Anyone try out one of the tiny devices that have been popping up?

http://www.raspberrypi.org/

http://www.hardkernel.com/renewal_2011/main.php

https://www.miniand.com/products/MK802%20Android%20Mini%20PC

I can think of a lot of uses for one (or five) of these machines but for practical uses and for hobby projects.  Especially since I'm really tight on real estate.  I'm just worried about the quality of the hardware.

I haven't laid my hands on one, but I've been itching for a Raspberry Pi. I feel less excited about an Android OS model though, but I'll admit that's mostly because I've been knee deep in Red Hat / Fedora for years, and Droid is the new kid on the block and I'm not very familiar with the in's and out's (other than it's supposed to act like a Linux Distro, but I've never tried it).

As far as hardware quality - The components are pretty standard, the boards are mass produced. I wouldn't doubt if they were assembled in a garage by hand - the Raspberry Pi is so new it doesn't even have a case yet.

They are intended to be hobby devices, and are almost cheap enough to be disposable. I wouldn't expect much when it comes to manufacturing quality, and I certainly wouldn't try anything mission or life critical on them. You could do some extreme stuff with them (like use one to power your miniature nuclear submarine, or your own Mars Rover and launch it into space, or whatever), but you would need to take care to note the operating parameters (humidity, temperature, etc) and make sure you can achieve and maintain that with whatever your thinking of doing with it.

Originally posted by Ridelynn

-SNIP-. I feel less excited about an Android OS model though, but I'll admit that's mostly because I've been knee deep in Red Hat / Fedora for years, and Droid is the new kid on the block and I'm not very familiar with the in's and out's (other than it's supposed to act like a Linux Distro, but I've never tried it).

-SNIP-

I think the attraction of the Android OS models is they are basically ready to go out of the box as media players.

The price and form factor are great, but not the usability.  You are stuck with cellphone hardware.  In the $200 range you have AMDs APU introductory offering which have the full power of a desktop system in a small form factor and a windows OS.

Without usability, you are just paying $84 for a fancy paperweight.

Originally posted by TheCrow2k

Originally posted by Ridelynn

-SNIP-. I feel less excited about an Android OS model though, but I'll admit that's mostly because I've been knee deep in Red Hat / Fedora for years, and Droid is the new kid on the block and I'm not very familiar with the in's and out's (other than it's supposed to act like a Linux Distro, but I've never tried it).

-SNIP-

I think the attraction of the Android OS models is they are basically ready to go out of the box as media players.

From what I've read you can install Ubuntu also.

I would like to try the ARM build of Arch Linux.

Originally posted by Cleffy

The price and form factor are great, but not the usability.  You are stuck with cellphone hardware.  In the $200 range you have AMDs APU introductory offering which have the full power of a desktop system in a small form factor and a windows OS.

Without usability, you are just paying $84 for a fancy paperweight.

I don't want another desktop nor do I want to use Windows any more than absolutely necessary.

The tasks one of these devices would be useful for does not require large amounts of processing power.