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