The global component shortage has made production of the original 4te
units somewhat tricky, which inspired us to new heights with the next generation - the 4te2 (pronounced "42") aka 4te Mk2.

The new generation moves to a sturdy, professional-looking, metal chassis, whilst still keeping many of the design cues of the original 4te. You'll
note the curved corners, the top/bottom grill, the front USB ports and
power button etc. There's also front access microSD.

The new unit is a fraction larger (but only a little), to accommodate an internal SSD (m.2 or 2.5" SSD formats supported) as well as a chunky
heatsink to keep the CPU cool.

There's an optional fan, which can be controlled/set to your preference, monitoring temperatures. It is very quiet, but thanks to the heatsink,
we've actually had the machine running quite happily at 2Ghz with passive
(no fan) cooling, although we do live in the chilly north of England!

This can all be controlled via a new version of 4teTools, which also adds
the option of a "soft shutdown" feature so that you can tell the computer
to turn off without pressing the on/off button.

As we mentioned, the computer has front and rear USB ports, gigabit
ethernet, and two full-size HDMI ports (supporting up to 4k resolution at
60 hz). There's also an analogue (3.5mm jack) audio connector for those
who need it.


The 4te and 4te2 share software/updates so that users of both generations
will continue to receive free updates for their computer. The 4te2 can
run both the supplied builds of RISC OS (and the updates we release), or
builds from the RISC OS Open website (nightly or full releases) -
whichever you prefer.


There are upgrade options for people who already own a Pi4 (especially as there's a shortage of Pi boards right now), and you can tailor the specs
to meet your needs.


Whilst the 4te2 might lack its predecessor's colourful presentation, we
can assure you it still has its sense of fun. This is a fast, agile
computer with loads of character :) It can best our much more expensive TiMachine and similar machines in many benchmarks, and zoom ahead if you
choose one of the supported overclock profiles.

That's right - 4te2's heatsink and cooling options allow you to safely
move past 1.5Ghz, potentially reaching as high as 2.1Ghz if you wish.
We'll chat with you and find the right profile for your needs, but you can always change it later in !4teTools.



Now, we mentioned Linux in the subject of this email, but haven't talked
about it thus far. We know that many RISC OS users prefer to stick to
RISC OS, but with 4te2, you don't have to. SSD-equipped 4te2s can be configured to dual boot Linux *at no extra cost* if you wish!

The design of 4te2 makes it easy for users to switch between OSs depending
on needs - just via a physical press on the front of the machine, you can change which OS you boot into. Because it is a hardware choice, there's
no danger of re-writing SD cards or ending up stuck in the wrong OS.

The SSDs are formatted to allow shared space between RISC OS and Linux, so
you still gain the benefits of dual-drive under RISC OS, whilst getting
high speed SSD performance for your Linux install. The hardware support
the "trim" command under Linux for keeping the SSD healthy, too, which is
nice. Linux can tap into the built-in wifi, as well as offering software
like Chromium and LibreOffice.

And for those dipping their toes into RISC OS for the first time, the 4te2
can be a fantastic Linux computer with the option of RISC OS, if you find
Linux more comfortable. You can even experiment with other OSs with ease.


We'd hoped to bring the price down even further with this release, but
sadly the aforementioned Pi shortage (an extension of the component
shortage) has tripled (yes, you read that right) the cost of a Pi board.
As such, it's quite surprisng, but we're able to (just) keep the price at 250ukp including UK VAT. Overseas customers can order VAT-free.


You can find out more at http://www.riscoscomputers.co.uk/4te2.shtml


If you have any questions, we'd be very happy to hear from you, and help
as best we can :)

Best wishes, and hope to hear from you soon!

Andrew

--
R-Comp Interactive
22 Robert Moffat, High Legh, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 6PS
Tel: 01925 755043 Fax: 01925 757377 http://www.rcomp.co.uk


_______________________________________________________________ a.m.conroy@argonet.co.uk, Moderator of comp.sys.acorn.announce.
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