EEVblog #809 - Mailbag

[Xenon Photon]

Where can we buy the LeMaker Guitar?

I couldn't find out what they cost. This video says $45 for the pair of boards.   That is all I could find. Dave seemed to like the split boards style but I am not so sure about it. How often will you want to swap the SOC board to a different base-board? If not at all then it is just another point of failure. I think they do it simply because the SOC vendor has provided a reference design for the more difficult PCB the SOC is mounted on with the DDR3 memory. Then anyone who chooses to use it can make the much less demanding PCB for all the peripherals they chose to offer.

 I have questions in mind about the heatsinking. The Actions s500 SOC doesn't seem to have a 1GBit/sec capability so I am unsure how they have implemented it. Perhaps a USB3 bridge which may not realise the full 1Gbits/sec speed. The IR sensor is right next to the power connector so a home theater PC has to have the power cable facing the front. Which seems strange and not at all well thought out.

The Odroid XU4 is more expensive but may be more powerful and has a heatsink with a fan. The eMMC flash memory is an extra cost option. http://www.hardkernel.com/main/products/prdt_info.php?g_code=G143452239825
It also offers later ubuntu 15.04

I also can't find any information on where to buy this board. Please post here or PM me if you found any updates.
I really like the separate boards style for the instance when software update requires more processing power. Changing the SoC and RAM without changing the interfaces and the casing when embedded in a system, this will save a lot of money specially these days when software updates are very fast and more powerful (for example Android).

What do you mean by "1 GBit/sec capability"? I can't find any reference to it on the site or board specs.
Heatsinking is an issue, They didn't mention the operating temperature. I don't like the fan cooled computers because in industrial environment, the fan gathers all the dust and grease from the air on it and on the board as well. For home appliances I think it wont be a problem unless the user lives in a dusty weather. Some designers tend to use filters on the fans but this is the worst idea ever for a home device because people usually won't read the manuals and never change or clean the filters.
I agree that is the IR position next to power cord is very poorly designed.

The Odroid XU4 looks amazing, I'll check it out although it is very expensive, the network performance looks incomparable.

[Godzil]

Where can we buy the LeMaker Guitar?

I couldn't find out what they cost. This video says $45 for the pair of boards.   That is all I could find. Dave seemed to like the split boards style but I am not so sure about it. How often will you want to swap the SOC board to a different base-board? If not at all then it is just another point of failure. I think they do it simply because the SOC vendor has provided a reference design for the more difficult PCB the SOC is mounted on with the DDR3 memory. Then anyone who chooses to use it can make the much less demanding PCB for all the peripherals they chose to offer.

 I have questions in mind about the heatsinking. The Actions s500 SOC doesn't seem to have a 1GBit/sec capability so I am unsure how they have implemented it. Perhaps a USB3 bridge which may not realise the full 1Gbits/sec speed. The IR sensor is right next to the power connector so a home theater PC has to have the power cable facing the front. Which seems strange and not at all well thought out.

The Odroid XU4 is more expensive but may be more powerful and has a heatsink with a fan. The eMMC flash memory is an extra cost option. http://www.hardkernel.com/main/products/prdt_info.php?g_code=G143452239825
It also offers later ubuntu 15.04

System on Module (SoM) like this one, are not made to replace the module on the "mainboard" but to allow you to develop your own mainboard that will use the SoM, it's like the Raspberry Pi "Compute Module", it's basically a split version of the raPi 1, (and much more expensive) but the idea is not to use it directly like this but to allow you to develop the board that the SoM will sit in, so you don't have to design the complex digital part like DDR routing could be, or soldering nasties BGAs

[mcs_5]

ROE electrolytics (from the lift board) are German. Roederstein 'lytics are labelled ROE and the film caps are labelled ERO. The company is now owned by Vishay (what isn't?).

[Xenon Photon]

Where can we buy the LeMaker Guitar?

I couldn't find out what they cost. This video says $45 for the pair of boards.

I just saw it listed on the site for 45$
http://www.lenovator.com/product/91.html#@