[Arm-netbook] So this is kind of interesting, I thought...

[Christopher Havel]

https://hackaday.com/2018/09/17/a-1-linux-capable-hand-solderable-processor/

A (barely) hand-solderable Linux-able ARM SoC. US$1 each if you buy a full
reel from a questionable supplier, and the package is a 176-lead LQFP (!)
with half-millimeter pitch (!!) -- but still only ~US$3 for qty/1 from
reputable sources, and it is /technically/ hand-workable if you've got a
temperature-controlled iron with the right tip and a particularly steady
hand. I'm impressed.

The bad news, though, is that it's an Allwinner part with all of the usual
baggage. The /worse/ news is that it's actually ~6yrs old and plods along
at 1GHz. Somehow I just don't see it running Android 9.0 Pie without
melting down spectacularly -- although, it might be adequate for running eg
Linux Mint or something similarly lightweight...

I wonder how cheaply one could manufacture a complete all-in-one PC with
one of these...? Back-of-the-envelope calcs makes me think one could
compete with those ~US$100-150 Atom z8300/z8350 MiniPCs on eBay and Amazon
and AliExpress (none of which have screens built in, mind you), but I've
been wrong before, for sure...
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[Paul Boddie]

Post by Christopher Havel
https://hackaday.com/2018/09/17/a-1-linux-capable-hand-solderable-processor/

Interesting comment from Olimex:

https://hackaday.com/2018/09/17/a-1-linux-capable-hand-solderable-processor/#comment-5108388

In short, the article is referring to the A13, procured from people recycling
them from old devices and, I could easily imagine, doing all the usual tricks
to pretend that they are new/working/genuine.

Post by Christopher Havel
A (barely) hand-solderable Linux-able ARM SoC. US$1 each if you buy a full
reel from a questionable supplier

According to another comment from Olimex, the original packaging is trays not
reels. But it wouldn't be Hackaday if it weren't encouraging questionable
commerce and bizarre hacks that are difficult to reproduce and less convenient
than doing things in other ways. And there's also the mandatory Hackaday
clickbait factor, of course.

Meanwhile: http://rhombus-tech.net/allwinner/r8/

The R8, A13 equivalence being noted in other comments on that article, plus
the NextThingCo connection.

Paul

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