Author Topic: Cubox - Small linux platform  (Read 818 times)

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Offline frog

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Cubox - Small linux platform
« on: June 11, 2014, 03:14:20 am »
I just found out about the Cubox, so I thought I would share some info about it. This would be ideal for mobility as you can run a compatible linux and use usb radios if you need to(gsm/cdma/wifi/bluetooth/sdr). Not to mention it runs off 5v/.5A(~3watts || <). This thing also has a custom marvell GPU to allow 1080p playback. There is official Debian packages from SolidRun for hardware support. http://cubox-i.com/

List of features: http://cubox-i.com/table/

Offline Kulverstukas

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Re: Cubox - Small linux platform
« Reply #1 on: June 11, 2014, 07:31:57 am »
It looks cool, but it was created to be used more as a Media center than anything else. IMO I'd stick to RaspPI for hacking networks as it can accept input data from sensors and shit...

Offline frog

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Re: Cubox - Small linux platform
« Reply #2 on: June 11, 2014, 11:42:03 am »
It looks cool, but it was created to be used more as a Media center than anything else. IMO I'd stick to RaspPI for hacking networks as it can accept input data from sensors and shit...

Indeed, it may not have gpio's but it does have an infrared transmitter/receiver and eats raspberrypis for breakfast. If you wanna talk micro-controllers/computers we better mention the Udoo. It has the processing power of over 4-raspis using a dual/quad-core ARM @1ghz. It also has more GPIO's. The raspberry is cool, however a bit slow for a workstation.

Personally I would save the raspberry for small homebrew projects(i.e. automation; taking sensor data, flipping relays on/off) where you need the ability to use audio/network/video simultaneously with gpio. Right where an Arduino/Teensy falls short.

It all depends on what you want to accomplish.

Offline techb

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Re: Cubox - Small linux platform
« Reply #3 on: June 11, 2014, 01:56:20 pm »
Indeed, it may not have gpio's but it does have an infrared transmitter/receiver and eats raspberrypis for breakfast. If you wanna talk micro-controllers/computers we better mention the Udoo. It has the processing power of over 4-raspis using a dual/quad-core ARM @1ghz. It also has more GPIO's. The raspberry is cool, however a bit slow for a workstation.

Personally I would save the raspberry for small homebrew projects(i.e. automation; taking sensor data, flipping relays on/off) where you need the ability to use audio/network/video simultaneously with gpio. Right where an Arduino/Teensy falls short.

It all depends on what you want to accomplish.

It also depends on price. RasPi is $30, and since you have already broken out GPIO adding infrared would be $5 at radio shack, or free if you can scavenge. Raw power is something to keep in mind though. And yeah, depends on what your going to do.

This cubox would be perfect for the thing I would do with it. Throw OpenWRT or something on it, or just config linux, and make a super small access point. My wife works at a guard shack and doesn't allow wifi or internet access, but the phones have an open eth port supplying internet. Plug this little thing in and browse on a tablet.  I might get one to be honest. Our 5 year anniversary is coming up and it would be perfect.

 
>>>import this
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Offline frog

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Re: Cubox - Small linux platform
« Reply #4 on: June 11, 2014, 02:55:27 pm »
Yea you get what you pay for. Don't get me wrong, I still like my raspberry pi. I just don't use it as a workstation/media center. The only thing I've really done with it is setup a digital voice server using Asterisk and FreePBX. It was pretty cool because I could use my google voice account for incoming/outgoing calls(free).

It looks like there' a version of OpenWRT in development right now for the Cubox, but no official images in sight. OpenWRT is MIPS-centric, and the Cubox is an ARM platform so this doesn't surprise me.