Hardware Category - Page 706 of 1132 - CNX Software

June 8, 2017July 12, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 37 Comments

MeLE PCG03 Apo Fanless Apollo Lake mini PC Review – Part 1: Unboxing and Teardown

You’ll now easily find mini PCs powered by Intel Apollo Lake processor, but many of them are actively cooled, and only support HDMI 1.4 output limited to 4K @ 30 Hz. MeLE PCG03 Apo, an update to the company’s PCG03 fanless mini PC, is powered by an Intel Celeron N3450 quad core processor, support HDMI 2.0 video output up to 4K @ 60 Hz, and is passively cooled. On top of that, it can also be upgraded with an M.2 SSD. The company has sent me a review for sample, and while I’ll focus on testing HDMI 2.0 support, audio pass-through, and whether the mini PC can handle high loads without CPU throttling in the second part of the review, I’ll first have a look at the hardware design today. MeLE PCG03 Apo Unboxing I’ve received the device in the usual black retail package showing the key features with 4K […]

June 8, 2017June 10, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 85 Comments

ROCK64 is a Rockchip RK3328 Development Board with Up to 4GB RAM, 4K HDR, Gigabit Ethernet, and USB 3.0

Rockchip RK3328 Android TV boxes such as A5X Plus or A95X R2 have been on the market for a couple of months, but since the processor is rather inexpensive, yet supports 4K UHD video output, Gigabit Ethernet and USB 3.0 interfaces, Pine64 has decided to create a new development board called ROCK64 with a form factor similar to Raspberry Pi 3 board. ROCK64 board specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3328 quad core Cortex A53 processor with ARM Mali-450MP2 GPU System Memory – 1, 2, or 4 GB LPDDR3 @ 1866 MHz Storage – eMMC flash module socket + micro SD card slot + 128 Mbit SPI flash Video & Audio Output – HDMI 2.0a up to 4K @ 60 Hz with HDR10 and HLG support, 3.5mm AV port (composite video + stereo audio) Video Codec – 4K VP9, H.265 and H.264, 1080p VC-1, MPEG-1/2/4, VP6/8 Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet USB – […]

June 7, 2017June 7, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Realtek RTD1296 STB/Media NAS SoC Coming Soon with Multiple Ethernet Ports, Dual SATA, HDMI 2.0 Input and Output

I have reviewed several Realtek RTD1295 TV boxes with NAS and HDMI input functions such as Zidoo X9S and EWEAT R9 Plus, and those were quite capable devices with a rich feature set, but Realtek has been working on a new higher-end RTD1296 SoC for quite some time. It comes with the same CPU and GPU, but has a larger package with more peripheral interfaces. I received the screenshot above last December, but the information does not seem to have changed since then. Realtek RTD1296 is equipped with a quad core Cortex A53 processor, an ARM Mali-T820MP3 GPU, and the same H.265/VP9 video engine as RTD1295. However, the new SoC adds one extra RGMII (Gigabit Ethernet) interface, one more USB 3.0 port, one extra SATA interface, and offers higher DDR bandwidth. The PCIe interface would also allow you to use more than just two SATA drives. Charbax got in touch […]

June 7, 2017June 7, 2017 by TLS - 3 Comments

Seco brings Snapdragon to the NUC form factor

At Computex last week, Seco was showing off its SBC-B47-eNUC board that’s based on Intel’s NUC (Next Unit of Computing) form factor. NUC type of devices have proven to be fairly popular with companies like Gigabyte, MSI, Asus and ASRock among others having jumped on the trend. However, Seco’s solution is quite different as it’s using a Snapdragon 410E SoC rather than an Intel based processor. Spec wise you’re looking at: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 410E quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ 1.2GHz with Adreno 306 GPU @ 400MHz System Memory – up to 2GB LP-DDR3 Storage – micro SD slot, Optional eMMC Video Output & Display I/F – mini DP, LVDS Audio – 3.5mm combo mic/speaker jack, internal pin-header for speakers, mic and headphones, I2S pin-header Connectivity – 10/100Mbps Ethernet, Wi-Fi + Bluetooth LE 4.0 USB – 1x micro USB client port port, 2x USB host port (one front, one […]

June 7, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Love to Code Board is Designed to Teach Coding via Paper Circuits, MakeCode Visual Programming Editor

Chibitronics has launched “Love to Code” board to enable beginners to try out programming without having to install software. The tiny board comes with a clip that designed for “paper circuits”, and can be programmed with either Microsoft MakeCode editor for visual programming, or the company’s online editor inspired from Arduino IDE. Love to Code board hardware (tentative) specifications: MCU – NXP Kinetis KL02 ARM Cortex M0+ @ 48 MHz with 32KB flash, 4KB RAM USB – 1x micro USB port used to power and program the board over a Y cable with micro USB and an audio jack to be connected to your smartphone as shown below) Expansion – 4x through holes for TXT, +5V, GND, and RGB, 6x programmable ports on clip to drive LED stickers, or used as switch / sensor inputs. Misc – Programming button, RGB LED The way it works is that you can first […]

June 7, 2017December 4, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Intrinsyc Open-Q 835 Development Kit Features Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Processor, Support Android 7 and Windows 10

Intrinsyc has just launched one of the first development boards powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor with their Open-Q 835 devkit equipped with 4GB LPDDR4x, 128GB UFS 2.1 flash, 802.11ad WiFi, dual camera support and more. Open-Q 835 development kit is comprised of a “processor board” and a baseboard with the following specifications: Processor Board SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (APQ8098) octa-core processor with four high performance Kryo 280 cores @ 2.20 GHz/ 2.30 GHz (single core operation), four low power Kryo cores @ 1.9 GHz, Adreno 540 GPUwith OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 2.0 Full support, and Hexagon 682 DSP with Hexagon Vector eXtensions (dual-HVX512) System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4x RAM Storage – 128GB UFS2.1 Gear3 2 lane Flash Connectivity Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac 2.4/5Ghz 2×2 Bluetooth 5.0 + BLE WiGig60 802.11ad with on-board antenna Dimensions – 70 x 60 mm Carrier Board Display – 1x HDMI 2.0 out up to 4K Ultra […]

June 6, 2017July 26, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

U5PVR Deluxe Set-Top Box & NAS Review – Part 2: Android TV, Debian, and Live TV App

U5PVR Deluxe is an set-top box with digital TV tuners that runs Android TV 5.1, and support 2.5″ and 3.5″ hard drive. I’ve received a model with a dual DVB-T/T2 tuner, and already posted “U5 PVR Deluxe Android Set-Top Box Review – Part 1: Specs, Unboxing, Teardown, and SATA HDD Assembly” a few weeks ago, where I described the hardware, and I inserted a one terabytes 3.5″ hard drive. I’ve now had time to test the device, but it took much longer than expected due to a partial firmware update issue, which forced me to redo many of the tests. There are also some undocumented features, so if you want to make the most of the device, be prepared to spend time in the forums. U5PVR Connections, OTA Firmware Update, and Setup Wizard The box have one USB 3.0 ports, and three USB 2.0 ports, so most people won’t need […]

June 6, 2017July 11, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Review of Vorke Z3 Android Mini PC with SATA – Part 1: Unboxing & Teardown

After Yundoo Y8 review, I’ve received another Rockchip RK3399 mini PC for review: Vorke Z3, which was sent to me by GeekBuying. Both devices are quite similar for Vorke Z3 adds an external SATA interface, and two external high-gain antennas. I was also expecting Android 7.1 Nougat on Z3, but I’ve been told the current SDK has too many bugs, so the device still ships with Android 6.0.1. I’ll start the review by looking into the hardware inside out, before reporting on my experience with the firmware in the second part in a few weeks. Vorke Z3 Unboxing The retail package is quite bland, but most people will probably not care a bit about this little detail. The devices ships with a 12V/2A power supply, a simple IR remote control, a HDMI cable, a SATA cable, and Vorke Z3 “4K media player” user manual. The device feels of good quality […]