Raspberry Pi vs. The World: compare and contrast the competition

RE: Raspberry Pi vs. The World: compare and contrast the competition

Former Member — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 10:28:08 GMT

Cabe,

I'm curious where the information on the table came from. Of the boards I own on the table there are many inaccuracies and at times misleading information as a wider context has not been considered.

Starting with RPi:

I2S only on the rev 2 board.

The SD card slot on the RPi is complicated by the SoC supporting modes that the hardware isn't capable of (like 1.8v signalling being required for some modes). However if you're including a big list of theoretically possible modes for the Pi you'd have to do the same for the other boards as well.

BBB:

Onboard Storage: 2GB eMMC

Expandable Storage: mmc/SD/SDHC/SDIO (theoretically capable, in line with RPi)

only one 10/100 port (the SoC is capable of two Gigabit ports, but only one 10/100 port is implemented)

USB 2.0, one host port and one OTG port

HDMI: this is a micro-HDMI, if you're differentiating SD/microSD, do the same here

Audio: there is no 3.5mm socket on the board, I2S is available via the expansion headers BBB - Building a DAC

RTC, not optional, part of the SoC, however implementation details mean it's not battery backed, hence effectively useless

Power, 5v/460mA is misleading, the software update instructions say the current requirements can exceed 500mA during update http://circuitco.com/support/index.php?title=Updating_The_Software

Sabre-Lite;

Expandable Storage: add mmc,SDIO, (theoretically UHS-1, SL design prevents some modes)

Network, 1Gb network port

USB, a single OTG port and three host ports

RTC, like the BBB, it's not battery backed, so useless.

The Cost row as a whole is misleading as it doesn't consider whether everything you need to get up and running is in the box or not. For example, some boards come with PSU and pre-loaded SD card, some don't. So a simple comparison without considering what you do or don't get for the price is unfair in some way or another to all of the boards.

You are missing things like the CSI camera interfaces on at least the RPi, Wandboard and SL.

The Cubie board and Mars Board, both very similar and based on the same Allwinner A10 SoC have completely different entries in the GPIO/misc Ports row, it's difficult to believe the range of things like i2c/spi are not also available on the MarsBoard.

I'd agree with DAB, just pick a board you like and go for it... Just don't use this table to decide which one!

RE: Raspberry Pi vs. The World: compare and contrast the competition

morgaine — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 07:53:36 GMT

Regarding chart criteria:

Cabe Atwell wrote:

The board must have come into existence since the release of the Raspberry Pi.

I understand the need for criteria, since without them the chart would be unbounded. However, this particular criterion makes no sense if the purpose of the chart is to show competition. How can what went before not be relevant to competition? A more relevant bounding criterion would be list price.

If it weren't for this inappropriate time criterion, the iMX233-OLinuXino range and the BeagleBone white with video cape and earlier BeagleBoards would all qualify too.

RE: Raspberry Pi vs. The World: compare and contrast the competition

fustini — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 21:16:18 GMT

I like the chart but it would be helpful to update it as to which ones are Open Source Hardware

RE: Raspberry Pi vs. The World: compare and contrast the competition

fustini — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 21:14:28 GMT

It might not be as large in sheer numbers, but the 100% Open Source Hardware BeagleBoard & BeagleBone has a strong community (http://beagleboard.org/) that has been around for 5 years as of this past Monday!

http://beagleboard.org/blog/2013-07-29-Five-years-of-DIY-hacks/

[View:/resized-image/__size/1045x784/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-2722bce6-1622-4ff6-b95f-b14bda9e421c/contentimage_5F00_175734.jpg:1045:784]

RE: Raspberry Pi vs. The World: compare and contrast the competition

DAB — Wed, 31 Jul 2013 19:24:52 GMT

Hi Cabe,

UDOO is an interesting approach to an initial system board.

I agree about the board fights. It reminds me of the Great C vs C++ wars of the 1990's.

From my experience it is a lot of effort over nothing.

Engineering 101, buy the one you like that meets your needs.

Which ever one you pick will be obsolete tomorrow and everyone will tell you that you picked the wrong one.

If it meets your needs, then it was the right pick.

Everyone's opinions to the contrary is worth a bucket of warm spit.

Just my opinion, [View:/resized-image/__size/16x16/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-2722bce6-1622-4ff6-b95f-b14bda9e421c/contentimage_5F00_2516.png:16:16]

DAB