5 ms·

I think this actually highlights part of the problem. There's certainly a ton of capable products there, lots of stuff that looks very fun to play with. You can

I think this actually highlights part of the problem. There's certainly a ton of capable products there, lots of stuff that looks very fun to play with. You can probably find something with whatever specific combo of features you need for your project. However, there's two big issues: price and availability. Price is obvious. If you want to spend $200 or more you have a massive number of options. However, this is a far cry from the $35-75 for a Pi, plus for both you still need a power supply, case, etc. I can also order a Pi from a couple different sites, and probably pick one up locally in a pinch, too. It seems like there's lot of other boards where you can't actually buy one. Some are in the category of "how many thousand would you like?" It's just a totally different world than the Pi's distribution and ecosystem, to the point it's not really fair to consider for the average hobbyist. There's dozens of readily available case options and other add-ons for the Pi. I also know if I build software for the Pi I'll still be able to buy another one anytime I want for the next few years, and due to its popularity chances are for the next decade (if not a real Pi, someone will make a clone). It's great there's options, but the fact a product merely exists doesn't instantly make it a viable alternative.

GordonS 6y ago
The sheet quantity of boards here is another problem - I'd personally much prefer a curated list, with recommendations for different use cases.
- squarefoot 6y ago
  There are two major distributions aimed at more than one board, they're Armbian and DietPI, I would suggest reading through their forums because of the good number of people familiar with different boards, so those might likely be the best places to ask if task X is better accomplished by board A or B etc. . Sometimes however boards are similar to each other for employing the same SoC, so it's not rare finding an image that boots successfully both a board from one vendor and a TV Box from another vendor. There are many ready images for tested hardware, but users are encouraged to rebuild the images and make more test to unknown hardware then report findings. https://www.armbian.com/ https://www.armbian.com/ https://dietpi.com/ https://dietpi.com/ (warning: puke inducing site colors! :-)
  - LargoLasskhyfv 6y ago
    What is puke inducing there? The green? I'd call that color scheme Liquorice-Absinthmeister :-)
    - squarefoot 6y ago
      > What is puke inducing there? The green? Yes, I find it extremely uncomfortable to look at; literally a punch in the eye.
sangnoir 6y ago
$10 to $75 for a Pi - the RPi Zero can be gotten for $10 and it remains very capable. The Pi has no competition among SBCs on bang-for-your-buck: I have extensively checked. You can get lower prices (and lower memory) on microcontroller systems, but for hobbyists, you'll be additionally paying with your time
- squarefoot 6y ago
  The RPi Zero has been a joke for two full years: produced in extremely small quantities and sold at loss just to keep customers away from the competition. Of course there are a few people who somehow managed to get one or two without being forced to purchase it bundled with unnecessary overpriced stuff, and they usually were very quick to point that out in forums (while downvoting any criticism), but they were a really small minority. Things may have changed, but too late: I've removed the RPi from the list of the boards I could purchase for anything but video playing. My video player has been a RPi1, then 2, then 3 now 4, but all the other older Pi boards lie now unused in a drawer while I rather use other stuff (Odroids, Orange PIs, NanoPIs, probably getting soon a Pine64B from the excellent pine64.org guys, etc.). The RPi has a lot of competition, almost all of it more powerful or more cheap, sometimes even both.
  - zapzupnz 6y ago
    And almost none of it available in my country without paying more in shipping than the actual product.
    - squarefoot 6y ago
      Are you sure about that? Many of these boards are sold by Chinese vendors, and usually shipping from China/HK is very cheap because their govt subsidizes shipping. You also have the fast courier option which of course will cost a lot more, but that's just one of the options. When contacting them just be sure they use a tracked method, and much better if they support PayPal which employs an effective user protection against missed or damaged deliveries, faulty products, fakes etc. That's what for example pushed me away from buying more Orange PI boards years ago since although the products are really good their manufacturer and vendor gave no other option than their Aliexpress shop that didn't support PayPal.
cestith 6y ago
Popcorn Computer is very close to shipping. https://shop.popcorncomputer.com/ https://shop.popcorncomputer.com/ Pine64 has a number of SBCs and also other products that build around them. https://store.pine64.org/product-category/pine-h64-boards/ https://store.pine64.org/product-category/pine-h64-boards/ Both offer things in similar price ranges as Raspberry Pi. I have some of each (if you consider the Popcorn to be a true successor to the CHiP as the seller does).
- mysterydip 6y ago
  I really wanted the CHiP to succeed and was going to grab a pocket chip when I had the spare cash. Unfortunate what happened, but if popcorn ship, it looks like a good successor.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

GordonS 6y ago

The sheet quantity of boards here is another problem - I'd personally much prefer a curated list, with recommendations for different use cases.

squarefoot 6y ago
There are two major distributions aimed at more than one board, they're Armbian and DietPI, I would suggest reading through their forums because of the good number of people familiar with different boards, so those might likely be the best places to ask if task X is better accomplished by board A or B etc. . Sometimes however boards are similar to each other for employing the same SoC, so it's not rare finding an image that boots successfully both a board from one vendor and a TV Box from another vendor. There are many ready images for tested hardware, but users are encouraged to rebuild the images and make more test to unknown hardware then report findings. https://www.armbian.com/ https://www.armbian.com/ https://dietpi.com/ https://dietpi.com/ (warning: puke inducing site colors! :-)
- LargoLasskhyfv 6y ago
  What is puke inducing there? The green? I'd call that color scheme Liquorice-Absinthmeister :-)
  - squarefoot 6y ago
    > What is puke inducing there? The green? Yes, I find it extremely uncomfortable to look at; literally a punch in the eye.

sangnoir 6y ago

$10 to $75 for a Pi - the RPi Zero can be gotten for $10 and it remains very capable. The Pi has no competition among SBCs on bang-for-your-buck: I have extensively checked. You can get lower prices (and lower memory) on microcontroller systems, but for hobbyists, you'll be additionally paying with your time

squarefoot 6y ago
The RPi Zero has been a joke for two full years: produced in extremely small quantities and sold at loss just to keep customers away from the competition. Of course there are a few people who somehow managed to get one or two without being forced to purchase it bundled with unnecessary overpriced stuff, and they usually were very quick to point that out in forums (while downvoting any criticism), but they were a really small minority. Things may have changed, but too late: I've removed the RPi from the list of the boards I could purchase for anything but video playing. My video player has been a RPi1, then 2, then 3 now 4, but all the other older Pi boards lie now unused in a drawer while I rather use other stuff (Odroids, Orange PIs, NanoPIs, probably getting soon a Pine64B from the excellent pine64.org guys, etc.). The RPi has a lot of competition, almost all of it more powerful or more cheap, sometimes even both.
- zapzupnz 6y ago
  And almost none of it available in my country without paying more in shipping than the actual product.
  - squarefoot 6y ago
    Are you sure about that? Many of these boards are sold by Chinese vendors, and usually shipping from China/HK is very cheap because their govt subsidizes shipping. You also have the fast courier option which of course will cost a lot more, but that's just one of the options. When contacting them just be sure they use a tracked method, and much better if they support PayPal which employs an effective user protection against missed or damaged deliveries, faulty products, fakes etc. That's what for example pushed me away from buying more Orange PI boards years ago since although the products are really good their manufacturer and vendor gave no other option than their Aliexpress shop that didn't support PayPal.

cestith 6y ago

Popcorn Computer is very close to shipping. https://shop.popcorncomputer.com/ https://shop.popcorncomputer.com/ Pine64 has a number of SBCs and also other products that build around them. https://store.pine64.org/product-category/pine-h64-boards/ https://store.pine64.org/product-category/pine-h64-boards/ Both offer things in similar price ranges as Raspberry Pi. I have some of each (if you consider the Popcorn to be a true successor to the CHiP as the seller does).

mysterydip 6y ago
I really wanted the CHiP to succeed and was going to grab a pocket chip when I had the spare cash. Unfortunate what happened, but if popcorn ship, it looks like a good successor.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]