Raspberry Pi first batch

Help me out here. I keep hearing about Raspberry Pi as a great little computer, but what would you use it for? Is this some kind of Arduino competitor?
 
Modred189 said:
Help me out here. I keep hearing about Raspberry Pi as a great little computer, but what would you use it for? Is this some kind of Arduino competitor?
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With GPIO, you can duplicate a lot of an Arduino's functionality, but it's also a fully functional PC with video and audio output on board. It will run XBMC and common Linux distros. $35 to turn any screen with HDMI into a digital sign/streaming video client/PC workstation is a pretty good deal.
 
Modred189 said:
Help me out here. I keep hearing about Raspberry Pi as a great little computer, but what would you use it for? Is this some kind of Arduino competitor?
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It's great because it's the first non x86 desktop in a while no?
 
Just logged in to newark.com to check on ship date again since it last said March 30th.

Expected Ship Date: 16 Aug 2012

Nooo!
 
The first batch apparently arrived in the UK today and it is now waiting on CE certification(s).
 
Man its taking forever. AFAIK no one has received any Rpi from the 1st batch.
I'm still on the waiting list to order one.
 
The first batch was supposed to ship without CE certification(s) due to the foundation intending to ship it as a developer board without a case.

Their distributors, however, were not comfortable with this, and required that the certifications be completed before shipping the first batch.

Previously, the first batch was assumed exempt from this testing, hence the delays and unplanned testing.
 
Ars had a few more details from the RPi makers. The first batch of 2000 boards arrived and...

According to the foundation, the exact delivery dates won't be locked in until either the testing is complete or the BIS steps in and supplies a statement that satisfies the foundation's retail partners. This could potentially result in further delays in delivery.
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The retail channels are the ones refusing to take delivery without CE certification and the RPi makers didn't think it was necessary since the Beagleboard ships without it. So they're trying both avenues, CE compliance testing and trying to get a statement to show it is exempt.

The most shocking part of this really is that only 2000 boards have been delivered so far for distribution. It's nearly April. Delays can happen, but this is really showing how inexperienced the RPi makers are at producing a product.
 
It's not really their fault since originally the units were to be used for teaching purposes only and the demand would have been low. Once the word got out and the general computer enthusiast learned that they could get a very low cost computer to play with, the demand skyrocketed resulting in the mess we are in now. I had my eye on purchasing several when I heard about them last year before the media picked it up, but once the shark frenzy started, I have relegated myself to picking up a few probably sometime next fall or even later. There will be plenty to go around and they will also evolve.....the longer you wait, the better the product.
 
MajorDomo said:
It's not really their fault since originally the units were to be used for teaching purposes only and the demand would have been low. Once the word got out and the general computer enthusiast learned that they could get a very low cost computer to play with, the demand skyrocketed resulting in the mess we are in now. I had my eye on purchasing several when I heard about them last year before the media picked it up, but once the shark frenzy started, I have relegated myself to picking up a few probably sometime next fall or even later. There will be plenty to go around and they will also evolve.....the longer you wait, the better the product.
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Out of curiosity, what are your plans for them? Just for fun to play with? Are you using it for something? I could see these being really great with a little thumb drive for a car PC.
 
Verge said:
Recently? G5 maybe.
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A Beagleboard or Pandaboard are ARM boards would run circles around the Raspberry Pi. The Beagleboard is a 1GHz single core OMAP 3 where the Pandaboard has a 1.2GHz dual-core OMAP 4 in it. They are both ~$150 so significantly more than the Raspberry Pi.
 
MajorDomo said:
It's not really their fault since originally the units were to be used for teaching purposes only and the demand would have been low. Once the word got out and the general computer enthusiast learned that they could get a very low cost computer to play with, the demand skyrocketed resulting in the mess we are in now. I had my eye on purchasing several when I heard about them last year before the media picked it up, but once the shark frenzy started, I have relegated myself to picking up a few probably sometime next fall or even later. There will be plenty to go around and they will also evolve.....the longer you wait, the better the product.
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They've been pretty unprofessional during this whole thing. Playing like they're the victim because of these issues, but they failed to plan. They've also touted "features" of their product like video encoding, then when people correct them by saying that feature is locked out they say "Yeah, because it's too expensive". You can't advertise a feature that isn't there.
 
Maximus825 said:
They've been pretty unprofessional during this whole thing. Playing like they're the victim because of these issues, but they failed to plan.
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Yeah, by the time the design was finalized and the order placed a couple of months ago, many of the "surprises" were already known. The Ethernet jack/reworking problem wasn't the RPi maker's fault, but pretty much everything else in the rocky launch is. Inexperience is a huge part of it, with no alternatives like hiring expertise since the whole project was run on a shoe-string budget.

Regardless, when CE certification is finished, the boards should finally start shiping to end users shortly after. The process usually takes 3-6 weeks (if it passes), so don't expect to receive the boards before that. And good FSM if it doesn't pass/needs reworking yet again. :eek:
 
Will it blend?

Yes. We have conducted extensive virtual simulations. No Raspberry Pis were harmed in the testing.
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Gotta love the FAQ section!
 
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