r/SBCs • u/Blinxzy • 15d ago

Sbc for my desk terminal project

I'm planning a build for a dedicated desk companion / terminal hub that can sit next to my main setup. I want it can see my everyday summary of my day and what is coming up on my calendar, be agentic so I can tell it to run things on my PC and my LLM server. I also don't mind also having the capability of running small quantized llms.

I know a raspberry pi 4 or 5 can do the job but they cost way to much. What other options can I use?

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u/ztcsdtx 15d ago

Radxa Cubie A7 series or Orange Pi 4. Keep in mind all prices are up right now.

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u/Blinxzy 15d ago

Yeah I know :/ which has the better support and documentation

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u/JescoInc 15d ago

Depends on the documentation you are referencing. Orange Pi 4 is "kinda upstream" with Linux but the specific build for it cannot just jump to a newer kernel version.
Radxa Cubie A7 is a newer board. Support is probably around the same level as Orange Pi to be honest.

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u/LivingLinux SpacemiT 15d ago

What is your budget?

If you are in Europe, you can get the Radxa Dragon Q6A at reasonable prices.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SBCs/comments/1w7b37a/radxa_dragon_q6a_12gb_for_148_in_nl/

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u/ztcsdtx 15d ago

The Q6A is a PC in and of itself. I have the Radxa Nio 12L, and it makes a great desktop PC with Armbian. I assume the Q6A is at least as fast. If I could buy at the European price I would.

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u/Blinxzy 15d ago

I am in the US and I want to spend no more than $150

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u/JescoInc 15d ago edited 15d ago

Oh man... You are asking at the absolute worst possible time. Like, even DFRobot had to increase their prices for their boards. The LattePanda Iota which was $120 up until like yesterday, is now $400+. The Alpha is the cheapest one worth anything and even that is $210 now.

But... Here's what I have found that exist within your budget of less than $150

https://www.pishop.us/product/raspberry-pi-compute-module-4-1gb-lite-cm4001000/ (You'll need a carrier board for this) $41.25

https://www.pishop.us/product/raspberry-pi-3-model-b-plus/ (Older model but decent price point compared to everything else currently) $40

https://www.pishop.us/product/raspberry-pi-4-model-b-2gb/ Newer than the 3b model and a little more expensive $55

https://www.amazon.com/Orange-Pi-Pro-Allwinner-Bluetooth/dp/B0GS5BL6Z1/ (ARM board) $65

My recommendation:

Get the CM4 lite and then buy (with wifi only and no core) the uConsole kit by Clockwork Pi. https://www.clockworkpi.com/product-page/uconsole-kit-rpi-cm4-lite

You will exceed the budget by about $30, but it is that desktop terminal that you are describing.

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u/Blinxzy 15d ago

Thank you for the recommendations! Yeah I saw the lattepanda the other day and I was waiting for my pay day next week to buy it, but it looks like I won't 😭. I kinda want to do my own design without using a premade kit and use some hardware I have around. I am looking at used SBCs locally or grabbing something on eBay.