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Renegade labs AIO

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 7:31 pm
by Bstromski
Hey guys,

New to the forum here, been trying to read up as much as possible on all & plan my first build.

After doing a bit of research it seems like the AIO PCB board make configuration and builds a bit easier than doing everything piece meal.

To my surprise I don’t see many of these AIO boards available, and it seems they sell out pretty fast on pre-order. Specifically looking at the “Kite SUPER All in one board”, looks great but seems unlikely to get with the backorder. However, looking around on the internet I found this other AIO board from renegade labs on Etsy.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/590105310/ ... e_active_1

Does anyone know much about this board? I couldn’t find anything while searching the forum. I’m not opposed to building out the whole kit from scratch if there’s good reason too, otherwise I like the simplicity of a single board to keep it simple.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ben

Re: Renegade labs AIO

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 7:53 pm
by rodocop
Check him out on the retropie handhelds Facebook page. The creator is pretty active there and posts a lot and does live streams from time to time. (Not sure if he's actually on the forums here).

I've never used his board. But it is a simple pcb with a spot to solder the pi, as well as all the audio components and a power switch. Seems like a decent kit. (And it's a nice option if you're Canadian since he's located in canada)

For other types of boards search for tinkerboys boards (he's based in the philipenes) as well as retrogamingnow's website (rgn sells helders aio boards and is US based).

http://www.tinkerboy.xyz

https://www.retrogamingnow.com/pro-shop ... -pcb-board

Keep in mind, even with these kits you'll still need to buy a battery, power supply, screen, buttons, etc... none of them will be complete kits.

Re: Renegade labs AIO

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 2:15 am
by VeteranGamer
Bstromski wrote:
Fri Apr 13, 2018 7:31 pm

Does anyone know much about this board? I couldn’t find anything while searching the forum. I’m not opposed to building out the whole kit from scratch if there’s good reason too, otherwise I like the simplicity of a single board to keep it simple.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ben
IMHO.....

its a poorly designed board....

for the size of the board it doesn't incorporate trigger buttons (L1,L2 & R1,R2)....
the screen needs to be connected to the Pi separately, no connection on the board for the screen....
no built in sound, but a pam8302a can be soldered onto it (but this should have been built into the board)....
gerenric 3d printed screw posts cant be used....


again IMHO
even tinkerboy board hasnt been designed well (even though the shape is nice it still doesn't look polished... To quick to cash in on the community, IMHO)
if he really wanted to design it well, at least incorporate the other components onto the board...
i appreciate the pro micro only cost about a $1 and the amp is only around $0.50, but soldering them on separately makes the board look very DIY, and doesn't justify the cost (IMHO)


Helder board has been designed really well, but it does have it issues with the audio and the USB hub, but these can be easily rectified...
but the board looks really nice, and look like a commercial product, the price is also justifiable if everything works...

Kites is a true AIO, but unfortunately it also has issues (even if they are isolated to individual boards and not across the whole batch)....


Personally I'd recommend either Helder or Kite if you want a AIO...



these are my opinions, so please no one get offended or upset....


.

Re: Renegade labs AIO

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 9:17 am
by Helder
Just saw the link and I have no idea why it's called an AIO when all it has is a power switch with no safe shutdown circuit, a volume wheel with no audio circuit (I assume those caps and resistors on the lower right are for PWM?), no hub (but not really needed) and no screen connection for alot more than what mine costs with alot less. But if it helps simplify things for people sure go for it, I plan to redo my AIO soon so there will atleast be something with options and a justified price for it comes with.

Re: Renegade labs AIO

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 6:40 pm
by Hex
I wonder if anyone has noticed that there is no way to attach the LCD.

Re: Renegade labs AIO

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 6:47 pm
by sygyzy
What kind of changes are you planning on making to your new revision, Helder?

Re: Renegade labs AIO

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 7:20 pm
by tinkerBOY
VeteranGamer wrote:
Sat Apr 14, 2018 2:15 am
Bstromski wrote:
Fri Apr 13, 2018 7:31 pm

Does anyone know much about this board? I couldn’t find anything while searching the forum. I’m not opposed to building out the whole kit from scratch if there’s good reason too, otherwise I like the simplicity of a single board to keep it simple.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ben
IMHO.....

its a poorly designed board....

for the size of the board it doesn't incorporate trigger buttons (L1,L2 & R1,R2)....
the screen needs to be connected to the Pi separately, no connection on the board for the screen....
no built in sound, but a pam8302a can be soldered onto it (but this should have been built into the board)....
gerenric 3d printed screw posts cant be used....


again IMHO
even tinkerboy board hasnt been designed well (even though the shape is nice it still doesn't look polished... To quick to cash in on the community, IMHO)
if he really wanted to design it well, at least incorporate the other components onto the board...
i appreciate the pro micro only cost about a $1 and the amp is only around $0.50, but soldering them on separately makes the board look very DIY, and doesn't justify the cost (IMHO)


Helder board has been designed really well, but it does have it issues with the audio and the USB hub, but these can be easily rectified...
but the board looks really nice, and look like a commercial product, the price is also justifiable if everything works...

Kites is a true AIO, but unfortunately it also has issues (even if they are isolated to individual boards and not across the whole batch)....


Personally I'd recommend either Helder or Kite if you want a AIO...



these are my opinions, so please no one get offended or upset....


.
Hi VeteranGamer,

There's no way you can make the price of the Pro Micro that low for $1. The atmega32u4 alone is worth $2-$3 when bought in bulk. The Pro Micro I bought in bulk cost me $4.645 each and soldering it and the pam8403 is a bit difficult and really takes time. When I designed my v2.1 there was no available board at that time and was thinking of a way to make a board that can be made fast and since those two modules PAM8403 and Pro Micro are proven to work well, it's just make sense to use them. Well at first I thought it's faster to solder those modules but I was wrong. I think I'm getting good at soldering them now though. 😊

At that time, I was thinking of just incorporating those components onto the board especially the atmega32u4 but i was not too confident to do it after considering some things like soldering those tiny pins of the chip and software stuff. One advantages of the Pro Micro is that it can be easily be programmed, just plug in the micro USB cable and connect to your computer. While on an onboard atmega32u4, you would need another device (i.e.Arduino Uno) for reprogramming it or users have to solder USB wires manually or include a built in micro USB port on the board. You can also reprogram the atmega32u4 via the Raspberry Pi's GPIO pins but I was still new on the software side of arduino at that time. Also, on an onboard atmega32u4, it's probably best to program it with a tested code for the controls so users don't have to do it themselves but still there should be a way just in case users want to do it. And the Pro Micro solves this easily.

My v2.1 with the built in Pro Micro and PAM8403 modules were designed to function and work well as intended and also because there was a demand at that time but there was no available or limited boards. No known issues at all as I test them myself before sending. In fact, I only get emails/message sometimes from buyers with problems but mostly on the software side, some incorrect soldering, and incorrect shipping address. 😁

It's a bit tricky to discuss pricing especially with these low-quantity hand-built devices. It's not like I'm building my boards by the thousands so I can sell it at a low price. Individual sellers/builders have different ways and different degree of difficulties to making these boards. I might sell a super simple board at a unusually higher than usual price probably because I spent so much time with it. I think it's better that buyers consider the value of the product with the money they're spending. It's not like I'm selling my boards for a $1,000. Haha..😂

I really appreciate your feedback though. 👍 No offense at all. Sellers like me should take these feedbacks as a positive advice to improve our boards.

Anyway, my prototype boards has just arrived yesterday. These are for the atmega32u4, USB hub, and USB audio so I can start testing them. I'm plannning on incorporating these components to my future board.

Re: Renegade labs AIO

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 7:46 pm
by tinkerBOY
And also, technical support has to be considered too when selling these boards.

Re: Renegade labs AIO

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 1:11 am
by VeteranGamer
tinkerBOY wrote:
Sat Apr 14, 2018 7:20 pm

I really appreciate your feedback though. 👍 No offense at all. Sellers like me should take these feedbacks as a positive advice to improve our boards.
dude....
you didnt really need you to justify what your doing, you do you....

it also wasnt feedback for you either....
it was me giving my opinion.....



but your comment above is like the final nail in the coffin for me....

this community is for makers/modders not for sellers (IMHO)....
maybe if you were a maker selling and not a seller making things might have been a little different with the final design (again IMHO).....

but if you want feedback.....
then you also need to buy well if you want to be a seller....
https://wholesaler.alibaba.com/product- ... 1444A9vfpS

https://wholesaler.alibaba.com/product- ... 1e7anYslCo

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10PCS-n ... autifyAB=0


these are my opinions....


don't get offended or upset
(people will have different opinions to the ones you hold or see, unfortunately for some thats life)



.

Re: Renegade labs AIO

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 2:51 am
by tinkerBOY
VeteranGamer wrote:
Sun Apr 15, 2018 1:11 am
tinkerBOY wrote:
Sat Apr 14, 2018 7:20 pm

I really appreciate your feedback though. 👍 No offense at all. Sellers like me should take these feedbacks as a positive advice to improve our boards.
dude....
you didnt really need you to justify what your doing, you do you....

it also wasnt feedback for you either....
it was me giving my opinion.....



but your comment above is like the final nail in the coffin for me....

this community is for makers/modders not for sellers (IMHO)....
maybe if you were a maker selling and not a seller making things might have been a little different with the final design (again IMHO).....

but if you want feedback.....
then you also need to buy well if you want to be a seller....
https://wholesaler.alibaba.com/product- ... 1444A9vfpS

https://wholesaler.alibaba.com/product- ... 1e7anYslCo

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10PCS-n ... autifyAB=0


these are my opinions....


don't get offended or upset
(people will have different opinions to the ones you hold or see, unfortunately for some thats life)



.
Was just explaining that's all. 😀

Those links are for the atmega328p without built in USB support. Should be atmega32u4.