CHIP, the $9 computer

[RevPokemon]

Welcome to the wonderful world of trans-Atlantic shipping. The main reason why I don't order stuff from the US. $2 trinket, $35 shipping.


The Pocket CHIP appeals to me because that way you can get an Open Pandora without spending €500 and waiting five years Now if only it had a clamshell design.

Well I kind of like the no clamshell design personally although the buttons seem more like a calculator than a micro PC/game system

 

[The Real Jdbye]

That's neat, I guess.
I'll still take a Raspberry Pi 2 over this any day. More USB ports, built in HDMI, better specs. Sure it costs more but it's far more capable (and doesn't cost much more if you take into account the price of the HDMI board)

 

[Veho]

Well I kind of like the no clamshell design personally although the buttons seem more like a calculator than a micro PC/game system

The current design is just a prototype, the final version will be different (it won't be those metal plate pushbutton click thingies, probably). But you can't really fit a full QWERTY keyboard on such a tiny device without it looking like a calculator. Or a Blackberry.

 

[weatMod]

$19 extra for HDMI , might as well buy Rpi instead

 

[RevPokemon]

The current design is just a prototype, the final version will be different (it won't be those metal plate pushbutton click thingies, probably). But you can't really fit a full QWERTY keyboard on such a tiny device without it looking like a calculator. Or a Blackberry.

OK it makes sense and that's better but j just hope it has dedicated game controls on it and it can use USB while in it

 

[The Catboy]

It looks interesting, but it also looks like a "microtransactions" computer. Basically, yeah you get the base for 9$, but you need to buy their expansions before you can get a whole lot done with it. Which seems affordable at first, until you consider that most of these features are built right into the Raspberry Pi 2. The Raspberry Pi 2 is still 35$ with an HDMI port and 4 USB ports built right into the board, no extra cost.
But all that aside, I kinda want one of these because it seems like it would be easier to build around to make my own portable emulator system.

 

[Nightwish]

You people are missing the point. It's tiny computer that is cheap enough for a lot of projects that have zero need for a display. At the consumer level, you can have a 9$ web server or a 9$ torrent box, a 9$ controller for cameras or for automated irrigation...
Also, the RPI had shitty USB, hence shitty wifi for ages. I think they fixed it in the new revision.

As for the Pandora, it had a good price when it was announced. There still isn't anything that does the same so well, though a cell phone with a controller is ok too, but you can't match the controller and keyboard. I'm happy to have had one since launch.

 

[sarkwalvein]

Seriously, I didn't take time enough to see if you can use those connections as GPIO, but if this thing has some UART, I2C, and some GPIO ports in there it is great already.
To tell you the truth, I used the HDMI on my RPi only once to set up the LAN and SSH connection. I find the HDMI (and even the composite) afterwards useless.
Even so the RPi has been quite an useful thing for my projects and for prototyping. You can make nice remote controlled things cheap, fast and easy. Data loggers, control systems, robots, whatever easy and cheap.

EDIT:

How many accessible pins does C.H.I.P. have?
8 digital GPIOs, one PWM pin, SPI, TWI (I2C), UART, USB, MIPI-CSI, Parallel LCD output, touchpanel input, and a whole bunch of power rails in and out. Most of these are set by the processor, but others are still subject to change as we finalize part selections. We’ll post more specific pinouts and electrical specs when we have finalized the design for “Alpha” modules in September.

GODSEND.

 

[RevPokemon]

You people are missing the point. It's tiny computer that is cheap enough for a lot of projects that have zero need for a display. At the consumer level, you can have a 9$ web server or a 9$ torrent box, a 9$ controller for cameras or for automated irrigation...
Also, the RPI had shitty USB, hence shitty wifi for ages. I think they fixed it in the new revision.

As for the Pandora, it had a good price when it was announced. There still isn't anything that does the same so well, though a cell phone with a controller is ok too, but you can't match the controller and keyboard. I'm happy to have had one since launch.

On Pandora I think it depends in that it was messed up a lot with the release with such dated specs for the high price and the fact we learned how to put Debian os on android.
Personally I'll take a nvidia shield over a Pandora any day simply due to my larger hands.

Now back to the chip.
I think it really depends on how many things will work like you said as it can do a lot for those who want simple computing tasks

 

[Veho]

As for the Pandora, it had a good price when it was announced. There still isn't anything that does the same so well, though a cell phone with a controller is ok too, but you can't match the controller and keyboard. I'm happy to have had one since launch.

I would love to have one, but it's really overpriced. The price they announced when the project was introduced would have been great, but it turns out engineers and enthusiasts actually suck at running a business and don't really know the real cost of stuff and the current model is €450. Srsly now.

 

[RevPokemon]

I would love to have one, but it's really overpriced. The price they announced when the project was introduced would have been great, but it turns out engineers and enthusiasts actually suck at running a business and don't really know the real cost of stuff and the current model is €450. Srsly now.

Only thing is they can't drop the price because they have to pay all the debt collectors (near 500k in debt) and since it was limited they have to sell high

 

[zoogie]

You people are missing the point. It's tiny computer that is cheap enough for a lot of projects that have zero need for a display. At the consumer level, you can have a 9$ web server or a 9$ torrent box, a 9$ controller for cameras or for automated irrigation...
Also, the RPI had shitty USB, hence shitty wifi for ages. I think they fixed it in the new revision.

As for the Pandora, it had a good price when it was announced. There still isn't anything that does the same so well, though a cell phone with a controller is ok too, but you can't match the controller and keyboard. I'm happy to have had one since launch.

My favorite way to use a RPI is through ssh so yeah I see your point here. If I can snag one of these for $15 shipping included I may bite.

 

[Veho]

Only thing is they can't drop the price because they have to pay all the debt collectors (near 500k in debt) and since it was limited they have to sell high

I know. The first edition batch preorders couldn't cover the costs of producing the first batch, so they sold the second batch at twice the price in order to cover the losses, but it didn't work, so they are selling everything at way too much in order to cover the previous versions' losses. Fact remains the thing is overpriced because they didn't know the real cost of running a business.

 

[RevPokemon]

I know. The first edition batch preorders couldn't cover the costs of producing the first batch, so they sold the second batch at twice the price in order to cover the losses, but it didn't work, so they are selling everything at way too much in order to cover the previous versions' losses. Fact remains the thing is overpriced because they didn't know the real cost of running a business.

Well at least the original team (mainly Craig) did and then the left and the new head guy (evildragon) was only a community leader and went to be the head leader which is actually kind of scary.

 

[LightyKD]

Couple this with a monitor, keyboard, mouse and Chrome OS and this could be a good start for mass educational computers. -just my two cents.

 

[Nightwish]

Well at least the original team (mainly Craig) did and then the left and the new head guy (evildragon) was only a community leader and went to be the head leader which is actually kind of scary.

Nah, the scary thing is having craig in front of anything, it's just lies after lies after lies. ED knows what he's doing hardware and software-wise, and it's still a well built machine, though I understand just fine why people wouldn't want a Pandora or a Pyra.

 

[LightyKD]

If I could connect my easycap and find a anaglyph output plugin for this little PC, I could easily be my new 3D output box for my OUYA. I use my current one on my Wii U.

 

[Hungry Friend]

I'm not particularly tech savvy but this sounds like a cool, cheap emulator machine. Emulators like Kawaks, Nebula and Finalburn Alpha can run CPS1-3 as well as other arcade games on ancient hardware, so I'm not sure what the limit of its emulation capabilities would be. MAME would be slow as shit since it's so CPU intensive, and I'm not sure about SNES, Genesis TG-16 and GBA emulation. NES emulation is a given.

 

[SammyPoke]

This is crazy! . . .
So for 9 bucks I could get something which is around as powerful as an N64? (I miss that system)

 

[cdoty]

I dunno. We keep seeing this idea of the cheap, tiny computer, and people start to say, "Hey, it costs virtually nothing, why not buy it?". But honestly how practical is this?

For it's features and power, it seems to be a better deal than an original Raspberry Pi (which just dropped to $25). For $25, you get a device with HDMI out, Bluetooth, WiFi, and built in storage. Bluetooth and WiFi are sorely missing on the original Pi.

The base unit, at $9, comes close to competing pricewise with Arduino. It would be an ideal processor for projects like the Apple II computer built with an Arduino Uno. http://makezine.com/2015/04/15/emulator-turns-arduino-uno-apple-ii/

Since it has integrated communication and networking options, it could also work nicely in the IoT realm.

None of the cheap computers are powerful enough to work as the main daily computer. They work nice for specialized tasks, such as a 16 bit console emulator or small music player.

I love me some pointless inventions

As the Pi has shown, these are only useless until people start finding ways to use them to solve common everyday issues. There are plenty of 'why didn't I think of that' Pi projects. And, this chip integrates networking and communication.