Linux User & Developer, Issue 162

Linux User & Developer Issue 162In addition to my regular four-page news spread, this month’s Linux User & Developer features a review of a maker-oriented computer-on-module (COM): the LeMaker Guitar.

The Guitar comes from the same company that brought us the Banana Pro, but while LeMaker has ditched its fruit-themed product nomenclature it’s still drawing inspiration from the same source: the Guitar the Chinese company’s equivalent to the Raspberry Pi Compute Module, based on the same SODIMM-layout module design and featuring a bundled break-out board to make the device’s features more accessible to hobbyists.

Where it improves on the Compute Module’s design is in its specifications: an Action system-on-chip (SoC) processor proves considerably more capable than the ageing BCM2835 of the Raspberry Pi Compute Module, there’s more RAM, and it even has Wi-Fi connectivity – though this, sadly, is based on a module attached to the break-out board, meaning that it’s not something you’ll have available should you decide to build your own circuit with the Guitar module at its heart.

When I reviewed the device, I was particularly impressed with the performance for the price – especially given that the Compute Module is considerably more expensive than the Guitar. In the time since the review, though, retailers have significantly discounted the Compute Module ahead of the planned launch of a 64-bit, 1.2GHz Compute Module 3 later this year based on the same BCM2837 SoC as the newly-launched Raspberry Pi 3. If you’re not in a rush, in other words, it may be worth seeing how much the Compute Module 3 costs before designing anything around the Guitar.

The full review, along with my four-page news spread, can be found gracing the shelves of your nearest supermarket, newsagent, or as a series of zeroes and ones on digital distribution services including Zinio.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.