WiFi, whereas the Orange Pi is more suited to fixed/media applications thanks to its higher power usage, Ethernet, HDMI out, and better video decode hardware.
- Narishma 10y ago
  I think Cortex A7 is faster than A8. Or at least more modern.
nimmer 10y ago
That's really cheap, but it's worth noticing that it doesn't comes with a WiFi NIC and on-board storage.
- comboy 10y ago
  You can always go with nodemcu with wifi and storage on board. ~$2.5 on aliexpress with shipping
  - lorenzhs 10y ago
    That isn't comparable in any way
    - comboy 10y ago
      Why not? Most people don't use rpi as a home desktop. These GPIOs are there for a reason and I think that's what people mostly care about unless they are making some magic mirror or other form of a display.
      - lorenzhs 10y ago
        There is a lot more software for Linux boxes than there is for the NodeMCU, for example. Furthermore, their processing power is orders of magnitude apart, as is RAM and storage. NodeMCU targets embedded, and there are plenty of cases where a rpi is used but a NodeMCU would be more than sufficient. But that doesn't mean that they're equivalent, there are also plenty of use cases where a NodeMCU is horribly underpowered.
    - jack12 10y ago
      I think the ESP8266 supports operating in SDIO mode, it's the descendant of a chip used to add wifi to low-end tablets. So it could be used as a literal replacement for an on-board WiFi module, if SDIO pins are available on the Orange Pi board.
  - wiradikusuma 10y ago
    i keep seeing people say that, but i can't find (reputable) seller with price <$3. do you have some links for sellers with that price that you've done business with?
    - comboy 10y ago
      Here's $2.85 with lots of feedback: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/new-Wireless-module-CH340-NodeMcu-V3-Lua-WIFI-Internet-of-Things-development-board-based-ESP8266/32520574539.html http://www.aliexpress.com/item/new-Wireless-module-CH340-Nod... Personally I've bought from this one: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/NodeMcu-Lua-WIFI-development-board-based-on-the-ESP8266-Internet-of-things/32338129505.html http://www.aliexpress.com/item/NodeMcu-Lua-WIFI-development-... So far tested 3 units and they work without any problem, packaging was also very good. I don't see any cheaper than those currently, but once you have everything tested, if you want to cut the cost you can always just use esp8266 directly which goes for $1.8
- jack12 10y ago
  The same store has the Orange Pi Lite, which is essentially the same as the One but with wifi instead of ethernet (plus a microphone, ir receiver, and a 2nd usb port). It costs $2.01 more. They also have the Orange Pi PC Plus, which has both ethernet and wifi, 1GB of RAM instead of 512MB, and an 8GB eMMC. But that's getting up in price to ~$25 shipped.
nazgul17 10y ago
I bought an Orange PI PC a few weeks back. It died after two days and the sellers are being extremely difficult at giving me a refund. I advise against buying from them.
- toomanybeersies 10y ago
  That is the game you play when you buy from China.
  - joshmn 10y ago
    I disagree. That's the game you play "buy cheap from China." Spend a bit more (say, $30) and the quality will greatly surpass expectations.
- elcct 10y ago
  I bought 50 of them and found only one that was faulty. Didn't bother asking for refund as the whole process probably could cost more than the product itself.
  - wyldfire 10y ago
    Did you resell them or do a cool project? I love seeing writeups of folks who make arrays of inexpensive ARM boards.
    - hlfshell 10y ago
      Then I would recommend hackster.io - they have a section for just Raspberry Pi projects. I'm going to be posting my own soon using the new Pi Zero w/ camera connector - made my own text message powered camera doorbell.
    - elcct 10y ago
      I resold some and kept about 10 of them. Waiting for mainline kernel to be finally working to have some fun setting up Kubernetes cluster. I also created Cassandra cluster just to see if that could be possible. It worked, but performance was terrible.
arm 10y ago
They say the 5V ⎓ 3A power supply needs to be connected through the Orange Pi One’s DC socket. However, they don’t mention the size of barrel connector¹ (outer diameter & inner diameter) that will actually fit inside the DC socket. Does anyone here know? ―――――― ¹ — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coaxial_power_connector https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coaxial_power_connector
- comboy 10y ago
  I don't have it at hand to measure but it's not something typical. I suggest getting an offer on aliexpress where they include dc barrel to usb cable. edit: outer diameter 4mm
  - arm 10y ago
    Thanks for the firsthand confirmation; I appreciate it!
- makomk 10y ago
  4.0mm/1.7mm barrel plug, centre positive according to http://linux-sunxi.org/Xunlong_Orange_Pi_Plus http://linux-sunxi.org/Xunlong_Orange_Pi_Plus - I think it's the same on all of the Orange Pi boards.
  - arm 10y ago
    Oh, nice, thanks for that link and info! As you mentioned, the page even lists the output plug polarity¹ it requires (centre positive)! EDIT: Just realized that’s the same size barrel connector used for Sony’s PlayStation Portable², PlayStation TV³, etc., and the power supply⁴ those devices come with is 5V ⎓ 2A and have a centre positive polarity, so it seems like they’ll be perfect for use on the Orange Pi One. ―――――― ¹ — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarity_symbols https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarity_symbols ² — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Portable https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Portable ³ — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_TV https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_TV ⁴ — http://f.cl.ly/items/3I3N1m0U1E3o3I1q0v19/sony_ps_tv_ac_adaptor.JPG http://f.cl.ly/items/3I3N1m0U1E3o3I1q0v19/sony_ps_tv_ac_adap...
swalsh 10y ago
You know, this is about half the power of a linux machine (not counting HDD) you can get on azure for $13 a month. However, it's a one time purchase... I can see myself buying 10 of these, hooking them up to my MQ, and running a bunch of celery workers with less critical tasks.
- icebraining 10y ago
  I think you're better off buying some old server for the $140. You can get an 8-core Xeon plus 16GB of RAM and a compatible motherboard for about that amount.
  - taytus 10y ago
    I'm very interested, would you have a link?
    - kingnothing 10y ago
      Ebay has Dell R5400 rack mount servers for under $100. 2.66 ghz quad core xeon, 16 gb ram. Not exactly the original poster's specs, but pretty close.
    - icebraining 10y ago
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epIlB49SNTI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epIlB49SNTI
    - squeaky-clean 10y ago
      I don't know if this specific one is a good buy, it's just the first thing that came up when I searched "HP Proliant", but here's an example [0]. Search for the names of servers from the past few years on eBay, and you can find some powerful hardware for cheap. Keep in mind they're typically very loud. [0] http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Proliant-DL380-G6-8-Core-Server-16GB-RAM-2x146GB-P-410-1PS-4-PORT-NIC-/172096963331?hash=item2811c74303:g:YN0AAOSwll1Wu5jc http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Proliant-DL380-G6-8-Core-Server-1...
swah 10y ago
Why I only found out about this by accident? I just bought a Rpi3 for 40 usd...
- arviewer 10y ago
  It was no accident. You are on HN. Then things like this happen. Learn to deal with it! ;-)
  - swah 10y ago
    I mean, I visit /r/arduino, /r/diy almost daily. I hate missing stuff like this for months.
- lcabral 10y ago
  I keep buying then all :) got 2 CHIPs (although I think I only ordered one) one of then was faulty... the other I'm a bit unsatisfied. although I did not managed to have the time to play much with it, I get some noise/static sound coming out of the audio jack as processes are run (I'm typing or running commands in the bash ). Video quality is deplorable... the PIs are still very sturdy and cool machines... worth the pennies.

amelius 10y ago

Orange Pi is Cortex-A7, while this one is Cortex-A8.

makomk 10y ago
Orange Pi is based on a much newer generation of SoC - A7 is newer than A8, and the Orange Pi is also quad core rather than single core and built on a more modern process node. They're not really direct competitors though since they have such different peripheral sets and intended uses - the C.H.I.P can be battery powered and has WiFi, whereas the Orange Pi is more suited to fixed/media applications thanks to its higher power usage, Ethernet, HDMI out, and better video decode hardware.
Narishma 10y ago
I think Cortex A7 is faster than A8. Or at least more modern.

nimmer 10y ago

That's really cheap, but it's worth noticing that it doesn't comes with a WiFi NIC and on-board storage.

comboy 10y ago
You can always go with nodemcu with wifi and storage on board. ~$2.5 on aliexpress with shipping
- lorenzhs 10y ago
  That isn't comparable in any way
  - comboy 10y ago
    Why not? Most people don't use rpi as a home desktop. These GPIOs are there for a reason and I think that's what people mostly care about unless they are making some magic mirror or other form of a display.
    - lorenzhs 10y ago
      There is a lot more software for Linux boxes than there is for the NodeMCU, for example. Furthermore, their processing power is orders of magnitude apart, as is RAM and storage. NodeMCU targets embedded, and there are plenty of cases where a rpi is used but a NodeMCU would be more than sufficient. But that doesn't mean that they're equivalent, there are also plenty of use cases where a NodeMCU is horribly underpowered.
  - jack12 10y ago
    I think the ESP8266 supports operating in SDIO mode, it's the descendant of a chip used to add wifi to low-end tablets. So it could be used as a literal replacement for an on-board WiFi module, if SDIO pins are available on the Orange Pi board.
- wiradikusuma 10y ago
  i keep seeing people say that, but i can't find (reputable) seller with price <$3. do you have some links for sellers with that price that you've done business with?
  - comboy 10y ago
    Here's $2.85 with lots of feedback: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/new-Wireless-module-CH340-NodeMcu-V3-Lua-WIFI-Internet-of-Things-development-board-based-ESP8266/32520574539.html http://www.aliexpress.com/item/new-Wireless-module-CH340-Nod... Personally I've bought from this one: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/NodeMcu-Lua-WIFI-development-board-based-on-the-ESP8266-Internet-of-things/32338129505.html http://www.aliexpress.com/item/NodeMcu-Lua-WIFI-development-... So far tested 3 units and they work without any problem, packaging was also very good. I don't see any cheaper than those currently, but once you have everything tested, if you want to cut the cost you can always just use esp8266 directly which goes for $1.8
jack12 10y ago
The same store has the Orange Pi Lite, which is essentially the same as the One but with wifi instead of ethernet (plus a microphone, ir receiver, and a 2nd usb port). It costs $2.01 more. They also have the Orange Pi PC Plus, which has both ethernet and wifi, 1GB of RAM instead of 512MB, and an 8GB eMMC. But that's getting up in price to ~$25 shipped.

nazgul17 10y ago

I bought an Orange PI PC a few weeks back. It died after two days and the sellers are being extremely difficult at giving me a refund. I advise against buying from them.

toomanybeersies 10y ago
That is the game you play when you buy from China.
- joshmn 10y ago
  I disagree. That's the game you play "buy cheap from China." Spend a bit more (say, $30) and the quality will greatly surpass expectations.
elcct 10y ago
I bought 50 of them and found only one that was faulty. Didn't bother asking for refund as the whole process probably could cost more than the product itself.
- wyldfire 10y ago
  Did you resell them or do a cool project? I love seeing writeups of folks who make arrays of inexpensive ARM boards.
  - hlfshell 10y ago
    Then I would recommend hackster.io - they have a section for just Raspberry Pi projects. I'm going to be posting my own soon using the new Pi Zero w/ camera connector - made my own text message powered camera doorbell.
  - elcct 10y ago
    I resold some and kept about 10 of them. Waiting for mainline kernel to be finally working to have some fun setting up Kubernetes cluster. I also created Cassandra cluster just to see if that could be possible. It worked, but performance was terrible.

arm 10y ago

They say the 5V ⎓ 3A power supply needs to be connected through the Orange Pi One’s DC socket. However, they don’t mention the size of barrel connector¹ (outer diameter & inner diameter) that will actually fit inside the DC socket. Does anyone here know? ―――――― ¹ — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coaxial_power_connector https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coaxial_power_connector

comboy 10y ago
I don't have it at hand to measure but it's not something typical. I suggest getting an offer on aliexpress where they include dc barrel to usb cable. edit: outer diameter 4mm
- arm 10y ago
  Thanks for the firsthand confirmation; I appreciate it!
makomk 10y ago
4.0mm/1.7mm barrel plug, centre positive according to http://linux-sunxi.org/Xunlong_Orange_Pi_Plus http://linux-sunxi.org/Xunlong_Orange_Pi_Plus - I think it's the same on all of the Orange Pi boards.
- arm 10y ago
  Oh, nice, thanks for that link and info! As you mentioned, the page even lists the output plug polarity¹ it requires (centre positive)! EDIT: Just realized that’s the same size barrel connector used for Sony’s PlayStation Portable², PlayStation TV³, etc., and the power supply⁴ those devices come with is 5V ⎓ 2A and have a centre positive polarity, so it seems like they’ll be perfect for use on the Orange Pi One. ―――――― ¹ — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarity_symbols https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarity_symbols ² — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Portable https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Portable ³ — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_TV https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_TV ⁴ — http://f.cl.ly/items/3I3N1m0U1E3o3I1q0v19/sony_ps_tv_ac_adaptor.JPG http://f.cl.ly/items/3I3N1m0U1E3o3I1q0v19/sony_ps_tv_ac_adap...

swalsh 10y ago

You know, this is about half the power of a linux machine (not counting HDD) you can get on azure for $13 a month. However, it's a one time purchase... I can see myself buying 10 of these, hooking them up to my MQ, and running a bunch of celery workers with less critical tasks.

icebraining 10y ago
I think you're better off buying some old server for the $140. You can get an 8-core Xeon plus 16GB of RAM and a compatible motherboard for about that amount.
- taytus 10y ago
  I'm very interested, would you have a link?
  - kingnothing 10y ago
    Ebay has Dell R5400 rack mount servers for under $100. 2.66 ghz quad core xeon, 16 gb ram. Not exactly the original poster's specs, but pretty close.
  - icebraining 10y ago
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epIlB49SNTI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epIlB49SNTI
  - squeaky-clean 10y ago
    I don't know if this specific one is a good buy, it's just the first thing that came up when I searched "HP Proliant", but here's an example [0]. Search for the names of servers from the past few years on eBay, and you can find some powerful hardware for cheap. Keep in mind they're typically very loud. [0] http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Proliant-DL380-G6-8-Core-Server-16GB-RAM-2x146GB-P-410-1PS-4-PORT-NIC-/172096963331?hash=item2811c74303:g:YN0AAOSwll1Wu5jc http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Proliant-DL380-G6-8-Core-Server-1...

swah 10y ago

Why I only found out about this by accident? I just bought a Rpi3 for 40 usd...

arviewer 10y ago
It was no accident. You are on HN. Then things like this happen. Learn to deal with it! ;-)
- swah 10y ago
  I mean, I visit /r/arduino, /r/diy almost daily. I hate missing stuff like this for months.
lcabral 10y ago
I keep buying then all :) got 2 CHIPs (although I think I only ordered one) one of then was faulty... the other I'm a bit unsatisfied. although I did not managed to have the time to play much with it, I get some noise/static sound coming out of the audio jack as processes are run (I'm typing or running commands in the bash ). Video quality is deplorable... the PIs are still very sturdy and cool machines... worth the pennies.