Pleasant Elec has launched its open supply NanoPi R5C — an laptop system housed in an especially compact and appealingly industrial steel chassis — for the beginning value of simply $49.
At its coronary heart, the NanoPi R5C is powered by a Rockchip RK3568B2, which is a no-frills Arm A55 quad-core CPU. The entry-level configuration comes with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage, however an additional $10 will get you 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The NanoPi R5C helps a number of working methods, together with Android and numerous Linux distros.
The system is constructed round a sq. PCB, with a sq. chassis measuring 2.5 x 2.5 x 1.1 inches (62.5 x 62.5 x 29mm); some footage present the gadget with a pair of Wi-Fi antennae hooked up. Although the only board laptop (SBC) weighs simply 1.34 ounces (38g), a fully-assembled system with antennae weighs virtually 6 ounces (170g).
Though there are various footage exhibiting the NanoPi R5C with the antennae hooked up, the antennae are non-obligatory: the Realtek RTL8822CE Wi-Fi 5 M.2 E-Key slot module is an $18 add-on. Consumers also can supply their very own or go for a USB Wi-Fi dongle as a substitute.
This Arm-powered mini PC is formally described by Pleasant Elec as a “mini IoT gateway gadget.” Networking connectivity is necessary to its design, and a serious characteristic of the system is its twin 2.5Gb/s Ethernet ports. It is a highly-functional mini PC generally, although — different ports embrace 1x HDMI 2.0, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Sort-A, 1x microSD card reader with help for UHS-I playing cards, 1x USB Sort-C (5V), and the aforementioned M.2 E-Key slot (1x PCIe 2.1, USB 2.0 help), which accepts gadgets akin to Wi-Fi playing cards. There are connectors on both facet of the chassis when you use an inside M.2 Wi-Fi card.
Because of the microSD card slot, which helps OS boot, customers have the pliability to simply run numerous totally different working methods on this tiny PC. You may also set up an OS on the NanoPi R5C utilizing a USB cable hooked up to your PC, or a TF card and an internet browser.
When you’re tempted by the NanoPi R5C however upset with simply two Ethernet ports, you could be within the previously-introduced NanoPi R5S, which has the same design however with three Ethernet ports (2x 2.5Gb/s, 1x 1Gb/s), an M.2 slot that can be utilized for storage growth, and 2GB of RAM (at a minimal).
The NanoPi R5C is accessible now, beginning at $49 for the bottom configuration with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage and going as much as $59 for 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage; a Wi-Fi module might be added to both configuration at checkout for $18 extra.