The HDMI ports are my biggest disappointment. Since the clunky adapters been damaging the ports for me, since the small ports don’t allow for much side ways movement of the connector when you have adapter on it.
The HDMI ports on the Orange Pi 5 plus is good, they put them tilted vertically to make space for full size ports.
Another issue which I am not sure if was fixed or not (need to read up on it). Raspberry Pi 4 had bad habit giving many USB-C power supples wrong signals causing them to deliver boosts meant for charging batteries which damaged the boards.
What do you guys need all that power for? (serious inquiry, not sassy attitude)
I recently picked up a Raspberry Pi 4, but I only use it for Pi-hole and Jellyfin.
I’ve seen companies building production line automation systems, vending and redemption systems, on-location gaming (think BINGO caller with animated number display on a big screen), video stream distribution systems to multiple in-location displays, CCTV management systems (multiple video in and display), robotics controllers, all kinds of neat stuff. The additional power of these boards is definitely welcome.
And all sorts of low power servers. (Both home servers and for business use)
The boards are getting so powerful that their very good as small servers. (Especially if you take out the SD card and use NVME drive for good speed and reliability)
Reliable storage and the ability to run Windows are key for me. Can’t live with the OS-on-SD-card reliability issues, so if onboard eMMC mitigates that then it could be a candidate to replace the Aaeon Up Board my client uses now.
I’m aware that people managed to install and run Windows ARM from a M.2 SSD in a Orange Pi 5. I guess the SD card was used just for UEFI boot, and I guess that even that may not be necessary with some extra research.
And once you have Dongle + Adapter then your going to have very sensitive situation, barely touching the combo of the two swings the port and destroys it.
Again, why can’t that go on the end of a small cable, away from the port. Much like Apples adapters have a plug separate from the adapter. You could have a small extender cable from the pie to your adapters. It should remove any worries about destroying the ports.
