On Mon, Oct 15, 2012 at 10:35:10AM +0000, alan.b.pearce@stfc.ac.uk wrote:
> Raspberry Pies are going to start shipping immediately with 512MB of RAM,=
 for same price.
>=20
> http://www.reghardware.com/2012/10/15/raspberry_pi_memory_doubled/
>=20
> But people are still waiting for back orders from as far back as June,
> although people with more recent orders have received theirs ...

I think it's time for a comparison. Anyone else using MK802 with the
Allwinner A10 chipset?

http://www.amazon.com/MK802-Android-Google-Player-Allwinner/dp/B008BFXOZE

Android embedded, 1G RAM, 4G flash, embedded wireless, 1080p HDMI possible,
and boots Linux no problem from the integrated micro-SDHC slot. I found
them a while ago as a alternative to RPi's. Back then only available via
eBay in the $70 range.  Now can be had from Amazon for $45 and free
shipping. I've actually replaced my laptop with one as my presentation
machine by using a tweaked version of Lubuntu 12.04 that runs DroidMote
server with autologin. So as soon as it comes up, I can interact with it
using my phone as a keyboard/mouse.

The unit has two USB ports and can be powered via the mini-A 5 pin USB
interface. I've tested the unit connected to the USB port of a LCD TV and
it worked fine.

Now it isn't perfect. The Embedded Android OS only runs at 720p. While
Linux will boot into 1080p, it's really slow. Also as of the last time I
checked there were not yet optimized video drivers for Linux for the unit.
So streaming video is currently a non-starter. Overall the unit is a bit
pokey. But that's to be expected from a 1.5G ARM processor.

Quite a bit of work has been collected in the Miniandroid forums for the
MK802:

https://www.miniand.com/forums/forums/development

I've bought 3 so far and have plans for at least 2 more projects using
them. So other than optimized drivers for 1080p out of the box, what
exactly am I missing from the RPi's?

BAJ

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College of Information and Mathematical Sciences
Clayton State University
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