Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini – A low-profile 2.5GbE router board powered by MediaTek Filogic 830 SoC

Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini SBC

Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini router board is powered by MediaTek MT7986 (Filogic 830) quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor with 2GB DDR4, an 8GB eMMC flash, two low-profile 2.5GbE ports, and WiFi 6 support. It also comes with an M.2 PCIe socket that can be used with an NVMe SSD or a 5G cellular module. The BPI-R3 Mini is based on many of the same chips as found on the Banana Pi BPI-R3 board, but with a much more compact design that makes it suitable as a  2.5GbE firewall, wireless router or repeater, home security gateway, home automation gateway, NAS device, and more. Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini specifications: SoC – MediaTek MT7986A (Filogic 830) quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor with hardware acceleration engines for Wi-Fi offloading and networking System Memory – 2GB DDR4 RAM Storage – 8GB eMMC flash, 128MB NAND flash, M.2 2230 NVMe SSD socket Networking 2x 2.5GbE RJ45 ports via […]

An Intel NUC Alternative: Azulle’s Elite (Sponsored)

Intel NUC alternative: Azulle Elite

When it comes to compact and powerful computing solutions, the Intel NUC (Next Unit of Computing) series has long been a favorite among tech enthusiasts. However, since Intel’s most recent End of Life announcement for the NUC line, the market has changed to a series of highly effective alternatives. Azulle Elite – An Intel NUC alternative Azulle’s Elite is here to challenge that dominance. With its cutting-edge 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPU, quick-turn configure-to-order advantage, and a host of impressive features, the Elite offers a compelling alternative to the Intel NUC lineup. Azulle’s Elite is the latest model in a series of generational models that have existed for years, now perfected, and designed to fit all enterprise-level needs. Just like its former Intel NUC counterparts, the Elite offers the perfect combination of size, performance, sustainability, and reliability to power modern businesses. The sleek design and small footprint make it an […]

ARBOR ELIT-1060 compact, fanless Celeron N6210 terminal supports up to three 4K displays

Compact Intel Celeron N6210 fanless display terminal

ARBOR’s ELIT-1060 triple display terminal is a rugged fanless mini PC powered by an Intel Celeron N6210 dual-core Elkhart Lake processor with two HDMI 2.0 ports and one DisplayPort connector each supporting up to 4Kp60 resolution. The system comes with a 4GB DDR4 SO-DIMM, 32GB eMMC flash, two 2.5GbE Ethernet ports, an M.2 socket for wireless expansion, several USB 3.0/2.0 ports, and one RS232/422/485 serial port. While the company markets it for “high-intensity digital signage applications”, I could also see it being used in various other applications thanks to its networking capabilities and expansion ports. ARBOR ELIT-1060 specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron N6210 dual-core Elkhart Lake processor up to 2.6 GHz with Intel UHD graphics System Memory – 4GB DDR4 SO-DIMM memory expandable to up to 32GB RAM Storage 32GB eMMC flash M.2 M-key socket (2260/2280, PCIe Gen.3 x2/SATA interface) for an NVMe or SATA SSD Video Output 2x HDMI […]

Feature-rich, low-profile Rockchip RK3588 SBC is made for digital signage displays, industrial PCs, NVR, and more

Low-profile Rockchip RK3588 board

Shenzhen Runwelltec RWA027-RK3588 is a low-profile SBC powered by a Rockchip RK3588 and equipped with plenty of connectors and ports. Those make the 11mm thin RK3588 board suitable for network video recorders (NVR), smart digital signage displays, industrial PCs, face recognition solutions, etc… The ultrathin board comes with up to 16GB RAM and up to 256GB eMMC flash, supports NVMe and SATA storage, provides HDMI 2.1 video output and five other LCD interfaces with optional USB/I2C touchscreen support, as well as two 4K-capable HDMI input ports, offers Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, up to nine USB interfaces, six UART, and so on. RWA027-RK3588 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588 CPU – Octa-core processor with 4x Arm Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, 4x Arm Cortex-A55 cores GPU – Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU with support for OpenGL ES3.2, OpenCL 2.2, Vulkan1.1 AI Accelerator – 6 TOPS NPU VPU […]

CZUR ET24 Pro book scanner review with Ubuntu 22.04 Linux

CZUR ET24 Pro book scanner Ubuntu review

The CZUR ET24 Pro is a professional book scanner that works with Windows, macOS, and Linux, so I decided to review it in Ubuntu 22.04 since we are fans of hardware that can interface with Linux at CNX Software.

If you haven’t already, I strongly recommended reading the unboxing part of the CZUR ET24 Pro review, as we go through the specifications, show the various interfaces of the scanner, showcase the various accessories, and also try it out with the HDMI interface in presentation/preview mode. It will help you better understand the second part of the review, where we’ll connect the CZUR ET24 Pro scanner to a Ubuntu 22.04 laptop using the provided USB cable.

Khadas Mind Raptor Lake portable mini PC supports desktop dock, laptop dock, and external GPU dock

Khadas Mind dockable mini PC

Khadas Mind “portable workstation” is an ultrathin mini PC powered by an Intel Core i7-1360P 12-core Raptor Lake processor, with 32GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, and a “Mind Link” connector with a PCIe 5.0 interface designed for docking to a desktop dock, a laptop shell, an external GPU for gaming, and so on. The mini PC itself has a limited number of ports with two USB-C ports, an HDMI 2.0 video output, and two USB 3.0 ports, but that’s sufficient when traveling, and the Mind Dock can add extra ports at home for multiple display setups and 2.5GbE networking, while the Mind xPlay battery-powered portable display can convert it into a 2-in-1 laptop, and the Mind Graphics eGPU into a high-end gaming station. Khadas Mind specifications: SoC – Intel Core i7-1360P 12-core/16-core Raptor Lake processor with 4 performance cores @ up to 5.0 GHz, 8 efficiency cores @ up to […]

Banana Pi BPI-KVM – A KVM over IP solution based on Rockchip RK3568 SoC

Banana Pi BPI-KVM

Banana Pi has started working on the BPI-KVM box based on a Rockchip RK3568 SoC, but it’s not a mini PC, and instead, it is a KVM over IP solution designed to remotely control another computer or device as if you were on-site with, for example, the ability to turn on and off the connected device, access the BIOS, and so on. Commercial KVM over IP solutions used to be expensive, but people have started to use Raspberry Pi SBCs with an expansion board such as the PiKVM v3, and more recently Raspberry Pi CM4-based KVM over IP solutions have been launched for under well $200. Seeing the popularity of these solutions, Banana Pi has decided to join the fray with its own BPI-KVM powered by an IO-rich Rockchip RK3568 processor that provides all interfaces needed for this type of application. Banana Pi BPI-KVM (preliminary) specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3568 […]

SolidWAN CN9131 is a compact SD-WAN appliance powered by a Marvell OCTEON CN9131 SoC

SolidWAN CN9131

SolidRun has just introduced the SolidWAN CN9131 SD-WAN appliance powered by a Marvell OCTEON CN9131 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor and with a compact form factor and features that makes it suitable for small offices. The Linux-based Software Defined-WAN appliance comes with 4GB to 8GB RAM, 8GB to 64GB eMMC flash storage, plus M.2 SATA and NVMe sockets, and offers four GIgabit Ethernet ports and two 10GbE SFP+ cages for networking connectivity, as well as two USB 3.0 ports. SolidWAN CN9131 specifications: System-on-Module – CN9130 SOM with SoC – Marvell OCTEON CN9131 quad-core Arm Cortex A72 clocked at up to 2.2GHz System Memory – 4GB – 8GB (4GB default) 64-bit DDR4 @ 2400MT/s Storage – 8GB eMMC flash with options up to 64GB, 8MB SPI NOR flash Storage M.2 SATA and/or NVMe SSD (See Expansion section) MicroSD card slot accessible from the outside  Networking 2x 10GbE SFP+ cages 4x Gigabit Ethenret RJ45 […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC