[GRLUG] another Raspberry Pi article

[Bob Kline]

Re case, people used to worry a lot
about RF leakage from a PC.  No more
I take it?  i.e., the metal case has a
function.

Re price,  I note that in the ads in
something like LJ it's common for an
outfit to price a board and case for
$300, and that I can tell they don't
do much more than this one. From
that standpoint they are quite a
bargain.

    -- Bob


On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 10:35 AM, John Wesorick <john at wesorick.com> wrote:

> I'm definitely going to get one and then hope they can get OpenELEC (
> http://openelec.tv/ XBMC-focused distro) running on ARM. Even if not,
> I've had a few other random ideas in my head that require small cheap PCs,
> like a kitchen PC with calendar and recipe book mounted in or below a
> cupboard. Stupid stuff that I would never do with a full-sized PC that cost
> any significant amount of money, isn't all that useful, but would be fun to
> do anyway.
>
> Also, they will not come with cases in the first batch, but in the article
> it says the ones released in '12 will be the same cost with a case included.
>
> On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 9:43 AM, Bob Kline <bob.kline at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 9:32 AM, Michael Mol <mikemol at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 9:18 AM, Bob Kline <bob.kline at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> > On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 8:51 AM, Michael Mol <mikemol at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> >> On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 8:34 AM, Bob Kline <bob.kline at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> >> > Re $25 and $35, and earlier item here
>>> >> > said there are two versions - the differences
>>> >> > escape me just now.
>>> >> >
>>> >> > Just playing devil's advocate, I'll ask
>>> >> > where's the beef?  By the time you hang
>>> >> > enough stuff on the board to do anything
>>> >> > with it there won't be any cost saving to
>>> >> > speak of.  One can get any number of
>>> >> > great motherboards for under $100 today.
>>> >> >
>>> >> > Just asking.....
>>> >>
>>> >> Personally, I think the Raspberry Pi is way, way overhyped, but it
>>> >> does sound like a nice little board.
>>> >>
>>> >> The beef is:
>>> >>
>>> >> 1) It's very cheap for what it does.
>>> >> 2) It's special-purpose. The feature set suggests it's designed to
>>> >> make a quick, easy, hobbyist's HTPC. Hardware decoding of h.264 will
>>> >> make that seamless.
>>> >> 3) It's ARM-based, which means its performance-per-watt is going to
>>> >> kick any x86-based competitor to the nearest Freecycle group. Low
>>> >> power consumption is something you really, really want in an HTPC.
>>> >> 4) As a combination of (2) and (3), it's very small.
>>> >> (5) At $35, nobody's going to complain too much when technology shifts
>>> >> and the demands of an HTPC outgrow it. It's nearly disposable.
>>> >>
>>> >
>>> > That should all work just fine for hobbyists.
>>> > There are clearly all shades of gray of hardware
>>> > out there, going from embedded setups to
>>> > conventional motherboards.  Years ago I used
>>> > to wire-wrap prototype boards.
>>> >
>>> > I think some of the virtues above might be
>>> > fine for production boards - e.g., power
>>> > consumption - but even for a hobbyist the
>>> > cost savings overall will be in the noise compared
>>> > to the time involved.
>>>
>>> That's why they're call them hobbyists; the time is spent having fun.
>>>
>>> > It is cheap as custom boards go.
>>>
>>> It's not a custom board, it's designed for a particular market. (That
>>> happens to be reasonably large)
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Re hobbyists, yowzer.  It's what some
>> hope their workplace will be like, but for most
>> it won't.  Retired people who have hobbies
>> get it all - except energy and stamina...
>>
>> Re custom, that's a tricky call. But not
>> worth a long thread....
>>
>>    -- Bob
>>
>>
>>
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