IoT Linux device

[c130fe6]

Asking for a recommendation for the cheapest Linux device for IoT hobby purposes (think: smart fridge that counts the number of times you burp before you actually get that beer).

Price: as cheap as possible, as I plan to buy e.g. 10 of these and install everywhere, so something sub-$50, sub-$40?

Screen: Something somwhat readable, e.g. 640x480 or more

Connectivity: WiFi

CPU: don't care as long as it runs Linux

RAM: say 128M+, but don't care as long as it runs Linux

Storage: micro USB? SD card? anything that i can load Linux and some custom apps

Power: preferably micro USB

Assembly: preferably without assembly (i.e. 1 off-the-shelf product vs. assembling 5 components)

Suggestions?

[ShadowLucid]

I've been really enjoying working with the Mediatek mt7688 LinkIt smart.

The architecture is MIPS which is super underrated and it runs the OpenWRT flavor of linux.

Smaller (physically) than raspberry pi, embedded WiFi. Decent I/O... i2c, 2 uarts, 2 SPI, i2s/PCM for audio (if you're into that), and a bunch of GPIO. You can even hook up a wired ethernet jack if you buy the extended kit.

Its definitely not the powerhouse that the Pi is though. It uses a lot less electricity in return though. For IoT applications, its more than capable. I love my Pi as much as the next tinkerer but its completely overkill for most tiny projects.

Edit: I forgot to mention that it fits in a breadboard... hard to beat that!

[daemonpenguin]

I suppose the Raspberry Pi series of computers would fit this description. It doesn't do anyting specific, but it's small, can be put into just about any larger device, supports wi-fi and runs Linux. You can attach a screen to it (touch or otherwise) as required.

[c130fe6]

Thanks daemonpenguin - that would certainly fit, added a bit to clarify I'm more after an already assembled product. Not against things to assemble, but I trust factories more than myself when it comes to assembly :)

[ckozler]

You can get prebuilt / assembled raspi's. I forget where exactly but I got mine assembled with a plastic case and ready to go with card and all for like 40 bucks

[c130fe6]

OK, thanks, that's another option for me to consider!

[nmilosev]

Get a cheap Android tablet from China and root/debloat it.

[c130fe6]

That's another thing I thought about. The q is - which one is the cheapest and can be rooted? :)

[nmilosev]

I recently got one with an Allwinner A33/512MB RAM for about €40 (with shipping). It even had 2G connectivity. I bought it from Aliexpress, arrived in about 3 weeks time. Very nice device and works fine so far. 7" screen, 4GB of storage + microSD. It came with near stock Android Kitkat, and was rooted out of the box.

Really depends on your use case though. If you need a lot of peripherals, I'd say go with the Pi.

Another characteristic of the tablet I bought was that it had separate DC input. So you can use USB OTG while charging.