Raspberry PI single board computer

[bozo]

Lately i've started working with different CPU architectures because of boredom in x86 and it has renewed my interest in assembly again.

1 single board computer i'm looking forward to release is Raspberry PI http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspberry_Pi
Although mainly intended for students at school, it's a good way for me to learn ARM by myself :)



There are 2 models, A and B and it would appear B may be the most popular with gadget lovers because of the RJ45 connector.
Inside is an ARM1176JZF-S CPU running at 700 MHz with 128MB RAM for A, 256MB for B.

It will run most Linux distros capable of supporting ARM and the most surprising thing about this is the cost:

$25 for model A, $35 for model B

Anyone recommend other single board computers like this?
I think 2012 and beyond will see small computers like this become the norm.

EDIT: I have seen CuBox and Cotton Candy which are also very promising but 3-4 times more expensive.
That said, with the CuBox you get 1GB of RAM and 800Mhz CPU

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_Candy_(single-board_computer)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CuBox
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/12/meet-cubox-a-tiny-arm-powered-media-centre-capable-of-running-ubuntu/

[dedndave]

looks like fun
get a little SSD to go with it   :P

[bozo]

Apparently it can run Linux on SD Card :) and 256MB RAM is more than enough to run Linux in console mode.  :bg
It's more of a development board but i can think of tonnes of uses for something simple like this.

[anunitu]

Sometimes home "Hobby" projects have been the beginning of change. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak started out in a Garage,playing with the idea of a computer.

[bozo]

Exactly!

One of the BETA versions for this actually sold for $3500 on ebay and if these were widely distributed around schools for young programmers, it could become legendary.
I'm optimistic there will be a race to see who can create the most impressive and affordable single board computer over the next couple of years.

I'm even thinking of ditching my desktop  :bg ...okay, not just yet.

[dedndave]

the problem i see is availability
i can foresee many applications - including industrial and commercial
i don't see how the small operation they have going can keep up with demand
of course, it will have to be second-sourced to realize its' full potential

[anunitu]

You do need to remember that todays "smart phones" my have more computing power than some basic home computer's

[clive]

Apparently it can run Linux on SD Card :) and 256MB RAM is more than enough to run Linux in console mode. It's more of a development board but i can think of tonnes of uses for something simple like this.

It should be more than enough, an embedded linux kernel can run comfortably in 64MB. The file systems can get very large depending how much you drag in.

It will be interesting to see how open an architecture it is, Broadcom has a long history of hiding their technical documentation behind strict NDA's.

There are certainly a lot of ARM boards that would be easier to learn assembler on. Linux dumps a lot of C code in the way of doing bare metal assembler.