Olimex is shipping its open source, Alwinner A64 based Teres-A64 laptop kit, with an 11.6-in LCD, 2GB RAM, 16GB eMMC, 9500mAh battery, and an Ubuntu Mate OS.

Back in February, Bulgaria-based Olimex, which is known for its open spec OLinuXino SBCs like the Allwinner A64 based A64-OLinuXino, announced an open source laptop kit based on the same quad-core, Cortex-A53 SoC called the Teres-1. The Ubuntu Mate-supported laptop kit took longer than expected, but it’s finally here as the Teres-A64, selling for 240 Euros ($284) instead of 225 Euros.

Teres-A64 in black and white
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The price of the Teres-A64, which Olimex alternately calls the Teres-1, has bumped up by 15 Euros, but the specs have also been boosted. There is now 2GB RAM instead of 1GB, and you get 16GB eMMC, up from 4GB. The battery has been bumped from 7000mAh to 9500mAh, and an EU-style 5V 3A adapter (up from 2A) now supports 3-hour charging time. A 3-meter cable and UK and US compatible plugs are also available.


Teres-A64 mainboard detail
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Olimex has also added new “CON3 and CON4” interfaces to support an FPGA-based oscilloscope and logic analyzer add-on module that will arrive in a few months. In addition, “The debug UART multiplexes now with Headphones, so you can plug serial cable to headphone jack and re-direct Debug console UART to Headphone jack,” says the company.

Instead of using the A64-OLinuXino SBC, Olimex designed a custom, irregularly shaped mainboard that supports modular PCB daughterboards. These currently include an I/O board, keyboard controller, and touch buttons board, which are part of the standard package. In addition to the FPGA module, there are plans for digital storage options and other add-ons. Olimex also plans to eventually release new processor boards with the same form factor to extend the life of the laptop.

Teres-A64 keyboard module (left) and I/O module
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Since this is an open source laptop with open schematics and hardware CAD files, you can also customize add-on boards, build your own, or design your own Teres laptop. Linux build scripts are posted on GitHub.

The Allwinner A64 SoC has four 64-bit, Cortex-A53 cores, accompanied by a Mali-400 GPU. No clock rate is listed, but the SoC usually goes to 1.2GHz. The 11.6-inch, 1366 x 768-pixel eDP LCD display is supported with a touchpad module that is exposed within the separate keyboard.

Teres-A64 touch buttons board (left) and keyboard
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The Teres-A64 is further equipped with WiFi (150Mb) and Bluetooth LE 4.0, as well as an antenna. You get mini-HDMI and USB host ports, and battery management. A separate I/O board adds a second USB host port, an audio output, a speaker connector, and a microSD slot.


Teres-A64 internal electronics, without and with battery
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There’s also a camera board, dual speaker modules, and various buttons, LEDs, screws, hinges, and cables. Available in white or black, the laptop will ship with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS with Mate, Firefox browser, video player, Open Office, Arduino IDE, and IceStorm for FPGA development.

 
Further information

The Teres-A64 open source laptop kit (also called the Teres-1) is now shipping for 240 Euros ($284). More information may be found at Olimex’s Oct. 12 Teres-A64 announcement and Teres-A64 product page.