World's Cheapest Smallest Quad Core - Android 4.x / Ubuntu 12.10 - ARM Cortex-A9 1.4Ghz HDMI 1GB RAM incl case - $69 + Shipping

Quote from junhao123 : Was "World's Cheapest Smallest" really necessary? Why do people feel the need to act like advertisers or they're working for a newspaper? It's really obnoxious, especially when it's a deal I actually want. Just list the specs and price and let SD decide if it's "World's Cheapest".

I swear to God some folks on SD will cmplain about anything... It's really obnoxious, especially when it's a deal I actually want to read.

Quote from Thunderpants : You're forgetting the ability to upgrade. Once you have something like a droid on a stick htpc you're stuck with whatever specs that has. If it's too slow or outdated it basically becomes useless. Also the fact that you have to add a 3TB external drive around just makes the system bigger overall. The more crap you have to keep plugging into an android on a stick then the more you start to question why you didn't just build something micro ATX or ...

Once they get the price down a little, your upgrade would consist of unplugging everything from your old stick, and plugging it into a new stick, which is easier than opening up a case and replaciing componients.

Quote from twesthoff : "Aluminum heatsink with heat sink"

Yes, even heatsinks need heatsinks these days...

Quote from junhao123 : Can't you just stream it over the network? Also, it's $60, takes <10W, and is very low profile. Why do you need a full-blown computer, when one of these is good enough? And when you build at Atom-based or similar type, it isn't exactly "upgrade-able". Small lower power devices and "upgrade-able" tend to go against each other by nature anyways. Though $400 for an Intel HTPC is an exaggeration. You could build one for $200-300, or less if you get in on a slick deal. And of course there are many advantages like CableCARD, playing PC games, or other stuff just because x86 is more general purpose and well supported.

Because sometimes it's not good enough. If doing light htpc use then yeah it probably is good enough. $400 isn't an exaggeration as that is the opening price for Intel's NUC which is what I was talking about. Yes it a bit overpriced but I'm sure once the volume gets out there the costs like anything else will go down. You of course can build something yourself for cheaper. Just saying it's interesting as Intel is now marketing it as an all-in-one mini pc solution.

PC games, encoding on the fly, CableCard, etc are other reasons. With android on a stick you really are limited by Android itself like you said vs an x86 system. For some people it would be reason as to why they build a more expensive htpc. At some point though I would imagine that the power of these small systems will make them more and more viable overall. I see them more as a modular hub. Hell if Windows starts working on ARM chips and someone designs a plug in external video card that actually takes off with consumers then you will be all set.

Quote from SlickFerret : Once they get the price down a little, your upgrade would consist of unplugging everything from your old stick, and plugging it into a new stick, which is easier than opening up a case and replaciing componients.

That's true. Or they could make things more modular in design. Would love to see a mini pc aftermarket where people could replace specific parts to upgrade though. Doubt it will be cost effective like you said. It will probably be more like "well this dual core stick is slow... time to chuck it and just get this new eight core chip that is cheap."

Same here. With the MILLIONS of uses for a micro PC like this, everyone seems stuck on XBMC. I use Plex way more than XBMC and if someone makes a linux distro for this then I am buying one for sure! I have no need for another Android box. But I would like to replace my Pogoplug Debian system with this faster, smaller, more powerful model!

edit: wait... I guess I should READ before posting. It says Android and Ubuntu 12! SWEET! Is there a special distro somewhere or does the standard ARM version of Ubuntu work out of the box? I am hyped about this now!

Quote from hurley81388 : read about this on engadget- seems like the HTPC of the future. once this thing gets XBMC support like the Raspberry Pi, why would you sink hundreds of dollars into an HTPC? this plus an external 3 TB HDD will easily play all of your 1080p video files (as long as they're encoded in mp4)

Can you attach multiple HDTV tuners and use it as a DVR with XBMC? That's probably 99% of what I use my HTPC for.

Quote from junhao123 : Similar item pre-built w/ wifi etc. Also a Quad-Core A9. XBMC hardware decode already supported. http://www.amazon.com/G-Box-Midni...OLR8YDGC0J

Now this is something which is pre built and could be a good alternative to ATV, WD box and other stuff. Tempted to get one to play around

Quote from junhao123 : Similar item pre-built w/ wifi etc. Also a Quad-Core A9. XBMC hardware decode already supported. http://www.amazon.com/G-Box-Midni...OLR8YDGC0J

I wished the g-midnight box had at least 2gb of ram.... at least it would feel more futureproof than a measly 1gb of ram

Quote from junhao123 : Similar item pre-built w/ wifi etc. Also a Quad-Core A9. XBMC hardware decode already supported. http://www.amazon.com/G-Box-Midni...OLR8YDGC0J

Thanks for all the comments - the G-Box Midnight is an interesting box as it's around the same price (with qty 1 shipping) but it's not a quad-core. An A9 can be a single core (like the G-Box Midnight), dual core, or quad core.

http://www.amazon.com/many-cores-...B009BWC3J4

And no, no one counts the GPU as a "second core".

Again, you are not going to find a cheaper or smaller quad core out there today, anywhere. I have looked for some time.

The other difference is build quality. For those who didn't know this isn't a Taiwanese or Chinese Android box, like the G-Box.

The HardKernel team appears to be an open-source hardware enthusiast company with a strong relationship with Samsung, the ARM licensee. They have built up a following with their $129 ODROID-X/X2 and I can't wait to see what cooks now that they have halved the price.

Few other things:

1. Sorry I didn't catch the power supply; I thought I would power it via USB (like my Raspberry Pi and LapDock combination) and it clearly states that probably isn't possible. -1. I think this could be built cheaply outside of Korea but I don't know the Adapter tip yet.

2. I wouldn't purchase the $13 microSD Card; just download it yourself. Especially if some of you are more excited by Ubuntu than Android...

3. GPIO. @arcasinky Well there's that strange "USB to IO expansion board for GPIO / PWM / SPI / UART / I2C / ADC interfaces" for $15 but I think they made a mistake; that makes sense for the older and more expensive ODROID-X if you look at the block diagram and their "CPU Module" set up. For this tiny board, no joy.

4. Lapdock. Did I mention this would be perfect with a Lapdock? And it's easier to get the micro HDMI to micro HDMI cable instead of having the micro HDMI to HDMI conversion for Raspberry Pi.

5. 2GB. @DanCar Yes, I mentioned it briefly but thanks pointing it out further; the $89 gets you the faster processor (not sure I'd really want to make this go from fanless to fan) and the audio-in as well.

6. Aluminum heatsink with heat sink. Duh. -1. Thanks.

Anyone know of a site that helps coordinate local group buys? At $7 shipping I'd like to add this beside by my Raspberry Pi...

Quote from hroth : Thanks for all the comments

I know it's launch is in a few months but I think this is going to have a huge following and all sorts of hacking/rooting going on. Not sure how it will stack up against this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouya

Quote from yazyazoo : Same processor as GS2? That handles my MKV's really easily with BSPlayer!

Its the same as GSIII

Quote from toothpick : Same here. With the MILLIONS of uses for a micro PC like this, everyone seems stuck on XBMC. I use Plex way more than XBMC and if someone makes a linux distro for this then I am buying one for sure! I have no need for another Android box. But I would like to replace my Pogoplug Debian system with this faster, smaller, more powerful model! edit: wait... I guess I should READ before posting. It says Android and Ubuntu 12! SWEET! Is there a special distro somewhere or does the standard ARM version of Ubuntu work out of the box? I am hyped about this now!

they'll update links with distro's when they ship these (12/21 or so) im guessing due to specific drivers not to release the secret to the chinese lol

Quote from homersapien : I love how they use what appears to be a real credit card for size comparisons

I think they think the chip protects them, may be they even have disconnected token keychain

everyone likes, but no one purchased?! O.0

Quote from Thunderpants : I know it's launch is in a few months but I think this is going to have a huge following and all sorts of hacking/rooting going on. Not sure how it will stack up against this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouya

Yeah, I'm glad Ouya is hitting their deadlines and will ship dev consoles out before the end of the month.

Tegra3 (and the i.MX6) are all impressive Cortex A9 quad core implementations, and the price is right...