Welcome

Our cover says "Boards Galore!", and we're not kidding. Last issue, we reviewed the LeMaker HiKey and the Banana Pi M3. This issue we add the Odroid-C2, Pine A64+, LeMaker Guitar, BBC micro:bit, and C.H.I.P. Each of these small-board computers (SBCs) have strengths and weaknesses, so you have to understand the needs of your project to choose wisely.

Our cover says "Boards Galore!", and we're not kidding. Last issue, we reviewed the LeMaker HiKey and the Banana Pi M3 [1]. This issue we add the Odroid-C2, Pine A64+, LeMaker Guitar, BBC micro:bit, and C.H.I.P. Each of these small-board computers (SBCs) have strengths and weaknesses, so you have to understand the needs of your project to choose wisely.

Do you need blazing hot speed? Lean power consumption? Low price? A kid-friendly project computer? Maybe you'd prefer to work in Android rather than Linux, go minimalist, or have all the bells and whistles, with built-in WiFi and Bluetooth, multiple cores, and 64-bit processing. With all the choices out there today, you should be able to find the perfect board for your needs, and we help you take a first look at some of your options.

This issue is chock full of Raspberry Pi projects, too. We show you how to use it as a backup server or a WiFi print server, add a touch screen or incorporate it into a laptop kit, stream Amazon Video with the OpenELEC fork LibreELEC, and use it to program the BBC micro:bit in MicroPython. In another project, one of our authors creates a low-power wireless system that sends data from a weather station via an Arduino to the lab, where the information is processed on a Raspberry Pi.

At the Kid Stop, learn how to build a Lego aerial tramway and write an Android app to control it remotely, and a Scratch programming project flows with the Pokémon Go phenomenon to create a sprite-hunting game.

Immerse yourself in the pool of new and improved SBCs now available for hobby, home, and experimental projects. I'm sure you can find the one that's perfect for your needs or ripe for your mods.

Rita L. Sooby Managing Editor

edit@raspberry-pi-geek.com

Infos

  1. "Fast Hobby Computers" by Alexander Merz. Raspberry Pi Geek, issue 18, 2016, pg. 28, http://www.raspberry-pi-geek.com/Archive/2016/18/Banana-Pi-M3-vs.-the-LeMaker-HiKey

Buy this article as PDF

Express-Checkout as PDF

Pages: 1

Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Raspberry Pi Geek

SINGLE ISSUES
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS
 
TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS
Get it on Google Play

US / Canada

Get it on Google Play

UK / Australia

Related content

  • Banana Pi M3 vs. the LeMaker HiKey

    When you need plenty of power, a Raspberry Pi might not be enough. We tried our luck with a couple of souped-up single-board systems: the Banana Pi M3 and the LeMaker HiKey.

  • Testing the Odroid-C2 and LeMaker Guitar

    The LeMaker Guitar and Odroid-C2 are hobby computers that were created as competitors for the Raspberry Pi 2, but we discovered they can even challenge the Raspberry Pi 3.

  • Power to You

    Small-board computers (SBCs) are getting more and more powerful. The Raspberry Pi 3 (RPi3), which just came out in February of this year, is a case in point. This latest in the Rasp Pi line now has four cores running at 1200MHz with 1GB of RAM and on-board WiFi and Bluetooth. If you need even more power in a small computer, however, you are not left wanting. In this issue, we look at three SBCs with more cores, more memory, more ports, and more possibilities.

  • Up close with the Banana Pi

    The Raspberry Pi has spawned a new generation of imitators. One of the top contenders is the Banana Pi.

  • It's a Big World

    Welcome to this issue of Raspberry Pi Geek!