Wohoo!
http://i.imgur.com/UOc7lDK.jpg
Just got a Raspberry Pi
Started by
Armenius Lennelluc
, Apr 04 2013 06:16 PM
8 replies to this topic
#2
Larg Kellein
Posted 04 April 2013 - 07:25 PM
I'm a massive tech geek, but this Pi thing has just completely passed me by. What are people actually doing with them that clearly makes it the best thing since the animated gif in the collective mind of the internet?
#3
Deran
Posted 04 April 2013 - 07:43 PM
It's David Braben - like the early 80s all over again. Big news here in Cambridge still.
BASIC-20100220 WOLFPACKS-1203102200
Watch me paste this pathetic palooka with a powerful, paralyzing, poifect, pachydoimous, percussion pitch.
#4
Jysella
Posted 04 April 2013 - 07:47 PM
It's a computer better than that which sent people to the moon and it's tiny? that's about all I can figure for the hype. vov
BASIC-20120108 WOLFPACKS-20120420 COVOPS-20130420
"Pretty. What do we blow up first?"
Yes, this is my freighter. No, I won't help you move.
"Pretty. What do we blow up first?"
Yes, this is my freighter. No, I won't help you move.
#5
Dior Saursi
Posted 04 April 2013 - 07:50 PM
It can be made into very specific tools so you can do various nifty things with it at a cost often higher at consumer goods that do the same thing.
#6
Armenius Lennelluc
Posted 04 April 2013 - 10:18 PM
It's cheap. There's a $25 model and a $35 model.
The $35 model has 2 USB, HDMI out, comp. Video out, ethernet port, etc. It has a 700 MHz process and a GPU capable of full bluray video out through the HDMI. It runs on USB 5V, 700/800 mA power. It's a low-power, inexpensive computer.
Personally, for my first Pi, I will be making it into a media server. Throw a basic OS on it, give it Wifi, hook it up to my TV with a wireless mouse/keyboard, and then I can stream stuff / use the browser on my TV. Currently, I have a Netflix app and stuff built in, but if I want to stream something from one of those not-necessarily-legal sites, I need a browser (so I have to hook up my laptop). I have all the other components, so it is essentially a $35 streaming box.
Once I get familiar with it and finish that goal, I'll probably get another to do more exciting things. I've already looked into making a battery pack out of a DC-DC Buck-Mode Step down (something like this: http://www.miniinthe...iy_p379006.html). Wire up some batteries into a "battery pack". Now, it's mobile. You could go the usual robot-type hobby project from here or whatever you want really.
Edit: a word
The $35 model has 2 USB, HDMI out, comp. Video out, ethernet port, etc. It has a 700 MHz process and a GPU capable of full bluray video out through the HDMI. It runs on USB 5V, 700/800 mA power. It's a low-power, inexpensive computer.
Personally, for my first Pi, I will be making it into a media server. Throw a basic OS on it, give it Wifi, hook it up to my TV with a wireless mouse/keyboard, and then I can stream stuff / use the browser on my TV. Currently, I have a Netflix app and stuff built in, but if I want to stream something from one of those not-necessarily-legal sites, I need a browser (so I have to hook up my laptop). I have all the other components, so it is essentially a $35 streaming box.
Once I get familiar with it and finish that goal, I'll probably get another to do more exciting things. I've already looked into making a battery pack out of a DC-DC Buck-Mode Step down (something like this: http://www.miniinthe...iy_p379006.html). Wire up some batteries into a "battery pack". Now, it's mobile. You could go the usual robot-type hobby project from here or whatever you want really.
Edit: a word
Edited by Armenius Lennelluc, 04 April 2013 - 10:18 PM.
#7
Othran
Posted 05 April 2013 - 06:23 AM
You will need to buy the MPEG2 and VC-1 licenses to be able to use hardware codecs if you intend using it as a mediacentre (OpenELEC works well). The two licenses cost £3.60 total from the Pi store.
I'm playing around with Python on it. Been decades since I messed about with GPIO pins 
Today's word is :
MORAL, adj. Conforming to a local and mutable standard of right. Having the quality of general expediency.
MORAL, adj. Conforming to a local and mutable standard of right. Having the quality of general expediency.
#8
Othran
Posted 05 April 2013 - 03:32 PM
In terms of powering it you are better off just buying a cheap usb wallplug that can supply 2.1A @ 5V. There's plenty out there.
You don't actually need 10.5W (2.1x5) as the max current draw I've seen is about 1.7A - 8.5W - and that's when the Pi has to deal with UI elements of the mediacentre. Its frankly not up to the job of that with anything other than the most basic UI. 1920x1080 video - no problem as its hardware accelerated (if you buy the licenses above); 1920x1080 UI = fuck this for a game of soldiers 
Running 1920x1080 video it uses just around 8W.
The Pi is the equivalent of a reasonably high-end smartphone in terms of cpu/gpu performance. It has the additional benefit of GPIO pins to control external interfaces. There are various linux distros available for it, also various custom-built mediacentre "OS" - like OpenELEC. People use them as webservers, weather stations, mediacentres, arcade game emulators built into flat top tables, the list goes on and on.
If you're really into where the Pi came from originally, BBC Micros became Acorn which in turn spun off ARM (Advanced RISC Machines) whose cpu designs now power an estimated 96% of all smartphones sold in 2012. In that vein of nostalgia then yes you can in fact run RiscOS natively (RiscOS was an OS that was contained on 1024kB of ROM, not disk, booted almost instantly); you can (again) discover the joy (not) of getting TCP/IP networking working. I'd give that one a miss personally but its quite fun for a few seconds
None of the last bit will make any sense at all to anyone outside the UK 
Edit - changed 1024MB to 1024kB. Been a long time....
Edit2 - the single most important "upgrade" you can give the Pi is to use a Class 10 SDHC card. Its a 40-60% boost in performance over cheapo cards. Judge the need yourself
Running 1920x1080 video it uses just around 8W.
The Pi is the equivalent of a reasonably high-end smartphone in terms of cpu/gpu performance. It has the additional benefit of GPIO pins to control external interfaces. There are various linux distros available for it, also various custom-built mediacentre "OS" - like OpenELEC. People use them as webservers, weather stations, mediacentres, arcade game emulators built into flat top tables, the list goes on and on.
If you're really into where the Pi came from originally, BBC Micros became Acorn which in turn spun off ARM (Advanced RISC Machines) whose cpu designs now power an estimated 96% of all smartphones sold in 2012. In that vein of nostalgia then yes you can in fact run RiscOS natively (RiscOS was an OS that was contained on 1024kB of ROM, not disk, booted almost instantly); you can (again) discover the joy (not) of getting TCP/IP networking working. I'd give that one a miss personally but its quite fun for a few seconds
None of the last bit will make any sense at all to anyone outside the UK
Edit - changed 1024MB to 1024kB. Been a long time....
Edit2 - the single most important "upgrade" you can give the Pi is to use a Class 10 SDHC card. Its a 40-60% boost in performance over cheapo cards. Judge the need yourself
Today's word is :
MORAL, adj. Conforming to a local and mutable standard of right. Having the quality of general expediency.
MORAL, adj. Conforming to a local and mutable standard of right. Having the quality of general expediency.
#9
Tonto Auri
Posted 05 April 2013 - 05:58 PM
Raspberry Pi isn't alone in these waters.
If you want a custom media center, there's more specialized offers, but R-Pi's main purpose is to teach hardware programming to a wide range of people. Yet again, it's not alone. Far from that. If you're really into hardware programming, something like http://shop.easyelec...p?productID=153 would be way better choice.
