this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2023
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[–] [email protected] 87 points 11 months ago (7 children)

Doesn't sound like the 'cheap small computer you can run your hobby electronics project on' that the original Pi used to be. It is not as cheap and a power hungry beast, still small, though. More and more like a PC and less and less a small cheap embedded platform. For some people it is a plus (I guess for most people here), for some not so much.

I tend to build my projects on Raspberry Pi Pico now, but sometimes I would need something more powerful and Raspberry Pi 5 will be too much.

[–] [email protected] 50 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The project goal has never been a 'cheap small computer you can run your hobby electronics project on'. The whole point of the project is to build a small cheap PC to give away to school children to increase computer literacy, while making it attractive enough for normal people to buy to fund the charity side

[–] [email protected] 17 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Isn't the Pi 3B still available for that kind of job?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago (2 children)

If you can find a new one. They are $45+ on ebay used. None of the usual US sellers has any.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

I just noticed on rpilocator that there are a couple US sellers who have RPi4-1GB boards in stock for $35. I might have to try and snag one since my Kodi device has been acting up lately.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

But there already is a device that answer that specific need, so it wouldn't make sense for the Raspberry 5 to replace it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Not that easily and cheaply as they used to be.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

And the 4B

Right now getting compute modules is the hard part. When the inevitable CM5 comes out...

[–] [email protected] 15 points 11 months ago

I'm not sure I'd call 5 watts "power hungry."

[–] [email protected] 13 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Zero and zero 2 have decent stock anymore.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

They don't have Ethernet port :( Do they support full OS?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Pi zero W has WiFi, alternatively there are hats available. And yes they can run a full Rasbian OS.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago

I’ve used pine64 boards for this. They have a few more options and are always available.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago (2 children)

You can buy beelink small form factor pcs from Amazon for around $150 with cases and power supplies included.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

But...he said that it's not as cheap as it used to be and too power hungry and you propose an 150$ PC?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I’m agreeing with them. By the time you buy the Pi 5, and all the add-ons you need, it’s going to rival these SFF systems with full x86 Intel chips with efficiency cores.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Well, yes if you need "all the add-ons".

[–] [email protected] 0 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Case, cooler, power supply, storage at minimum, dongle/adapters probably too.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I meant IF you need all the add-ons, otherwise the price gap is huge

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

It isn't, you can get SFF PCs for as little as $75 on eBay that have Quicksync CPUs and will run circles around a RPi, especially if you have to do any transcoding. They are also really power efficient... 7-20W idles.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/195163970881

SBCs really should no longer be considered for selfhosting unless you are A) in an extremely power constrained environment like an off-grid RV or vanlife situation or B) clustering

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

You're right, if there's no need of GPIO. For example I'm using a Fujitsu Futro S720 that I've bought for about 30/40€ and it consumes about 4W idle and 10/15W maximum (I don't really remember). My point of view is like yours: those boards are not good for self hosting, are good for IoT, digital signage and...mmm...I don't know what else.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

This is what I ended up doing last year and it's been great.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I think they still make the older ones if you want something middle-of-the-road.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

Yes, the numbers on a Pi aren't referring to a "version" like with the iPhone, but to it's power. A Pi Zero isn't the oldest, it's the simplest.