11–20 of 408 posts
> That’s about it. Could you do all of this with a smartphone? Yeah, kinda, if you root prepaid Android phone, but even that would cost more than $30. You can almost certainly do better than $30 on local marketplaces, or by asking friends if they have a disused smartphone sitting around. reusing is absurdly cost efficient
I do love the look of the form-factor though. Want to need it.
Two things: I'm not clear on why the first one would cost $10k. The enclosure, maybe? If he were going to sell these, the rule of thumb I heard was to charge the cost of parts x 10. (Edit: maybe a factor of 2? I forget.)
I was wondering the same thing. PCBs are pretty cheap at this size, and the components wouldn't be THAT much more expensive to grab in smaller quantities. If someone would get a group buy started just for the components and 3d case files I'd hapilly sign up and 3d print the thing.
Two things: I'm not clear on why the first one would cost $10k. The enclosure, maybe? If he were going to sell these, the rule of thumb I heard was to charge the cost of parts x 10. (Edit: maybe a factor of 2? I forget.)
A display mounted on a flat surface between your hands seems like a ready path to neck trauma.
This is nice. This is a simple, straightforward design, and a reasonably convenient form factor. Two biggest limitations are RAM and wireless interfaces, or rather lack thereof. This thing has less RAM than my router (admittedly a $70 box), and has neither WiFi nor BT. It does not seem to have many GPIO pins, too. With the amount of RAM installed, it's mostly a handheld terminal, and maybe a handheld console with emu…
> While this is admirable as a proof of concept, I suspect that moving the price point up to, say, $30 could give a much more useful and hacker-friendly device.
I agree. I think this project proves that ultra low cost is viable. Now relaxing the constraints a bit to add RAM and WiFi could iterate it right into an optimal spot.
I wouldn't want to go much farther than RAM and WiFi, though. It's too easy to let these projects turn into a slippery slope.
Two things: I'm not clear on why the first one would cost $10k. The enclosure, maybe? If he were going to sell these, the rule of thumb I heard was to charge the cost of parts x 10. (Edit: maybe a factor of 2? I forget.)
Would be nice if he broke out the $10k. My guess is mostly the cost of an injection mold for the enclosure.
Same with the plastic enclosure.
This is nice. This is a simple, straightforward design, and a reasonably convenient form factor. Two biggest limitations are RAM and wireless interfaces, or rather lack thereof. This thing has less RAM than my router (admittedly a $70 box), and has neither WiFi nor BT. It does not seem to have many GPIO pins, too. With the amount of RAM installed, it's mostly a handheld terminal, and maybe a handheld console with emu…
Two things: I'm not clear on why the first one would cost $10k. The enclosure, maybe? If he were going to sell these, the rule of thumb I heard was to charge the cost of parts x 10. (Edit: maybe a factor of 2? I forget.)
With a $15 BoM cost, using a domestic contract manufacturer, this would probably come out to be no cheaper than $30/unit with very decent volumes, and that doesn't factor in your profit. Need to remember to pay someone to assemble it and test it.