When comparing PINE A64 vs Intel NUC Kit NUC7i3BNH, the Slant community recommends PINE A64 for most people. In the question“What are the best single-board computers?” PINE A64 is ranked 15th while Intel NUC Kit NUC7i3BNH is ranked 27th. The most important reason people chose PINE A64 is:
The Pine64 has a HDMI port which offers 4K streaming capabilities and coupled with support for Kodi it can be transformed into a pretty powerful media streaming centre.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Can stream 4K video
The Pine64 has a HDMI port which offers 4K streaming capabilities and coupled with support for Kodi it can be transformed into a pretty powerful media streaming centre.
Pro Extremely powerful for its price
With a price of $15 it's one of the most powerful and fast single board computers on the market today, able to compete with products that are more than double its price.
Pro Optional and bespoke 7" Touchscreen and Analog Audio DAC
Range of accessories now available that expand core functionality without worrying [too much] about compatibility.
Pro Additional GPIOs (Euler bus)
A GPIO (general purpose input/output) port is included, which allows for more flexible use.
Pro Versatile hardware
The board already comes with a lot of things.
Pro Comes with appropriate case and mounting hardware for storage drives
While the cost may seem steep compared to other SBC options, seldom are those other options sold with a case that will also house your storage drives and provide adequate cooling for the entire setup.
Pro SATA III port and M.2 NVMe connector with on-board RAID-0/RAID-1 controller
The ability to harness the power of a standard 2.5" SATA III drive and an M.2 NVMe drive with four PCI Express 3.0 lanes means that sequential read rates in excess of 3GB/sec if both are SSDs. Add to that hardware RAID support and it's hard to imagine a more powerful digital storage platform anywhere near this size.
Cons
Con Bad support
Con Finicky PSU support
It's very hard to find a PSU (power supply unit) that works with Pine64. While other single board computers (such as the ODROID, MK802IV, and MK808) work with virtually any 5V/2A PSUs, the power supply is a bit too sensitive (even when using a power strip with 8 USB ports with all SoCs running off the 1A or 2.4A connections).
Con No onboard Wi-Fi or Bluetooth
Not included by default, but an optional WiFi 802.11 b/g/n & Bluetooth module can be added.
Con Huge size
The A64 is 127mm x 79mm which is significantly larger than other single board computers on the market.
Con You can't use an adapter to DVI VGA
It only supports HDMI.
Con Higher initial costs than most other options
It's clearly not a budget option for building a home NAS, but if you want performance and more importantly, scalability, then you'll reap the benefits of the extra upfront costs many times over as you upgrade the memory, add peripherals via USB-C and put that 7th Generation Core i3 processor to work.
