The Raspberry Pi was definitely a game changer when it hit shelves at only $35. But CHIP is hoping to make the Pi look positively pricey by comparison. The Kickstarter campaign has already blown way past its $50,000 goal. In fact, at the time of this writing its approaching $500,000. Like the Pi, CHIP is a fully functional computer. The tiny board is home to a 1GHz CPU, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage, all of which power a full-fledged (if light-weight) Linux desktop. Even more impressive is that there's both WiFi and Bluetooth on board. It's mostly aimed at tinkerers and DIYers, hence the I/O pins waiting for your attention, but you could certainly use it as an inexpensive general purpose computer... so long as you're not particularly demanding.
CHIP is a $9 Raspberry Pi killer
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Now, to be fair, if you want a VGA adaptor or HDMI adaptor you'll have to shell out a little more ($19 and $24 respectively), but you could hook it up to most TVs with the built-in composite video port. The $50 PocketCHIP, however, is truly impressive. It's the same versatile board, but it comes with a case that's home to a battery, a keyboard and 4.3-inch touchscreen. Yes, your smartphone is definitely more powerful, but for $50, this is incredibly impressive for something no bigger than an OG GameBoy.
