\n\tThe Raspberry Pi $35 Linux computer sold out within hours of going on sale in February – with demand for the device reportedly hitting 700 orders per minute.
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\n\tThe upshot is a lot of people who wanted the credit card-sized Raspberry Pi have been left empty-handed – with anyone ordering the device today unlike to receive one until about July.
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\n\tFortunately, the Raspbery Pi is not the only pocket-sized device in town. There are a variety of alternatives worth considering if you want to get your geek on with a relatively low-cost, portable computer.
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\n\tPandaBoard ES
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\n\tLike the Pi but with a bit more grunt under the hood and a higher price tag, the $180 PandaBoard ES is suited to both PC user and developer.
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\n\tThe diminutive board is based on an open-source hardware design, and can run several flavours of Linux, such as Ubuntu and the Android OS. Support for a range of add-on boards allows the device to drive motors, run sensors and power LEDs, or anything else an electronics or robotics enthusiast might want to do.
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\n\tAmong other things, PandaBoards have been used as media centres streaming 1080p, as control units for robots, as a wearable computer, to run a gesture-control interface, and as a general-purpose Android dev tool.
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\n\tHobbyists and new users will benefit from the active online community collaborating on PandaBoard projects and sharing tips on its use through wikis, mailings, videos and chat channels.
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\n\tPhoto: teamstickergiant via Flickr under licence.
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\n\tSpecs
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\n\tBoard: Core Logic OMAP4460 system on a chip.
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\n\tProcessor: 1.2 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor.
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\n\tGraphics: Full HD 1080p multi-standard video encode-decode.Imagination Technologies’ POWERVR SGX540 graphics core supporting APIs including OpenGL ES v2.0, OpenGL ES v1.1, OpenVG v1.1 and EGL v1.3.
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\n\tVideo/Audio: HDMI v1.3, DVI-D Connector, LCD expansion header, DSI support. 3.5mm audio in and out, HDMI audio out, stereo audio input support.
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\n\tMemory: 1GB DDR2 RAM.
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\n\tStorage: Full-size SD-MMC card cage with support for high-speed and high-capacity SD cards.
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\n\tConnectivity: 10/100 Ethernet, wireless connectivity 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR based on WiLink 6.0.Three USB 2.0 ports – one on the go, two host.
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\n\tExpansion: General-purpose expansion header – I2C, GPMC, USB, MMC, DSS, ETM – camera expansion header, LCD signal expansion using a single set of resistor banks.
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\n\tDebug: JTAG, UART/RS-232.
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\n\tOther: Two configurable status LEDs, one GPIO button, sys-boot switch to boot from number of sources.
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\n\tDimensions: 4.5 inches high, four inches wide.
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\n\tWeight: 2.88oz.
\n\tCotton Candy
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\n\tIf you thought the Raspberry Pi was tiny, then check out the Cotton Candy, a computer that fits onto a USB stick. Billed as the smallest computer in the world, the Cotton Candy is designed to be a computer you can carry in your pocket.
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\n\tThe $199 Linux-powered machine is simple and only needs a USB port for power and a HDMI-compatible display to operate.
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\n\tIt can be plugged into any computer or device with a USB port, hooked to a display and paired with a mouse and keyboard and it’s ready to go. Cotton Candy’s manufacturers describe it as providing a secure way for people to access cloud services and apps on the move.
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\n\tPhoto: Cotton Candy
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\n\tSpecs
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\n\tProcessor: Arm Cortex-A9 1.2GHz.
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\n\tGraphics: Quad-core ARM Mali 400MP. 480p/720p/1080p decode of MPEG4-SP/H.263/H.264 AVC/MPEG-2/VC1. OpenGL ES v2.0.
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\n\tVideo/Audio: HDMI 1.3a with audio for connection to devices that do not support USB mass storage.
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\n\tMemory: 1GB DRAM.
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\n\tStorage: Up to 64GB local microSD storage.
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\n\tConnectivity: Wi-fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR.USB 2.0 male form factor for power and connection to devices that support USB mass storage.
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\n\tSupported OS: Android Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich and Ubuntu.
\n\tBeagleBoard-xM
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\n\tStriking a nice balance between price and power, the $149 Beagleboard-xM is the platform of choice for many home-brew electronics and robotics projects. Powered by USB, the BeagleBoard-xM is open-source hardware designed to offer laptop-grade performance and expandability packed into a device just over three inches across.
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\n\tThe board – which supports a range of operating systems including Linux, Risc OS and Windows CE – is suited for use as a low-cost PC or a development platform, with 512MB allowing for software multitasking and compilation of large bundles of code.
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\n\tBeagleBoard can support equipment ranging from sensors to electric motors, making it well suited to controlling electronics and robotics. The devices are being used as a processing unit in projectsto develop an autonomous ground vehicle, unmanned aerial vehicles and even a robot postman.
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\n\tPhoto: koenkooivia Flickr under licence
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\n\tSpecs
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\n\tBoard: OMAP3530 system on a chip.
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\n\tProcessor: 1GHz Arm Cortex-A8.
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\n\tGraphics: OpenGL ES 2.0 capable 2D-3D graphics accelerator capable of rendering 10 million polygons per second. HD video capable TMS320C64x+ DSP for signal processing at up to 430MHz.
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\n\tMemory: 512MB
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\n\tVideo/Audio: DVI-D, S-Video out.Stereo audio in and out for a microphone, headphones or speakers.
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\n\tConnectivity: USB peripherals, MMC+/SD/SDIO interface for memory or wireless connectivity.
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\n\tPower: USB.
\n\tCuBox
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\n\tWith 1080p video playback and infrared remote-control compatibility, the tiny CuBox is crying out for a place in the living room. Unsurprisingly, the typical use for the $135 box is as a media centre or set-top box.
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\n\tBut the CuBox, which supports various Linux distributions including Ubuntu and Debian, has more tricks up its sleeve \u2013 able to function as a thin-client device, software development platform or as part of network-attached storage setup.
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\n\tThe CuBox is no bigger than two inches in any direction and draws no more than three watts of power from its 5V power supply.
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\n\tPhoto: CuBox
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\n\tSpecs
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\n\tBoard: Marvell Armada 510 system on a chip.
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\n\tProcessor: 800 MHz ARMv7 core
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\n\tVideo/Audio: HDMI and SPDIF optical audio.
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\n\tMemory: 1GB 800MHz DDR3
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\n\tStorage: Micro SD default 2GB.
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\n\tConnectivity: 10/100/1000 Ethernet. Two high-speed USB host ports. E-SATA, microUSB device port for development uses.
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\n\tOther: Infrared receiver.
\n\tGumstix Overo
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\n\tThe Overo boards are the chameleons of computing \u2013 just as happy controlling a smartphone-sized touchscreen as they are tracking locations via GPS.
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\n\tThe Overo are boards that provide the guts of a computer \u2013 such as the CPU and memory \u2013 and are then mounted on different expansion boards to change their abilities, allowing them to connect to and control different hardware.
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\n\tHowever, don’t expect them to do everything a computer can out of the box, as they need to be mounted on expansion boards to add abilities such as hooking up to a display or connecting to Ethernet.
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\n\tThe small size and customisable nature of the hardware has led to Gumstix’s use in a wide range of applications \u2013 such as helping control mini-satellites and humanoid robots, as well as being clustered into a supercomputer to track botnets online. Ongoing projects are using Gumstixs to develop real-time computer-vision processing in a wearable system and an e-reader with a flexible display.
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\n\tA strong developer communityprovides wikis and how-tos to bring new users up to speed. Gumstix Overo boards range in feature and price – from the $115 Overo Sand to the $229 Overo FE COM \u2013 with expansion boards ranging from $27 to $129.
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\n\tPhoto:JustinC474
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\n\tSpecs
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\n\tGumstix Overo Earth: $149.
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\n\tBoard: Texas Instruments OMAP 3503.
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\n\tProcessor: 600MHz ARM Cortex-A8
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\n\tMemory: 512MB RAM
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\n\tStorage: 512MB Flash
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\n\tExpandability: One 140-pin Gumstix Overo series or custom expansion board. One 27-pin camera board.
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\n\tConnections: Two 70-pin connectors with 140 signals for I2C, six PWM lines, six A/D and one-wire. UART, SPI, extra MMC lines. Headset, microphone. Backup battery. High-Speed USB host and USB one to go. One 27-pin connector with signals for camera board.
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\n\tPower: Powered via expansion board – Overo series or custom – connected to dual 70-pin connectors.
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\n\tSize: 17mm x 58mm x 4.2mm.
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\n\tWeight: 4.3g.
Nick Heath is a computer science student and was formerly a journalist at TechRepublic and ZDNet.
