[Arm-netbook] Huge RAM requirements (was: What do 1, 000 EOMA68-A20 PCBs look like?)

[Paul Boddie]

On Sunday 9. December 2018 05.07.51 Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton wrote:
> On Sat, Dec 8, 2018 at 7:54 PM zap <calmstorm at posteo.de> wrote:
> > Any plans to use rk3399 for a 2nd revision of the eoma68 standard? or
> > any alternative arm processor? Since risc-v is maybe 3+ years out of the
> > way?
> 
>  yes.  bear in mind it's around USD $5k-10k per design effort.  i
> *may* be able to recover the RK3288 PCB i did.  the RK3399 would be
> nicer.

Although it's not a 64-bit CPU and is MIPS-based not ARM-based, wasn't the 
JZ4775 board almost done? And didn't it have 2GB RAM already, before the A20 
2GB RAM (and HDMI) rework effort? Of course there is the software distribution 
issue (if you want FSF endorsement), but there seems to be some demand for 
similar products.

I follow the Dingoonity scene at a distance and although there is plenty of 
gadget chasing - people seem to throw themselves at random handhelds with poor 
screens and obsolete JZ variants - there are some that still wonder about 
successors to the GCW-Zero handheld or even getting one of the original ones, 
particularly as it seems that not everyone managed to receive one in that 
campaign. The enthusiasm is presumably something to do with MIPS-based stuff 
being used in various consoles of a certain era.

Paul