The Raspberry Pi at bottom price, it is no longer possible since the shortage of semiconductors. An independent developer has nevertheless found a way to create a mini PC for 30 euros.
A PC at 30 euros, that existed for a long time. Indeed, we can recover a Raspberry Pi 3 or Pi 4, install a Linux distribution or even Windows 11 on it. We ended up with a mini PC. To finish the complete transformation, you have to add a box, a heat sink and a micro SD. But that was before the semiconductor shortages that drove up the price of Raspberry Pis.
An Android box as a base
Under the name Inovato Quadra, developer Michael Burmeister set out to create a miniature PC with affordable hardware that can easily be found on the market today.
No Raspberry Pi in the end, he opted for a Chinese-made Android TV box, model number T95, which can be purchased on AliExpress or Amazon, with prices ranging from 20 to 40 euros.
This small box has the advantage of being equipped with an ARM Amlogic S905W SoC, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of storage, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and various connectors. Several variants can be considered, depending on availability and price: T95 Mini, T95 max, Q+ or H96 MAX V11.
Instead of Android, he opted for a stripped-down GNU/Linux distribution, based on Debian 11 and the XFCE desktop environment. Here, we are not talking about a powerful PC, nevertheless, sufficient to browse the web, play videos, perform simple office tasks, such as sorting files, editing a document and so on. You can directly buy the hardware already preconfigured, under the name of Quadra, but you can also design your own mini PC.
They have provided a step-by-step tutorial that is simple to follow. You need a computer, under Windows, macOS or Linux, as well as a microSD card or a USB adapter. The installation consists of downloading a utility called MultiTool, then flashing the micro SD card, then you will need to install the Quadra firmware. Once the installation is complete, the micro SD can be plugged into the TV box to transform it into a mini PC. The operation lasts in total a little less than 30 minutes, approximately.
To follow us, we invite you to download our Android and iOS application. You can read our articles, files, and watch our latest YouTube videos.