Another Retro Computer returns from the ashes

[the_leander]

Strange then that the Mini-ITX Sam440...

That isn't in production or stock anywhere and hasn't been for how long?

Also wasn't that the one that had some severe issues with regard picture quality?

[the_leander]

I've spent more time than I should have researching the PandaBoard.

Since the board is designed as developers system its got a few rough edges.

Use of full memory increases the chance of crashes.

Have they worked out if this is a Linux issue or a hardware fault?

There are several other causes for boot crashes and run time crashes (like network initialization on boot).

Hmm, firmware issues for boot crashes?

The DVI outputs aren't enabled unit (nor is the LCD output).

What, by default or is it physically not capable of doing so?

Sound files and HD video still may experience some stuttering.

Codec/driver/scheduling conflicts within the kernel. Given similar issues being noted with other similarly powerful hardware I'd be inclined to look at drivers being the culprit with HD video/sound issues.

I haven't checked on how open the PowerVR GPU is to development.

There is apparently a public SDK.

I haven't seen anyone use the expansion bus yet.

Still, it does look neat.

What does the expansion bus offer that isn't onboard?

[the_leander]

Irrelevant regarding the post I was answering, which sais "a tiny aOS 4 system... doesn't fit the grand design of a microprocessor in a big box costing lots of money, so it won't fly."  Not to mention that there was the MicroA1 further back in history, which was a similar size IIRC.

If it isn't available, that's pretty damn relevant to the discussion. Pointing out that what you're offering as alternative has some pretty funky flaws is again relevant. This in of itself wouldn't be much of a problem given that this board too has teething troubles itself. But both the Sam and especially the MA1 (Articia troubles, not to mention really crumby build quality) were sold as consumer ready systems.

Ignoring all of this though, both of your proposed alternatives both suffer from the same basic issue that the X1000 does - they don't offer much bang for your bucks.

What's with the negativity?

Pointing out that there were severe hardware flaws present != Negativity.

[the_leander]

How about a 2Ghz ARM processor based Soc?
NuSmart 2816 40nm Soc by Chinese company Beijing Nufront.

Of course its not available yet, but it is supposedly going to be introduced in 2011.
Scary! Could the future of processors be found in China, not California?

http://www.slashgear.com/nufront-nusmart-2815-2ghz-arm-cortex-a9-looks-to-squash-tegra-2-video-14102190/

http://www.nufrontsoft.com/cscen.htm

California hasn't been at the forfront for years. The Core line was designed by Intel Israel, for instance. Many of the ARM designs come from Japan, Taiwan etc and have done for years. China has for a long time worked on their own stuff, though previously I've seen it on MIPS based processors rather than ARM.