Recs.
Updated
Priced at just $9, CHIP is one of the cheapest SBCs on the market. It comes with a pre-installed Debian-based operating system so there’s no setup required out-of-the-box. The official documentation is very well organized and covers pretty much all aspects the user will need. Cheap and easy to use, it’s a perfect choice for those who are looking for a simple development environment to learn how to program or how to set up a single-board computer.
SpecsUpdate
Pros
Pro Doesn't require SD card to work
CHIP has 4GB of flash storage built in. But it uses Toshiba flash, which has technical issues.
Pro Great as a learning platform
The official documentation available for CHIP is easy to read and outstandingly informative. You can learn how to use CHIP and perform different tasks with it through the documentation alone. For example, the documentation fully covers the GPIO pin use. As previously mentioned, it comes with the Scratch programming language, which (admittedly) is aimed at helping children learn how to program but it’s useful even for grown-ups who want to learn how to program. If Scratch is too easy, installing a full-featured, true programming language like Python is very easy.
Pro Ready out-of-the-box
Unlike many single-board computers that require an operating system installation from scratch, CHIP comes with an OS preinstalled and ready to go. It’s a Debian Linux derivative and it’s quite easy to use even for someone who has never used Linux before. It also comes with a lot of applications installed such as a web browser and a text editor. It even has a programming language installed called Scratch, which is aimed for beginners.
Pro Built-in WiFi and Bluetooth
The C.H.I.P shines in terms of wireless connectivity. The tiny $9 SBC comes with Bluetooth 4.0 and 803.11 b/g/n Wireless LAN built in.
Pro Strong, growing community
Released just last May 2016, the CHIP already has a strong, growing community. More than 39,000 backers pledged more than $2,000,000 to help bring the CHIP project to life. The official forum is growing in activity, with about 64 topics posted per week. On average, new topics get multiple replies within the first couple of hours, the community is very active and responsive. Even older topics stay up to date.
Pro Good GPIO support
Has a total of 45 GPIO pins, which is more than the typical SBC. Multiple standard communication protocols are also available, as an example: IIC, UART, 1-Wire, SPI, and CSI. Just like with Raspberry Pi, the IIC and SPI buses can be used to connect CHIP to external ADC’s (analog-to-digital converters) and DAC’s (digital-to-analog converters) in order to read and write analog signals to external hardware (sensors and actuators, for example).
Pro Very good documentation
The official documentation for CHIP is brilliant. The documentation is complete, well-structured, and easy to read. People generally new to SBCs will find the documentation extremely helpful, as it not only covers pretty much everything the regular user would run into, but it is also written in a very straightforward way.
Cons
Con Shipments were delayed by 3 months
Order page in November 2015 clearly said that it would ship by July 2016. After taking orders, the product got delayed. Developers ignored emails, ignored forum messages, and fake accounts attacked people in their forums. Even August 2016 orders that were supposed to ship out by August, didn't. The orders for 10 months ago not being shipped yet and CHIP team stopped replying to emails from 1st of August 2016.
Con Shipping can take several months
You may have to wait for your order for as long as 9 months and if you would like to receive a refund you could get only 75% percent of the amount you paid for it.
Con Next Thing Co. has closed their doors. Product is end of life
The manufacturer of this board is no longer in business.
https://hackaday.com/2018/04/03/is-this-the-end-for-the-c-h-i-p/
Con Wired connectivity support leaves much to be desired
Wired connectivity is sadly lacking, with only one USB and one micro USB port available. In order to attach a mouse and keyboard, you will have to buy an additional powered USB hub. The video output is initially a TRRS connector, while optional VGA or HDMI connectors will cost an additional $10 and $15 respectively. The audio output is streamed through an on-board 3.5mm TRS plug. It also lacks an ethernet port.
Con Built in WiFi is slow
It is more sloppy and slow with the built in WiFi, when compared with ethernet and USB WiFi. It could be suggested that you buy an ethernet USB hub and solve all of these problems. Of course that is another $3-4 hidden cost on the SBC.
Con Slow and sluggish performance
Given its price point, the CHIP simply cannot handle high-performance applications. For example, while streaming full HD videos, the frame rate is incapable of reaching the comfortable 25-30 Hz range. Due to its low processing potential, CHIP has limited application amplitude: only things like browsing the web, editing text, or streaming 720p videos can be done without any hassle.
Recommendations
Comments
Flagged Pros + Cons
Out of Date Pros + Cons
Con Not yet available, pre-orders only
Although some Kickstarter backers have received their CHIP already, the microcomputer isn't available for regular purchase yet and can only be pre-ordered.
Con Continually keeps getting delayed
Since their Kickstarter and preorders, they have kept postponing at last minute when its time to ship out to customers. Although they have sent shipping notices, emails and other types of confirmations, they have all fallen through so far.
There are many complaints on Facebook, Twitter and other forums, but they tend to get deleted. They have only a few full time workers where most are part timers, which means they only reply to emails after 3-10 days of waiting. Their support and drawings are not great and seems to be covered by their vendors in China. Most of the designs are copied from Raspberry and others. The composite resolution is not great. If you buy their accessories, they are expensive.
As of the time of this writing (Sept. 2016), the first preorder has been delayed by nearly a year now .
Con Not yet available
CHIP is not yet available and can only be pre-ordered. This also means that any advantages the product has should be taken with a grain of salt since they don't come from unbiased third-party sources