General RPi 4 alternative?

[Tracy]

I have a 2GB Orange PI 3 on order to see how it compares to the RPi's. It is only a 2GB unit, so I know it will not run as well as the RPi 4 4GB and 8GB units I currently have...but this unit only runs around $60 USD for the case and the board.
It will be targeted towards use with my NexStar 8se and planetary captures for now.
There will be a review and possibly a Showcase entry made for this unit.

 

[Tracy]

Additional info on the Orange Pi... it is 2GB of RAM, but comes with 8GB EMMC for storage, which should be MORE than enough to run the OS and software on... then I can add an SD card in for storage, set it up to auto-mount the SD card and get the best of both worlds.. the faster through-put of EMMC memory for the OS, and then the slower SD cards for storage (which is not as important usually as OS speed).

Once Orange Pi arrives, I'll be setting it up and doing some testing and then posting a review on it.

 

[Tracy]

The Orange Pi arrived today... and I've spent the last 9 hours battling the Debian install and trying to get the VNC server to work. Finally gave up and installed another OS and it's working great and VNC is connected. Putting EKOS/Indi/Kstars on it right now.... hopefully will be able to give it a try soon.
Will be creating an article detailing the issues. It is MUCH more complicated than a simple BalenaEtcher burount of StellarMat OS or Astrobettery.