Somebody asked “Anyone knows a computer cheaper than a Raspberry Pi with a network interface?” on Google+ mini PCs community. Some OpenWRT routers such as TPLink WR703N selling for about $20, or the VoCore Wi-Fi module selling for about the same price (Wi-Fi only) were parts of the answers, and I also mentioned some HDMI TV dongles that now sell for around $35, which is still a little cheaper than the Raspberry Pi model B when one considers shipping. But I found the answer by dhead666 particularly interesting:
Pogoplug Mobile goes for 7$ on Amazon and that includes psu and network cable.
It run Linux great (I’m using Arch) but you will want to have a ttl-usb cable and soldering iron available in case you manage to mess u-boot (go to the doozan’s forums for more info about the u-boot).
Let’s have a look.
Pogoplug Mobile is not a new device, as I wrote about it as far back as 2011, but it was certainly not selling for $7 at the time.
Pogoplug Mobile has the following specifications:
- Processor – Marvell Kirkwood 88F6192 ARMv5TE compliant processor @ 800 MHz
- System Memory – 128 MB RAM
- Storage – 128 MB NAND + SD card slot
- Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet
- USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port
You can find a review of the device, including board and device pictures, on SmallnetBuilder. The product is sold as a backup device connected to a cloud service, but as we’ll see below, you can also install Arch Linux ARM. There are also other Pogoplug models with USB 3.0 and SATA II, but obviously they cost more.
What about the $7 claim? Pogoplug Mobile can indeed be found on Amazon for about $7, and it’s actually one of the best selling items in the NAS category. I’ve also looked for other models with SATA and USB 3.0, and gotthe following price list
- Pogoplug Mobile – $6.98
- Pogoplug Series 4 – $19.68
with Gigabit Ethernet, 2x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0, 1x SD Card Slot, and 1x USM/SATA Slot. It can also be bought second hand for about $12.
If Amazon US won’t ship to your country, it’s also available on Ebay, but you’ll have to shop around as shipping costs may be prohibitive…
Even at $7, it’s not really a Raspberry Pi killer, as there’s no video output, and it does not seem you have easy access to GPIOs, yet for headless non-embedded applications it looks certainly interesting especially for storage application as it provides Gigabit Ethernet which should be much faster than the 10/100M Ethernet via USB you get with the Raspberry Pi, and it’s a very cheap way to connect any USB hard drive to the network. At this price it’s almost like they sell you the Ethernet cable and power supply, and give you the device for free. The Series 4 are also cost effective if you want SATA, more USB ports, and extra performance with USB 3.0.
To say the least the reviews on Amazon are mixed, with many people saying the device does not work as expected, and they lost their files. Luckily the Pogoplugs are hackable, and instructions to run Arch Linux ARM from SD card are indeed available for Pogoplug Mobile and Pogoplug Series v4, and somebody also managed to boot Debian. There are various instructions from people who played with this extra cheap device on the net.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Predictably, though this sells on Amazon.ca (for Canadians), the price is $28.90 instead of $6.98 🙁
These devices are subsidized. They are used to get you to sign up to the Pogoplug cloud storage service. If you sign up for cloud storage directly on their site they will send you one for free. I do not believe it is possible to build one of these and ship for free on Amazon for $6.98.
Of course it is always fun to take advantage of subsidized hardware.
@Jon Smirl
Like the $200 Chromebooks, which are flashed Nix asap.
Correction: You wrote about it in 2011, not 2001
Interesting only if I have 10 of them. My concern: 128 MB RAM. You can run Linux, but seriously, applications got way more hungry nowdays.
@darethehair
It seems impossible to get it for $7, or even close to that, outside of the US, especially when factoring in the shipping fee.
@cnxsoft True enough! For example, shipping on eBay kills the deal entirely 🙁
@cnxsoft
There is a large number of us address forwarding services, some are dirt cheap, some will also ship via sea so large packages will be economic to ship.
Depending where you live some of these services also handles custom release and will send you a unified invoice that includes all the customs fees and vat.
I use a service that only ship to my home country but I read positive feedback about Shipito which ship internationally.
@dhead666 do you have one cheap for me? shipping to europe? Thanks!
Shipito is indeed quiet cheap, 10$ to ship in France. Too bad it’s almost the double of the device price, and too slow for me!
I’ve had a number of requests for these pre-loaded with ArchLinuxARM. I’ve put up an ebay listing with ArchLinuxARM pre-installed, an 8GB USB flash-drive, and an ArchLinux stcker. The whole thing (with free shipping to US) is $40. Here’s the link: ebay.com/itm/131270773585
After this post went up, the price on Amazon rose by bind-boggling 50%.
Any alternatives? I’m looking for something I can use to turn a USB hard drive into an FTP server for my local network, and I’d like to find something cheaper than a Pi. The cheapest I can find these Pogoplug Mobiles for (to ship to Canada) is $40.
@Tired_
Check out http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/nexx/wt3020 for sale at http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/6410174711.html?orderId=65111777889111 < $20, but takes a bit to arrive from china.
@lib
Banggood recently started to sell Nexx WT3020 for $14.99 and faster shipping is only 1$ extra.
http://www.banggood.com/WT1520-150M-Wifi-Repeater-Wireless-Router-Wifi-Storage-IEEE802_11n-p-945877.html