Mini review of ORICO “USB 4.0” M.2 NVMe SSD enclosure

Orico USB 4.0 M.2 NVMe SSD enclosure review

ORICO has sent me a sample of a USB 4.0 M.2 NVMe SSD enclosure for review, which was timely as I did not have a fast USB storage option for testing. In this post, I’ll check out the hardware, show how to install an NVMe SSD, and test performance in UP Xtreme i11 mini PC since it happens to come with a USB4 port. ORICO USB 4.0 M.2 SSD enclosure specs and unboxing The exact model I received is the ORICO M234C3-U4 with a Rose Gold aluminum enclosure (107x50x17mm), supporting M.2 M-Key and B+M Key 2230, 2242, 2260, 2280 SSDs (more on that later), and offering up to 40 Gbps through its USB 4.0 port. The device ships with a USB Type-C to USB Type-C/Type-A cable, a thermal pad, a heatsink, two screws, and a multilingual user manual. There’s only one USB Type-C port one the device. M.2 NVMe SSD […]

Getting started with WiFi on Raspberry Pi Pico W board

Raspberry Pi Pico W UART serial console

Raspberry Pi Trading announced the Raspberry Pi Pico W board basically based on the same design as the original Raspberry Pi Pico board with RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller but adding a wireless module with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE 5.2, although the latter is not enabled on the board at this time. The company sent me a sample for review/evaluation, and I’ll focus on the WiFi part since the Raspberry Pi Pico W supports the same MicroPython and C/C++ SDKs as for the Raspberry Pi Pico board plus additional APIs for wireless connectivity. Raspberry Pi Pico W unboxing The board I received was cut from a 480-unit reel, and I also got a one-meter long micro USB to USB cable, which should probably not be included by default for people ordering the $6 board. Just like its predecessor, the board is tiny, and The pinout is the same as the […]

AEC-Q100 qualified module features Allwinner T507-H processor for automotive applications

Allwinner T507-H development board

We first wrote about Allwinner T507 when we covered a module and devkit from Forlinx, but now MYiR Tech has designed its own AEC-Q100 qualified system-on-module (MYC-YT507H) and the MYD-YT507H development board based Allwinner T507-H processor. MYC-YT507H – Allwinner T507-H SoM Specifications: SoC – Allwinner T507-H with a quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.5GHz, Arm Mali-G31 MP2 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.2/2.0/1.0, Vulkan1.1, OpenCL 2.0; 4K60 H.265/VP9/AVS2 video decoder, 4K H.264/MJPEG video encoder System Memory – 1 or 2GB LPDDR4 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash, 32Kbit EEPROM (or is it 32KB/256Kbit – see block diagram below) 222x castellated holes with 1.0mm pitch for carrier board connection Networking – 1x RGMII and 1x RMII Video 1x HDMI 2.0a up to 4Kp60 2x single-channel LVDS or 1x dual-channel LVDS or 24-bit RGB up to 1080p60 1x TV CVBS output with PAL/NTSC Camera – 1x DVP digital camera, 1x MIPI CSI […]

Beelink MINI S Review – A Low-cost mini PC tested with Ubuntu 22.04 and Windows 11

Beelink MINI S review

Whilst the first mini PCs were relatively simplistic using low-powered Intel Atom processors with minimal memory, storage, and ports, more recent mini PCs have become so advanced they can challenge SFF builds for both performance and functionality. However, such mini PCs come with prices to match. Beelink has now released the MINI S which is a mini PC that goes back to the basics and is based on a cut-down version of their earlier Beelink U59 mini PC and priced to match. Beelink kindly sent one for review and I’ve looked at performance running both Windows and Ubuntu and compared it directly against the U59. Beelink MINI S hardware overview The Beelink MINI S physically consists of a 115 x 102 x 41mm (4.53 x 4.02 x 1.61 inches) square plastic case. As an actively cooled mini PC, it uses Intel’s new 10 nm Jasper Lake N5095 processor which is […]

MNT Pocket Reform 7-inch modular mini laptop takes a range of Arm (and FPGA) modules

MNT Pocket Reform

MNT Pocket Reform is an open-source hardware mini laptop with a 7-inch Full HD display, an ortholinear mechanical keyboard, and trackball, that follows the path of its older and bigger sibling:  the MNT Reform 2 laptop initially launched with an NXP i.MX 8M quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 module. The new laptop will not only support a similar “NXP i.MX 8M Plus” module but also a range of other Arm modules namely an NXP Layerscape LS1028A module with up to 16GB RAM, the Raspberry Pi CM4 module via an adapter, Pine64 SOQuartz (RK3566, up to 8GB RAM), as well as based on AMD Xilinx Kintex-7 FPGA for industrial use. MNT Pocket Reform specifications: Available system-on-modules Standard: NXP i.MX 8M Plus quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 @ 1.8GHz with 4 or 8 GB DDR4, Vivante GC7000UL GPU, 2.3 TOPS NPU NXP Layerscape LS1028A dual-core Arm Cortex-A72 with 8 or 16GB DDR4, Vivante GC7000UL GPU Raspberry […]

Beelink SER3 & SEi8 mini PCs review – Part 2: Ubuntu 22.04

Previously, I reviewed Beelink’s new SEi8 and SER3 mini PCs running Windows 11, so in this part, I will cover Ubuntu 22.04. Hardware Recap The SEi8 is an actively cooled Intel mini PC that physically consists of a 124 x 113 x 41 (4.88 x 4.45 x 1.61 inches) square metal case with a plastic top and uses Intel’s 14++ nm Coffee Lake Refresh Core i3-8109U processor from 2018 which is a dual-core 4-thread 3.00 GHz mobile processor boosting to 3.60 GHz with Intel’s Iris Plus Graphics 655. In comparison, the SER3 is an AMD mini PC and is physically very similar, consisting of a 126 x 113 x 40mm (4.96 x 4.45 x 1.57 inches) square metal case. It is also actively cooled and uses AMD’s 14 nm Zen Ryzen 3 3200U Picasso processor from 2019 which is a dual-core 4-thread 2.6 GHz mobile processor boosting to 3.5 GHz […]

Ubuntu Core 22 released for IoT devices and embedded systems

Ubuntu Core 22

Canonical has just released Ubuntu Core 22, a containerized variant of Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, optimized for IoT devices and embedded systems and supporting Ubuntu’s new real-time kernel. In Ubuntu Core, everything is a snap, including the kernel, OS, and applications both to improve security to sandbox each package and to enable updates of specific packages from the  IoT App Store over-the-air (OTA). If something goes wrong during the update, the system will automatically roll back to the previous version, so the device cannot be bricked. The Snap system also minimizes network traffic through delta updates. Ubuntu Core 22 also provides advanced security features with secure boot, full disk encryption, secure recovery, as well as confinement of the OS and applications as discussed above. Customers also benefit from Canonical’s 10 years (until 2032) of security maintenance of kernel, OS, and application-level code, which can be important for deployments in enterprise and […]

GEEKOM MiniAir 11 Celeron N5095 mini PC sells for $200 with 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD

GEEKOM MiniAir 11

GEEKOM MiniAir 11 is a mini PC powered by a Celeron N5095 Jasper Lake mini PC that ships with 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD selling for $199, and placing itself as a competitor of Beelink U59 mini PC. The mini PC offers HDMI 2.0 and mini DisplayPort video outputs, Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, three USB 3.2 ports, and two USB-C ports for data only, as the device is powered by a 19V power adapter, and the USB-C ports do not support DisplayPort Alt Mode. GEEKOM MiniAir 11 specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron N5095 quad-core Jasper Lake  processor @ 2.0GHz /  2.9GHz (Turbo) with 4MB cache, 16EU Intel UHD Graphics; 15W TDP System Memory – 8GB DDR4 upgradeable up to 32GB Storage – 256GB M.2 2280 PCIe/SATA SSD upgradeable to 1TB, full-size SD card reader; (CNXSoft: we’re not told whether the pre-installed SSD uses SATA or […]

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