Fun Geek Stuff: Raspberry Pi!

I know I am not the only geek out there. And every geek loves fun toys to play with. So I will be occasionally highlighting these toys here.

The latest toy in my collection, is the Raspberry Pi. What IS this toy? A computer…the size of a credit card. It was made by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in the UK, a charitable organization.

Of course, to be expected, a computer that small is not going to be a powerhorse. But it is powerful for what it is. Model B comes barebones for $35. Yes…only $35. Unlike other motherboards, the CPU and RAM are built onto it. So it truly is a bargain. This system is geared towards being a cheap option for students for learning programming. And it runs off of Linux, which is FREE. (There is a special Debian based Linux called “Raspbian” made just for the Pi.

Specs: Broadcom ARM11 with 512MB RAM. It runs at 700Mhz, and has a Videocore 4 GPU (capable of Blu-ray quality video playback.) It comes with a Micro USB slot for a power supply, so you can use your phone charger to run this! It also has two USB ports, an HDMI out for a display, an RCA yellow out as an alternative display option, and an audio jack for speakers/headphone. LAN port is offered for internet, although you can alternatively use a USB port to put in a wireless dongle. GPIO is offered for expansion, and instead of a hard drive, there is an on board SD slot.

This is very hard to get right now, and is on backorders and waiting lists on most sites offering it. Where can you order it? These are the exclusive suppliers. (Any other sites you find them will cost more, and are merely retailers getting them from the following suppliers.)

• Element 14 – powered by Premier Farnell
• RS – UK based
• Allied Electronics – US partner of RS

So, if you are looking to get this cute little thing, what should you get as accessories?

• For starters, an SD card, with at least 4GB, to run the OS
• A micro USB cable and power supply, capable of 700mA.
• either an HDMI cable, or an RCA yellow/video (to either connect to your existing HDTV or to an older TV with RCA yellow inputs)
• a case – you want to protect this!
• either a USB internet dongle or an LAN cable
• USB mouse and keyboard
• a SELF POWERED USB hub, to supplement the only two on board USBs. It is very important that it is self powered because the power supply will not be powerful enough on the Pi to run all your USB devices.

For more about the Raspberry Pi, check out the community site: http://www.raspberrypi.org/

Before I finish this post, I wanted to show off the cutest Pi case out there: the PiBow! I did not get this one myself, because it was a bit too pricey to justify, but I just love it!

 Each color layer kinda snaps in separately. This builds around the Pi kinda like a Lego block. As a point of interest, this case was designed by the same person who created the Raspberry Pi logo. You can get one from Adafruit: http://www.adafruit.com/products/975

Now go get your geek on! 🙂