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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : us$9 "chip" computer
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| robert.rozee Guru  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 2431 |
just happened upon this while looking to see if there have been any upgrades to the raspberry pi since the A+ and pi2: http://www.engadget.com/2015/05/10/chip-is-a-9-raspberry-pi-killer/ the video clip provides the most info, including showing a handheld/pocket computer carried with screen and tiny keyboard. cheers, rob :-) |
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9590 |
Crikey! 
Once these things become available, perhaps they would be a good basis for a colour Maximite Mk.2? 
Hell, for that price, they are certainly worth getting just to play about with! Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| astroboy Regular Member  Joined: 28/12/2014 Location: AustraliaPosts: 41 |
$20 shipping to AU and needs adapter board for VGA or HDMI. Not so cheap anymore... |
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| robert.rozee Guru Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 2431 |
bearing in mind, vga or hdmi requires extra external circuitry - in the form of a piggyback card. but there is native support to drive an LCD panel directly, and onboard bluetooth and wifi. if the power consumption is low enough, it could make a very neat pocket computer. i tried signing up for the kickstarter, but there is in addition to the $9 a postage cost of $20 for all locations other than USA (which is only $5). i'd have been happy to pledge for multiple units (with a single postage charge), but there seems to be no option for that. cheers, rob :-) [addendum: astroboy beat me to the reply button by 60 seconds!] |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9590 |
Well, quite. 
I will still be keeping an eye on this one though. Even if you ignore VGA and HDMI(they could be added later), and concentrate on the composite output, I still think it is well worth keeping my finger on the pulse of that one! 
The postage is the killer, really. Perhaps they can improve on that. I note that postage FROM America is always hellishly expensive for anything you buy. Cheapest I have seen is US$15, most expensive US$100 or more for FedEx or DHL. Not sure why, exactly, as other countries FedEx or DHL are no where NEAR as expensive, so it's an odd one. ...but I digress....... If the composite output can be made PAL or NTSC, and if it is a colour video output(I expect it would be), then it could still be a very attractive device - if they can just get the postage cost down a bit!  Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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boss Senior Member  Joined: 19/08/2011 Location: CanadaPosts: 268 |
The only question is how many different chips we could be able support? If I remember well we have at least models: MaxiMite original and its clones 64 pin32MX695 DuinoMite several models MaxiMite Color 100pin 32MX795 uMite on 32MX150 28 & 44pin uMiteII on 32MX170 28 & 44 pin uMiteII+ on 32MX470 64 & 100 pin STMMite on 32F407 STMMite on 32F429 (still under development) |
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| JohnL Senior Member Joined: 10/01/2014 Location: SeychellesPosts: 128 |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykq_yzZjPDc CHIP and Pocket CHIP are now shipping. Has been getting a lot of support and well documented now. $9 for a very capable Linux computer with WiFi. Mini laptop with case,TFT touch screen, keyboard, LIPo battery for $49. https://nextthing.co/ http://docs.getchip.com/chip.html#introduction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of32fUYOYc0 |
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| JohnS Guru Joined: 18/11/2011 Location: United KingdomPosts: 4036 |
Did they ever fix the postage problem? John |
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| astroboy Regular Member Joined: 28/12/2014 Location: AustraliaPosts: 41 |
There is a PocketCHIP which is currently offered here for $49 I think including CHIP, case with keyboard and battery. When added to cart and going to checkout the shipping is quoted at $11 so all up $60 US delivered to AU. |
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| Bill7300 Senior Member Joined: 05/08/2014 Location: AustraliaPosts: 159 |
They managed to get slightly better postage but it is still relatively expensive. Frankly, I think they could do better simply using USPS. they seem to have a hang-up about using a mailing house, for some reason. I signed on for a couple of CHIPS when the kickstart campaign commenced, and then added a PocketCHIP a bit later, to help the cause. My PocketCHIP arrived yesterday, so I am still trying to get acquainted with it. Bill |
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| JohnS Guru Joined: 18/11/2011 Location: United KingdomPosts: 4036 |
So the simple CHIP is still daft postage? Oh well. Plenty of other things available. John |
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| astroboy Regular Member Joined: 28/12/2014 Location: AustraliaPosts: 41 |
Well, please let us know how you get on with it. |
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| Bill7300 Senior Member Joined: 05/08/2014 Location: AustraliaPosts: 159 |
Will do, although I'll probably have to think up some real use for it to get to know it well. Keyboard, although QERTY, will take some adjusting too. Actually, the original Kickstart campaign price was substantially more than the USD49.00 current offer. I can't remember the actual price last year but from memory, it was more like double that. I also bought the HDMI daughterboard but have yet to try that out. I don't see the PocketCHIP being a competitor for Konstantin's laptop project. Apart from the fact that it is a Linux box, it is considerably smaller, quite quirky and I suspect likely to find application in niche areas, rather than those traditionally the field for laptops, even one as clever as Kon's. It almost calls out to be worn like a pendant on a lanyard around the neck. Bill Bill |
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| JohnS Guru Joined: 18/11/2011 Location: United KingdomPosts: 4036 |
Meanwhile the Raspberry Pi Zero is roughly $5 and sane shipping so is considerably cheaper than the CHIP. John |
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| Bill7300 Senior Member Joined: 05/08/2014 Location: AustraliaPosts: 159 |
But the zero does not come with WiFi and Bluetooth 4 already aboard, 512Mb of Ram and with 4 Gb of flash, as I recall. Add those features and the $9 looks a reasonable deal? Neither the Zero or the CHIP are micromites though, so we have probably taken this thread as far as it needs go. Bill |
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| Phil23 Guru Joined: 27/03/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1667 |
Hadn't heard of those ones. What is it? Phil. |
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| JohnS Guru Joined: 18/11/2011 Location: United KingdomPosts: 4036 |
For the actual, shipped, price of the CHIP, there must be a number of boards readily available. They need to change to a fair shipping cost. WiFi / BT are very cheap to add, typically via USB, to all the boards except lower end uC chips (which tend to be rather poor at USB). John |
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