Asus launches Raspberry Pi rival with 4K support, including H.265

hydra

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The Asus Tinker Board is a powerful Raspberry Pi rival that plays 4K video | PCWorld

Asus just jumped into the mini PC game with a solid choice for 4K video-capable entertainment computer.

The company is currently selling the Asus Tinker Board in the UK and Europe with prices starting around 46 poundsabout $57. Thats quite a bit more than the top-end Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, which has an MSRP of $35 but usually sells for around $40.

The 4K video supportincluding H.265 decodingin Asus board is thanks to the Mali-T764 GPU lurking inside its quad-core, 1.8GHz Rockchip RK3288 SoC, as first reported by Hexus. In addition to 4K, the board also supports 192kHz/24-bit audio. The PC comes with 2GB of RAM, Bluetooth 4.0, four USB 2.0 ports, 1 HDMI out, microSD port, gigabit ethernet, and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi. For hobbyists, the Tinker Board packs a 40-pin internal header with 28 GPIO pins, CSI port for the camera, and DSI port.

The 2GB RAM is particularly nice considering the Raspberry Pi Model 3 B comes with just 1GB. As for software, the UK sales page says it supports Debian Linux and (conveniently) Kodithe popular media player. This is no different than the Raspberry Pi, and just like the Pi, it appears youll have to load the OS onto an SD card yourself. Also similar to the Pi, the Tinker Board requires you to supply your own five volt, two amp power supply, .

The impact on you at home: The Asus Tinker Board appears to be a nice little device though we cant say how well it performs pumping out 4K video as we havent tested it. Anyone eyeing this device as an import or waiting for it to land in the U.S. should know that it will lack some of the conveniences that have built-up around the Raspberry Pi. The Pi has a wide selection of cases, for example, and you can also buy starter kits from third parties that come with the software pre-loaded on an SD card, power supplies, and everything else you need to get started.

Nevertheless, if you need 4K and want a mini PC there isnt much of an option on the Raspberry Pi side. Though I wouldnt be surprised if that changed within the coming monthsthat is just speculation, however.

Looks like a nice option for Kodi users! Let's see whether a support community that's as strong as the RPi community gets built around this one or not.
 
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Only thing is there are a host of support products available for pi. Not sure how Asus is received in the market yet to develop such supporting ecosystems.
 
so how's the community-support for asus tinker board now? anybody knows?
i had bought an RPi 3 some months back, but didnt get around to using it still (to be used just as a download-box).
 
Hardware is good but there is no good software support for Rockwell chips for media applications.
 
How does it cope say if it is running continuos for hours? I am thinking of building a media player to use in home and car with tinker board but not sure it will be enough for longer run.. Between this will be my first try with SBC and i do not have much knowledge on PI either.
 
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