​Waiting for a cheaper Raspberry Pi 3? The $20 Orange Pi PC 2 might fit the bill

By Nick Heath  | November 7, 2016, 9:26 AM PST

The latest challenger to the credit card-sized computer is broadly similar to the Raspberry Pi 3 but cuts the Wi-Fi to shave $15 off its price.

The Raspberry Pi computer continues to inspire rivals to chase its success, with this month seeing the launch of the Orange Pi PC 2, a Raspberry Pi 3 challenger with more modest specs that sells for $20.

The quad-core, ARM-based Orange Pi PC 2 has broadly similar specs to the Raspberry Pi Model 3 B but has one fewer USB 2.0 port, lacks Wi-Fi and is powered via a 5V/2A barrel jack, rather than a micro-USB.

On the other hand the Chinese-made Allwinner H5 quad-core, ARM Cortex A53-based system-on-a-chip used in the Orange Pi PC 2 is relatively new and was designed for use in 4K TV boxes. The Orange Pi PC 2's memory is also of the faster DDR3 type, compared to the Pi 3's LPDDR2.

The $15 that the Orange Pi PC 2 shaves off the Raspberry Pi 3's asking price might also be enough to tempt those waiting for the Raspberry Pi 3 to be released in its cheaper Model A incarnation.

The company that makes the Orange Pi PC 2has said the board will be available with images to run Android, Ubuntu, Debian, and the official Raspberry Pi OS Raspbian. However, this isn't the same version of Raspbian that can be downloaded from the Raspberry Pi Foundation's website, but a Raspbian image with the Allwinner H5 Linux kernel and bootloader.

One other note of caution is that an earlier version of Allwinner's custom Linux kernel for its SoC was found to have a backdoor built into it.

Earlier in the year, the firm behind the Orange Pi launched another spin on the Raspberry Pi, the Orange Pi One, a more expensive, slightly higher specced alternative to the Raspberry Pi Zero.
Specs

CPU: Allwinner H5 quad core Cortex A53 processor

GPU: ARM Mali-450MP GPU

Memory: 1GB DDR3

Storage: micro SD card up to 64GB, 8Mbit SPI NOR flash

Video: HDMI 1.4 with CEC support, AV port

Audio: HDMI, AV port, on-board microphone

Connectivity: Gigabit Ethernet

USB: 3x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG port

Camera: MIPI CSI Interface

Expansion: 40-pin Raspberry Pi compatible header

Debugging: 3-pin UART header for serial console

Misc: IR receiver; Power button; Power and status LEDs

Power Supply: 5V/2A via barrel jack.

Dimensions: 85mm x 55mm

Weight: 38g

Raspberry Pi's most popular operating system gets a visual overhaul

By Shawn Knight on September 29, 2016, 2:15 PM


The Raspberry Pi Foundation has launched an updated version of Raspbian, a popular open-source operating system for the foundation’s various single-board computers.

Raspbian isn’t developed or affiliated with the Raspberry Pi team although it does serve as one of two operating systems the foundation officially supports (the other is Noobs, which stands for New Out Of the Box Software).

As UX engineer Simon Long explains, he met with Raspberry Pi founder Eben Upton a little over two years ago and was flat out asked if he thought he could make Raspbian better. Having very little experience with Linux or Xwindows, Long hesitantly said he thought he could help.



Raspbian, for those not familiar, isn’t exactly the most aesthetically pleasing OS on the block. As such, the initial batch of changes consists almost entirely of visual tweaks. This is evident from the get-go as an elegant splash screen replaces most of the diagnostic messages during boot-up. Long notes that the splash screen was carefully coded as to not slow down the machine’s boot time.

Once at the desktop, you’ll find a vibrant background image – one of 16 sourced from the foundation’s own Greg Annandale. Other quick-hit changes include reworked taskbar, menu and file manager icons, revised temperature and voltage indicators, a new window frame design, the inclusion of the Infinality font rendering package, an updated login screen, options to disable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth plus a handful of new applications.



The new image, dubbed PIXEL (which stands for Pi Improved Xwindows Environment, Lightweight), is available to download free of charge from the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s website. Long notes that the uncompressed image is more than 4GB in size meaning some older unzippers may not be able to decompress it properly. If that’s the case, you can simply use a program like 7-Zip on Windows or The Unarchiver on Mac to get the job done.