Raspberry Pi - $25-35 ARM Linux box w/HDMI

mkrishnan · Dec 29, 2011

This time it's more of a hobby toy for the developed world (vs. India's Simputer and similar projects). Apparently can play 1080p video and Quake III Arena. It runs off Linux on an SD card (Debian, Fedora, Arch, apparently they want to support Ubuntu but there are Ubuntu/ARM issues at the moment) and a 5v micro-USB adapter (or 4xAA if you string them up yourself). The developers want it in the hands of kids who can use it to learn programming. The $10 upgrade to $35 buys you 128MB additional memory and an ethernet port, but the first run apparently will not have a case.

http://venturebeat.com/2011/12/24/bare-bones-25-raspberry-computer-should-be-available-in-january/

http://www.raspberrypi.org/

VentureBeat said:
You might want to hold back on that $600 Mac Mini purchase for just a little bit longer. The Raspberry Pi, the little $25 computer that can run Quake 3 Arena and play HD videos, is scheduled to go into volume production in January. If you want to splurge, you can also pay a $10 premium for the fancy Model B that comes with an ethernet port and 256 instead of 128 MByte RAM.

Sounds like a fun little device, if of questionable utility. Presuming one can find an appropriate Bluetooth driver, the little USB bluetooth dongle like the one I have on my EeeBox should work to make it usable from the couch.

dmr727 · Dec 29, 2011

Very awesome! I love projects like this.

stevep · Dec 31, 2011

They're auctioning the first run of beta boards on eBay starting tonight (New Years Eve), which probably means that most of the testing stage is over and production boards will be available.

Here: http://www.raspberrypi.org/

rwilliford · Dec 31, 2011

I'm excited for this little thing. I just saw a write-up and video on it on Mashable. I think I might just get one to play around with. I think it'd be fun!

gkarris · Dec 31, 2011

mkrishnan said:
but the first run apparently will not have a case.

Ha ha, neither did Apple's first computer....

ChristianVirtual · Dec 31, 2011

I really like this idea; good learning experience for the beginners; remind me to my first ZX81.

Waiting for the first addon-project building a cluster with it for distributed computing ...

gkarris · Jan 1, 2012

ChristianJapan said:
I really like this idea; good learning experience for the beginners; remind me to my first ZX81.

Waiting for the first addon-project building a cluster with it for distributed computing ...

Try ZX80...

They should put it in a case and call it a LinuxTV...

mkrishnan · Jan 2, 2012

gkarris said:
They should put it in a case and call it a LinuxTV...

Maybe someone will start marketing a Mythbuntu product.

charlieegan3 · Mar 29, 2012

seeing as this is STILL a current event i thought i would keep this going!

I have heard that there are some big delays in the 1st batch, i was told i would have to wait until May for mine.

Anyone else got one on order?

sushi · Mar 30, 2012

It look really cool. Back to the basics of programming.

0dev · Mar 31, 2012

I believe these are now for sale in the US! Still a bit tricky to get them the UK last I checked, though, so I await further distribution before I get one to have a bit of fun with

Nermal · Mar 31, 2012

charlieegan3 said:
seeing as this is STILL a current event i thought i would keep this going!

I have heard that there are some big delays in the 1st batch, i was told i would have to wait until May for mine.

Anyone else got one on order?

I put in a request but all I've had so far is a couple of generic "coming soon" update emails. Nobody's taken my money yet so I can't complain

Edit: My request is with RS.

DJTechz · Apr 1, 2012

I live in the UK and got an email today with my link to buy one. Ordered but have an email saying we will email again "when stock is allocated to your order".

mkrishnan · Apr 7, 2012

Did it actually ship even in the US?

It looks like there was a bunch of buzz about it at the end of March, and then all shipping went on hold? All I see online are impressions of pre-production units.

Some of the posts also point out that Broadcom is providing SoC and maybe other components at cost, to enable the price. Just for general interest.

ppc_michael · Apr 8, 2012

Woah. I'd love to run a LAMP stack on one of those.

ender land · Apr 8, 2012

mkrishnan said:
Did it actually ship even in the US?

It looks like there was a bunch of buzz about it at the end of March, and then all shipping went on hold? All I see online are impressions of pre-production units.

Some of the posts also point out that Broadcom is providing SoC and maybe other components at cost, to enable the price. Just for general interest.

I am also interested in buying one but live in the USA - someone let me know if they find a way to order them in the good ole USA

ghellquist · Apr 9, 2012

ender land said:
I am also interested in buying one but live in the USA - someone let me know if they find a way to order them in the good ole USA

Go to the raspberry pi home page. There you find links to the two worldwide distributors, Farnell and RS14. Both can deliver to USA, more or less everywhere on mother earth.

It might take some time until you have it in your hand though.

Firstly, the deliveries has been delayed due to various snags, compliance testing is one of them. Seems like that is handled now and deliveries will start real soon now. Earlier problems included the factory sourcing wrong type of one of the components.

Secondly, my guess is that the first batch of 10000 units is already chalked up. Worldwide interest seems to be much larger. No word on when next batch can be expected, I guess they are doing their best but I would not hold my breath.

// Gunnar

charlieegan3 · May 25, 2012

thought i might as well dig this up to save a new thread.

Got mine this morning and have spent most of the day with it, I'm going to return it next week.

The device is exceptionally underpowered, not in terms of CPU\GPU but power, I can't run my (lowpower) mouse and KB + internet all at once! and thats with various combos of 2 powered USB hubs!

otherwise the device is impressive, but the above is a deal breaker for me.

roadbloc · May 25, 2012

Ordered one a couple of months ago. Looking forward to its arrival.

balamw · May 25, 2012

Expecting mine the week of 6/18 according to the latest email from Newark/element14.

charlieegan3: What were you using as a power supply for your Raspberry Pi?

B

afd · May 26, 2012

Mine arrived yesterday, got it started up couldn't try browsing cos wall mounted tv too far from router. Going to try and get a USB wifi dongle and see if that works.

sim667 · May 29, 2012

I build like little portable personal soundsystems as a hobby, and I was thinking about trying one of these as a media center inside one...... I just need to find like a cheapo 6 inch touchscreen and a media app that will run on one.

notjustjay · May 29, 2012

I am looking for a simple device that would turn a TV into something akin to a digital picture frame. Put in a USB stick full of photos and have it display a slideshow out the HDMI port. Something tiny that could stick onto the back of the TV and be pretty much set-and-forget (apply power, instant slideshow) would be ideal. I wonder if something like this would fit the bill...

balamw · May 29, 2012

notjustjay said:
I am looking for a simple device that would turn a TV into something akin to a digital picture frame. Put in a USB stick full of photos and have it display a slideshow out the HDMI port. Something tiny that could stick onto the back of the TV and be pretty much set-and-forget (apply power, instant slideshow) would be ideal. I wonder if something like this would fit the bill...

Functionally you should be able to get it to do just that, but since it comes without a case, etc.. so by the time you added those you could have picked up one of these:

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=330

B

notjustjay · May 30, 2012

balamw said:
Functionally you should be able to get it to do just that, but since it comes without a case, etc.. so by the time you added those you could have picked up one of these:

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=330

B

You may be right. But my application requires it to be completely turnkey. Do you know if the WDTV box can be configured to jump to slideshow immediately upon power on?

Raspberry Pi - $25-35 ARM Linux box w/HDMI

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