Beelink L55 Review – An Intel Core i3-5005U Mini PC Tested with Windows 10 & Ubuntu 18.04

Beelink L55 Review

With the shortage of Gemini Lake processors, some manufacturers have taken to releasing new mini PCs using older CPUs. The Beelink L55 is one such example and uses Intel’s Broadwell I3-5005U CPU which is a dual-core 4-thread 2.00 GHz processor with Intel’s HD Graphics 5500. The L55 is a ‘NUC’ style mini PC and physically consists of a 128 x 126 x 46 mm (5.04 x 4.96 x 1.81 inches) box case with a front panel that includes the power button, a headphone jack and a couple of 3.0 USB ports and then on the rear, two more 3.0 USBs, two 2.1 USBs, HDMI (1.4), DP and two gigabit Ethernet ports. Note that there is no SD or micro SD card slot. The full specifications include: The L55 comes with either a 256GB or 512GB (as tested in this review) M.2 SSD with pre-installed Windows 10 Home version 1809 together […]

THEC64 a Retro Functional Commodore 64

Retro Games has set December 2019 as the release date for their reimagined full-size fully functional C64, named THEC64. This somewhat smaller version of the original Commodore 64 comes with 64 games, a joystick and may include a handheld game console. THEC64 computing power is limited, but Basic is still functioning and can be booted, as well as Vic20 Basic. The original replica was a small keyboard facsimile of the original keyboard, called the C64 mini. The keyboard was just for “show” but did have 64 games included, which many people suspect are the same games that will be available on the “full-size” reissue. There are quite a few people willing to help out with the launch of the THEC64, offering video tutorials of how to program the fully functioning retro computer. There is a website called 64Bites, devoted to the Commodore 64 and it’s Basic programming, and this leads […]

AMD Ryzen Embedded R1000 powered Atari VCS Game Console is Now up for Pre-order for $249 and up

AMD Ryzen Embedded R1000 Game Console

Atari VCS game console had initially been teased with minimal information a few years ago, then delayed, and even when they launched an Indiegogo campaign last year, the specifications were not set in stone, and although we knew the company planned to use an AMD Ryzen processor, the final choice was announced later in April of this year: AMD Ryzen Embedded R1000 processor. Indiegogo backers should get their console in December 2019, but if you’re prudent with your own money, you may have preferred to wait, it’s now possible to get Atari VCS in March 2020 by pre-ordering it now for $249 and up from Walmart, Gamestop, or Atari’s own website. There will be two model with Atari VCS 800 and Atari VCS 400 sharing many of the same (preliminary) specifications except for the RAM capacity: SoC – AMD Ryzen Embedded R1000 dual-core / quad-thread processor with VEGA 3 graphics […]

Friday Fun: Play Tetris in a Linux Terminal

Tetris Nanopi NEO

Here at CNX Software, we are all about providing useful information to our readers that will save them time, money and greatly increase their productivity. So I apologize in advance, and I’m sorry to say I’ve just found out it ‘s possible to play Tetris in a Linux terminal. Installation is super easy:

Now just run the program

and have fun. The screenshot above is from my Acer laptop running Ubuntu 18.04, but does it also work over SSH in NanoPi NEO running Armbian? You bet it works! 🙂 As a side note, June 6 is the Tetris anniversary since the first playable version was released on June 6, 1984. That means the game is not just 35 years old. If Tetris is not your thing, but it’s still a slow Friday, and the boss is not around, you can configure sudo to return insults when you type […]

Raspberry Pi based Hyper Keyboard Pi & hgTerm Handheld PCs, and RasPi Arcade Stick

hgterm DIY Raspberry Pi Handheld Computer

There are so many products and projects based on Raspberry Pi that it’s difficult to keep track, and many are often not that interesting, not because they are not useful, but instead because it just feels we’ve seen those before. But this week I’ve come accross three projects that looks to be newsworthy including two handheld computers with a 4″ display, and one retro-gaming console with standard arcade buttons and controls similar to what is found in Pandora’s Box/Key 5S. hgTerm DIY Raspberry Pi  Handheld Computer hgterm is a portable computer based on a stripped down Raspberry Pi 3 where the Ethernet port, HDMI port, and most of the USB ports have been removed. It features a 4″ touchscreen display, a Bluetooth keyboard all housed in a 3D printed case. It’s not actually a product that you can buy (yet), but a project made by Igor Brkić which you can […]

Roshambo Retro Gaming Console Kit Features Rock64 or RockPro64 Board

Roshambo Pro Retro Gaming Console

Recalbox, Lakka TV, Retro Arena, and Batocera are some of the retro gaming distributions optimized to run on development boards. You can install those by yourself, and enclose the board is any case, but if you want something more fancy, Cloud Media is now selling Roshambo retro gaming kit based on Rock64 (RK3328) or RockPro64 (RK3399) SBC’s. Roshambo and RoshamboPro retro gaming kits are compatible with respectively Rock64 and RockPro64 boards, come with a shell with carrier board, power supply, cooling fan (Pro model only) and support cables. The kits support 256GB or 512GB SSD cartridges provided by the company, and optional game controllers with analog triggers and buttons are also available for purchase. Pine64 Rock64 / RockPro64 boards are compatible with Recalbox, Lakka TV, Retro Arena, and Batocera distributions, but bear in mind ROMs are not provided, so you’d have to install your own, or play free games only. […]

SAPPHIRE FS-FP5R 5×5 AMD Ryzen R1606G/R1505G Motherboard Comes with Three DisplayPort++ Outputs

AMD FS-FP5R 5x5 motherboard

AMD Ryzen Embedded R1000 dual core/quad thread processors launched a few days ago, and we’ve seen a few products based on the new processor including Atari VCS gaming console, and ASRock iBox-R1000 mini PC as well as the corresponding 4″ NUC-R1000 motherboard. Sapphire FS-FP5R 5×5 is another motherboard based on AMD Ryzen R1606G or R1505G processor with support for three independent display connected over DisplayPort++, and targeting for small form factor embedded applications such as electronic gaming machines, medical imaging, interactive digital signage, thin clients, PoS (Point-of-Sale) terminals and more. Sapphire FS-FP5R 5×5 specifications: SoC (one or the other) AMD Ryzen Embedded R1505G dual core/quad core processor @ with Radeon Vega 3 graphics; 12 to 25W TDP AMD Ryzen Embedded R1606G dual core/quad core processor @ with Radeon Vega 3 graphics; 12 to 25W TDP System Memory – 2x DDR4 ECC/Non-ECC SO-DIMMs; Dual Channel speed up to DDR4-2400 Storage – […]

AMD Unveils Ryzen Embedded R1000 Dual Core Processors

Ryzen Embedded R1000

Last year, AMD launched Ryzen Embedded V1000 series processor found in UDOO BOLT single board computer, industrial motherboards, and rugged mini PCs. The company has now introduced their second Ryzen Embedded processor family with AMD Ryzen Embedded R1000 SoC based on the same Zen cores, and offering 3x the performance per watt against the previous AMD R-Series SoC, and 4x the performance per dollar compared to a system based on an Intel Core i3-7100U Kaby Lake processor. AMD Ryzen Embedded R1000 processors all come with two cores / four thread configuration, 1MB L2 cache, 4MB L3 cache, VEGA 3 graphics, support for three 4K displays, 4K60 video decode & encode, dual 10Gbit Ethernet, and a TDP configurable between 12W and 25W. Two Ryzen Embedded R1000 processors have been announced so far: Ryzen Embedded R1606G with 2.6 GHz base frequency, 3.5 GHz one-thread boost frequency, and 1.2 GHz GPU Ryzen Embedded […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC