ARM64 powered all-in-one Android TV boxes for Debian/Ubuntu use

[excal32]

I have found these Android TV boxes on Amazon and such for prices under $50. They run android and typically come with some video streaming software and other programs of low quality built in. However, at such a low price, you get a very small form factor fanless and silent ARM64 with one HDMI, 100baseT ethernet, N wifi, bluetooth, 2GB RAM and 16GB onboard flash. By replacing the uboot with a patch that allows booting from microSD or USB, you can easily flash a Debian, Ubuntu, or Gentoo (those are the only distros I found compiled and ready for the S905X chip).

Anyway, for those who get by fine on older Thinkpads, most of us know we don't need a ton of resources to do what we need to do. So, combined with a 1080p monitor and a nice sized microSD card, you could have a very modern and very light on power consumption desktop computer. Mine has a 7 port USB hub plugged into it and sits happily at my desk running Debian.

I was never into the whole Raspberry Pi thing but I found these to be interesting and fun to work with. Anyway, they are very cheap and you get the benefits of all video processing and such being done in hardware - 1080p is a breeze on these and uses minimal resources... I have a second on my TV running LibreELEC.

This is an example of one of the many boards available.
http://www.sztomato.com/upfile/product/ ... t-GPIO.jpg

Admin warning: HUGE picture, tags removed. Read the Forum Rules, especially Section 5 about pictures!

[excal32]

Sorry about the picture. Just wanted to update these cheaper ones typically have abysmal wifi. Mine failed for other reasons (the heatsink fell off! it was held on by thermal paste and nothing else...)

I've since returned it to amazon and bought a T95k Pro (any brand works, T95u and T95k as well) with the S912 CPU. Performance is notably better for about $15 more than the S905x cpu. Highly recommended...