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Pi vs BeagleBone-Black

Former Member

So, just over a year on from the initial availability of the R-Pi and the new BeagleBone Black is upon us.  They've obviously taken a leaf out of the RPF's playbook and produced a cost reduced version at a price only marginally above the Pi.

 

I find it interesting that the compromises are very different, for example there's a proper PMIC and the ethernet is not troubled by being connected to USB, however the on-board HDMI seems less capable.

 

Other differences are in the documentation, I'm currently viewing the pcb gerbers for the beaglebone..  Have yet to see any sign of those for the R-Pi a year later. There's even an up to date devicetree capable kernel too.

 

Technology has also moved on somewhat, we get a 1GHz Cortex A8 which is better than the Pi, along with various other stuff and lots more GPIO's too.

 

Ok, so it's clear that I like the look of the new beaglebone, and given the price I'm likely to put any further R-Pi plans on hold until I have a chance to play with this. It's also making things like the Olinuxino-maxi I bought recently look very slow/expensive while still being cheaper than the similarly specced Olinuxino-A13

 

Some details of the beaglebone-black here http://circuitco.com/support/index.php?title=BeagleBoneBlack

 

What do the rest of you think ?   I don't expect this to displace the Pi anytime soon, but I expect it to be very attractive to those people who don't simply want to put XBMC on it and duct tape it to the back of the TV..

Parents

  • In short what i think is , Raspberry Pi has a Awesome User base and Really Awesome Community, it is an amazing platform to learn but doesn't have enough juice when it comes to heavy apps/compiling,etc. Its, heart i.e. the broadcom chipset is really closed source so no datasheets and etc..

     

    where as in contrast if you know basic linux then BBB is really great as it packs the real juice and you can do almost anything using BBB

     

    one last thing is the GPIO's , well that's subjected to your requirements .

  • in reply to gsgill112

    Sorry, but I disagree, Gurinder.
    To me, BBB has a lot - and I mean a lot of advantages for me. But, I stick with the Pi.
    Why? OK Try my (part of) my latest post to Adafruit.
    Then my impression of the community support for the BBB. Basically, agressive, and non-existant. On element14 at the end.

    Yo Adafruit:
    For a project I'm making*, I need a REALLY flexible PSU.

    How about Adafruit making a serious PU, that can take from between 3 - 30

    volts up its jaksy, and produce 3.3/5/12V at something useful like 5 amps.

    I'd suggest SEPIC technology, and I've found a chip from Linear** that seems

    to do the trick.

    Quick back-of-a-***-packet sketch sugests the size of a credit card,

    probably smaller. I reckon it'd flog for about $20-25, maybe less in kit

    form (?). Final Vout to be set by precision resistors, NOT a Pot..If a pot

    (mechanically) fails, then "your Pi is frying tonight".

    Maybe (to save Adafruit's inventory) include the 3 precision resistors in

    the box, so folks can solder in the one they want. Maybe even optionally add

    a LiPo charger to the board....

    I know it's a lot more expensive than buying a cheap Chinese effort from

    e-bay, but I'd have more confidence in the preservation and reliability of

    my seriously expensive electronics (when you're living on benefit, an LDR is

    an investment) if I had a respected name behind my toy.

     

    What do you think? I don't have the resources to design/prototype this (and

    the math is pretty shaky..) But I think Adafruit does.

     

    * Pi, camera (NoIR), PSU, batteries, servo to put an IR Stop filter over the

    camera when it's light, 3G modem, and environmental stuff, stuck in a dummy

    CCTV case, Webserver, Google Drive, bunged in the forest someplace,

    connected to a shedload of tractor batteries, and whatever else I can use

    (solar, wind?  to take piccies like this:

    http://img.yle.fi/uutiset/kainuu/article6948260.ece/ALTERNATES/w960/KERTAK%C3%84YTT%C3%96OIKEUS%21+Valtteri+Mulkahainen+karhunpennut+.jpg

     

    ** http://www.linear.com/product/LTC1871 as a start....

    Client IP: 80.223.255.91

     

    Then, BBB forum:

    Things that makes me reluctant to move from the Pi seems to be the bad posts re. the BBB’a Ångström distribution. I really NEED the I/O the BBB gives for my project, but the OS ‘fight’ seems to be a mishmash from which to choose… Reckon I’ll just wait for the dust to settle.

    Another is the rather ‘formal’ standoffish-ness I detect with the BBB forums and instructions. It’s a bit to me like “Well, if you’re too dumb to use it, go and play with your trainset instead” attitude that some stupidly clever geeks have used that I’ve discovered in my quest for learning.

    As I said, things’ll change I’m sure over time…

    Pi, although limited, it aint the cost (€10 or so more), but the current stability. There’s no “Uncle Ebden” behind this. Nor MagPi, nor……

  • in reply to andycrofts

    Andy Crofts wrote:

     

    Things that makes me reluctant to move from the Pi seems to be the bad posts re. the BBB’a Ångström distribution. I really NEED the I/O the BBB gives for my project, but the OS ‘fight’ seems to be a mishmash from which to choose… Reckon I’ll just wait for the dust to settle.

    The angstrom stuff will sort itself out in time.. In the meantime, if you're familiar enough with Raspbian on the Pi you'll find yourself quite at home with Debian on the BBB as Raspbian is just a RPi specific rebuild of Debian.

    All of the OS choices will have one issue or another, the only thing that really matters is whether any of them impact your particular use case.  If they do, then all you really need to do is take some time to research your alternatives.  Familiarity with Raspbian on the Pi is likely to make Debian a good choice.

     

    Waiting for the dust to settle seems likely to mean you'll have more choices. Whether that's a new Pi, a new Beagleboard, a Cubieboard or whatever.. Choice is good.

  • in reply to Former Member

    The ages-old maxim "horses for courses" always applies, or alternatively its engineering version:  "Know the requirements of your problem, then pick the solution that best satisfies them".  Fanbois can be detected by entering their favourite duck on the Formula 1 grid, and arguing strongly that ducks are always best.

     

    Neither the BBB nor the Pi are appropriate solutions if one needs fast access to local hard disk or SSD --- the candidate boards which provide SATA typically use Freescale or Allwinner SoCs.  Likewise, no known ARM-based board is currently able to utilize more than a fraction of the bandwidth of a gigabit Ethernet connection, so the solution space for fast networking still belongs mostly to x86.  Neither is much use when you need lots of memory either.  Although this situation is highly likely to change, that's where we stand currently.

     

    In any case, Pi and BBB have both been out for ages, on the timescale of change in this industry.  A more interesting question is what those two manufacturers have up their respective sleeves.  They're both under pressure now from the march of progress.

     

    Morgaine.

  • in reply to morgaine

    Well, Everything depends upon  Requirements , in my opinion ,

    1. If you are using batteries/ Solar to power the board, I would suggest go with Pi, during my practicals with these boards image , I found that by 6v ~300mA I was able to boot up Pi but my BBB didn’t even responded !! image

     

    2. On the contrary if you want more GPIO's and Don’t want to have 10 different things for getting Started (in case of Pi you have to purchase charger/ SD Card with contrast to BBB where you just need BBB)

     

    3. I personally prefer BBB, as it serves my purpose .

     

    All other SBC' are costly for example FREESCALE /Allwinner SOC will be in $60 to $100 but it sorely is worth working on these . image

Reply
  • in reply to morgaine

    Well, Everything depends upon  Requirements , in my opinion ,

    1. If you are using batteries/ Solar to power the board, I would suggest go with Pi, during my practicals with these boards image , I found that by 6v ~300mA I was able to boot up Pi but my BBB didn’t even responded !! image

     

    2. On the contrary if you want more GPIO's and Don’t want to have 10 different things for getting Started (in case of Pi you have to purchase charger/ SD Card with contrast to BBB where you just need BBB)

     

    3. I personally prefer BBB, as it serves my purpose .

     

    All other SBC' are costly for example FREESCALE /Allwinner SOC will be in $60 to $100 but it sorely is worth working on these . image

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