Reviews - Page 45 of 126 - CNX Software

December 13, 2020December 13, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 50 Comments

NanoPi R4S SBC preview with OpenWrt and Ubuntu Core

Rockchip RK3399 powered NanoPi R4S router SBC launched at the beginning of the month, and FriendlyELEC kindly sent a review sample to CNX Software. I intended to test thermally performance, Ethernet, and USB like I did for NanoPi R2S and NanoPi NEO3, but Armbian is not available right now, so I could not use some of the tools I normally used right now. So instead, I tested the board/gateway with the image from FriendlyELEC. First FriendlyCore based on Ubuntu Core 20.04, but there some issues which we’ll detail in this preview, so I then switch to FriendlyWrt built upon OpenWrt 19.07 which works better, but I still encountered some problems. That’s just to say it might be better to wait a little longer until Armbian images are released, or until FriendlyELEC fixes some of the shortcomings. NanoPi R4S gateway unboxing Before testing the software, let’s see what I’ve received. NanoPi […]

November 25, 2020November 26, 2020 by Karl Johnson - 11 Comments

Ender 3 Pro 3D printer in late 2020 – Build and first prints

Karl here. How does the Ender 3 Pro 3D printer stand up in late 2020? The short answer is pretty well. With just a few minor gripes it is a solid printer. According to All3dp the Ender 3 Pro came out in September 2018. Over 2 years ago. It is the successor to the most popular 3D printer: the Ender 3. I usually don’t do any research so I won’t be influenced by other reviewers but I did in this case so I could see what the differences are between the Ender 3 and Pro versions. It has been upgraded to a Meanwell power supply. Better mainboard layout. Wider extrusion for the bed to ride on, which should make the bed more stable. If you have done any research on 3D printers I would say it is impossible not to have heard about the Ender 3. With its low price, […]

November 23, 2020July 25, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Reolink RLC-810A review – A 4K security camera with people & vehicle detection

Last week I received Reolink RLC-810A 4K smart security camera with support for people and vehicle detection. I listed the specifications and check out the content of the package of the first security camera I’ve received with artificial intelligence. That should be great to avoid all unnecessary alerts from motion detection I get from my “dumb” IP cameras. In this review, I’ll write a small guide showing how to use the camera with the Reolink app, the web interface, and check out RTSP and ONVIF support. I’ll also see if people and vehicle detection lives up to my expectations. Reolink RLC-810A Camera installation and setup As noted in the first part of the review, the camera does not come with a power adapter and does not support WiFi. So I had to find a 12V power adapter and used a 15-meter Ethernet cable to connect it to my router. Before […]

November 17, 2020November 23, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Reolink RLC-810A Smart 4K PoE IP Camera Specifications and Unboxing

Reolink RLC-810A Smart 4K PoE Camera Review

I have reviewed two Reolink WiFi IP cameras in recent years: Reolink Argus Eco and Reolink Argus PT. Both are powered by solar panels, and they’ve been running at home for many months, but there are many false positives, or on the contrary, sometimes the PIR sensor fails to detect people. What would solve this is built-in AI into those surveillance cameras. The good news is that Reolink RLC-810A does just that with the ability to detect persons and/or vehicles, so you would not receive a notification because some bird or insect flew in front of the camera. I’ve just received a review sample, so I’ll part by listing the specs and features, and unboxing the package to see what the camera looks like, and check out included accessories. Reolink RLC-810A specifications Video & Audio Image Sensor – 1/2.49″ CMOS Sensor Video Resolution – 3840×2160 (8.0 Megapixels) at 25 frames/sec […]

November 17, 2020 by Karl Johnson - 4 Comments

Kywoo Tycoon 3D Printer Unboxing and User Experience Review

Hey, Karl here. A lot of our readers know I do most, if not all of the 3D printer reviews for the site. I feel very fortunate to be able to review them. It does take quite a lot of time but sometimes a gem comes along. I was fortunate enough to be chosen to review and share with you a new printer from Kywoo. The Tycoon 3D printer ticks all the boxes I have been asking for. Easy assembly Direct Drive Linear motion (Rods and rails in this machine) Smooth filament holder Touch Screen Auto Bed leveling (Until now I didn’t know I wanted this…more on that later) Rock Solid frame There are a few shortcomings and I hope what I am sharing is addressed before the final shipment. I will go into more detail later on. As far as the physical printer I am super happy with the […]

November 2, 2020November 2, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 67 Comments

Raspberry Pi 400 Keyboard PC Review and Benchmarks vs Raspberry Pi 4

Raspberry Pi 400 Review vs Raspberry Pi 4

Raspberry Pi 400 keyboard computer with Broadcom BCM2711C0 1.8 GHz processor has just launched, and we already published a teardown of the Raspberry Pi 400 hardware to check out the cooling solution and overall hardware design. In this review, we’ll mostly focus on Raspberry Pi 400 and Raspberry Pi 4 differences, since both devices mostly rely on the same chips. After checking the different features, we’ll run Thomas Kaiser’s “SBC Bench” script to test thermal cooling and benchmark both RPi hardware platforms. Raspberry Pi 400 vs Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Features Since under the hood, the two platforms are very similar, we’ll highlight the difference as shown in the table below courtesy of Cytron. Price is not shown in the table above, but Raspberry Pi 400 costs $70, while Raspberry Pi 4 with 4GB goes for $55. That’s $15 extra for a keyboard, case, and cooling solution, so the […]

November 2, 2020November 2, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Raspberry Pi 400 Teardown – Heat spreader and motherboard

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has just introduced the Raspberry Pi 400 keyboard computer with the guts of Raspberry Pi 4 SBC, 4GB RAM, and a 78-key keyboard. I got a sample courtesy of Cytron, so before we test the device in more detail, I decided to have a look at the internals with a teardown. Raspberry Pi 400 keyboard PC can easily and safely be opened with an old credit card or other hard cards – I used a card holding a SIM card – that you can swipe between the pink case and the white keyboard to pop out the keyboard. The keyboard is attached to the mainboard with a flat cable, so we can lift the black part of the connector to take it out, and this will reveal the large heat spreader (metal plate) that, as we’ll soon see, is the secret sauce to keep the computer […]

October 28, 2020 by Karl Johnson - 4 Comments

Testing PTFE Tube for 3D Printing

Karl here. I’m back with a short article on some testing that I did on PTFE tube. When I received the Sovol SV02 3D printer it came with some baby blue replacement PTFE tube. It came preinstalled with the regular white stuff that most Bowden style printers come with. I have also been thinking about different ways to use the Retraction Calibration Tool I created. I recommend reading it first to get grounded on what this tool does before going further. I have always heard that Capricorn brand is the best so I purchased some on Amazon. I will test 3 kinds. Generic white, Baby blue Sovol, and Capricorn XS tubing. (Now that I am finding the links to add to the article I see that it is through the Sovol Amazon store. This is just a coincidence.) For the uninitiated, this little tube plays an important role in 3D […]