RPi Alternatives

[Kilren]

I was looking around youtube and stumbled across a couple of new things coming out this summer that seems like it will become RPi competitors.

One that is really interesting is caleld Pine64. https://www.pine64.com/ looks like it will blow RPi 3 out of the water with 2GB of ram and a few other bigger upgrades. It is the same price tag also. Interesting implications it could bring.

The other one that more closely relates to potential in the GBZ realm is one called C.H.I.P. http://getchip.com/pages/chip It looks like a lot of the specs are similar, similar in size (possibly smaller?) and around the same price tag. One of the hugest flaws that I saw though is that it doesn't look like it has a micro-sd slot, meaning you'll have to sacrifice a USB for storage. Not the end of the world, but sad. The tradeoff though is they have wifi and bluetooth built in.

Will be interesting to see what some competition for RPi might lead too, especially in the "going big means going small"

[crispy_tofu]

The problem with these alternatives is that Retropie will not work on them, as they are built specifically for Raspberry Pi hardware (it doesn't work on Banana Pi either). I am actually planning to use a C.H.I.P. for my project, however I will have to set up all of the emulators and emulationstation manually.

[Kilren]

The problem with these alternatives is that Retropie will not work on them, as they are built specifically for Raspberry Pi hardware (it doesn't work on Banana Pi either). I am actually planning to use a C.H.I.P. for my project, however I will have to set up all of the emulators and emulationstation manually.

Yeah, that is definitely a problem initially. However, if they catch any traction then they'll eventually catch up or even offer other emulationstation-like programs. You'll have compatibility issues with any new system. I guess my point was the untold potential that competition might have on the modding world.

[Fleder]

I ordered myself a Orange Pi PC and had the same problems.
At least they managed to run RetroPie on it, partially.
A new single board computer is only as good as its support and user base, unfortunately.

[MattTheHuman]

I've got one of these arriving today: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/13 ... everything

I'm a Windows programmer so I'd prefer this over the Pi, but the fact the Pi Zero is so small makes it a million times better for the project.
That and the price is quite high.

[crispy_tofu]

Wow, that looks pretty powerful. Can't wait to see how yours turns out!

[Kilren]

Wow, that looks pretty powerful. Can't wait to see how yours turns out!

The $30 Pine64 is a good contender against the lattepanda, but that processer is pretty beefy in that lattepanda. Cool things are happening, with even more on their way.

I just looked at the price tag on the lattepandas. Ouch.

[wermy]

Pine64 looks pretty sweet, a friend of mine at work got one. It's much bigger than I was expecting -- substantially bigger footprint than the Pi. Also from what I understand they hare having a pretty rough time getting their software stable. :\

[Kilren]

Pine64 looks pretty sweet, a friend of mine at work got one. It's much bigger than I was expecting -- substantially bigger footprint than the Pi. Also from what I understand they hare having a pretty rough time getting their software stable. :\

Oh man. I didn't realize that it was a lot bigger. I didn't look at details, but I had the impression that it was the same size. That's a shame, though it doesn't rule it out. Just doesn't allow a ton of handheld applications.

The software complications makes sense being a new system, but hopefully they get it all resolved soon to have a good strong product.

[crispy_tofu]

That's a shame that the Pine64 isn't very stable, it looks like quite a versatile machine for what it is...