The Raspberry Pi Foundation Raspberry Pi 2 Model B

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
Joined
May 9, 2000
Messages
75,399
The new edition Raspberry Pi 2 Model B can only be described as a resounding success, selling more than a half-million units in the first three weeks the Pi was available to the public. If you tried the original Raspberry Pi, you will love its big brother on steroids (actually the same size) . With a larger, more powerful chip and a full GB of on board RAM, this unit is set to run Windows 10 when it is released. :cool:
 
I was reading MakeIt magazine about this. I like the fact they are moving to compete with the edison on the performance level.
 
Mine came in a few days ago from MCM Electronics. It's noticeably faster than the original. Alas, I haven't had time enough to do much other than set up Raspbian and do some video streaming.
 
I got it as a kit with other essential components. Its running great even without overclocking though I did run into issues with my func mechanical keyboard attached to it (perhaps because of the onboard storage on the keyboard not playing well with the boot config file on pi).
We should see other distros remade for this version, but for now Raspbian and ubuntu core work well with it. The new GPIO pin layout is pretty nice with the 40 pins for projects.
 
Awesome! I installed one of the first gen Pis at my mum's place, running as a UniFi controller. It's been fantastic. Can't wait to get my hands on the new one, can probably load it down with even more stuff :3
 
So I received mine a few days ago and its been great so far. All cores are recognized in Raspbian but the only thing I wish is that the OS could be more optimized for the board. Guess that will come with time, that's what us people get for hoping on so damn early :p

Also, mine is very camera shy but nothing a little enclosure can't fix :D
 
hardcase said:
Mine came in a few days ago from MCM Electronics. It's noticeably faster than the original. Alas, I haven't had time enough to do much other than set up Raspbian and do some video streaming.
Click to expand...

Did they fix the issue where USB utilization would slow down ethernet speeds due to bus saturation?
 
What are you guys even using it for though?

A carputer? Use a tablet.

A HTPC? Use a more powerful NUC.

A home server? If just for one drive, hook up a 6TB external USB3 to your router, or if a real server spend $199 for a Dell T20.

And if you need a really mobile small computer, why not hook up the $500-800 smartphone you already have on you almost always?

I could understand maybe if I was in Africa and $35 was a lot of money to me and I couldn't afford all the alternatives, sure. But, 'Murica? Don't understand.
 
Ducman69 said:
What are you guys even using it for though?

A carputer? Use a tablet.

A HTPC? Use a more powerful NUC.

A home server? If just for one drive, hook up a 6TB external USB3 to your router, or if a real server spend $199 for a Dell T20.

And if you need a really mobile small computer, why not hook up the $500-800 smartphone you already have on you almost always?

I could understand maybe if I was in Africa and $35 was a lot of money to me and I couldn't afford all the alternatives, sure. But, 'Murica? Don't understand.
Click to expand...

All of your options fail in at least one way:

1) No wired connection

and/or

2) More wasteful, whether in direct cost for the hardware or in energy costs.

Oh wait. #2 is a virtue cause 'MURICA.
 
There's a 2 watt idle power draw difference between a NUC and Pi. If you ran them 24x7 and never turned them off, 2 watts a year at 9 cents per KWH is $1.50 a year.

That's half the cost of a chick-fil-a chicken sammich. Literally.
 
I am personally interested because: 1) The price, 2) Various projects I could do, and 3) Being able to give my kids a development system for dirt cheap.

I've been teaching my 11 and 12 y/o programming basics. One is learning, but has some conceptual barriers to overcome. The 12 y/o is doing great with python, so I may move him over to linux and have him build some projects of his own.
 
Ducman69 said:
There's a 2 watt idle power draw difference between a NUC and Pi. If you ran them 24x7 and never turned them off, 2 watts a year at 9 cents per KWH is $1.50 a year.

That's half the cost of a chick-fil-a chicken sammich. Literally.
Click to expand...

Like I said with #2, cost.

NUC: $150 to $350

PI: $35
 
The only interest I could see in Pi is to build cheap automation for lighting, water fountains etc. you have around the household.
 
Just got my PI 2 a couple days ago, only had time to turn it on and install Raspbian. Like how little of the CPU is getting used now, will fiddle some more when more time.
 
Just don't try to take a photo of the board while it's on with a Xenon-based flash ;)
 
Ducman69 said:
A home server? If just for one drive, hook up a 6TB external USB3 to your router, or if a real server spend $199 for a Dell T20.
Click to expand...

I've had two routers with such a feature. Both had either all or nothing security. Completely open or router password. If I want to share use of the disk, I'm not handing out the router password to anyone.

Also I can rig up some form of auto backup with the Pi.

Also, I can run btsync on it to have a non-cloud drop box out of my home. Its not perfect but works well enough with decent interent/sharing/security functionality.
 
Ducman69 said:
What are you guys even using it for though?

A carputer? Use a tablet.

A HTPC? Use a more powerful NUC.

A home server? If just for one drive, hook up a 6TB external USB3 to your router, or if a real server spend $199 for a Dell T20.

And if you need a really mobile small computer, why not hook up the $500-800 smartphone you already have on you almost always?

I could understand maybe if I was in Africa and $35 was a lot of money to me and I couldn't afford all the alternatives, sure. But, 'Murica? Don't understand.
Click to expand...

I think, to me at least, it's a case of the price being low enough and possibilities being high enough that you do it just for shits. It's a modern day hobbiest board.
 
I bought an original Pi back in the day. It's a fun little box to mess around with.
Though it completely failed in media center duties due to the audio. It was just too noisy to be usable (as in noise nearly as loud as the media audio). Hopefully that's cleared up in later revisions.

Still, as fun sandbox to mess around in, it's a good buy.
 
Ducman69 said:
What are you guys even using it for though?

A carputer? Use a tablet.

A HTPC? Use a more powerful NUC.

A home server? If just for one drive, hook up a 6TB external USB3 to your router, or if a real server spend $199 for a Dell T20.

And if you need a really mobile small computer, why not hook up the $500-800 smartphone you already have on you almost always?

I could understand maybe if I was in Africa and $35 was a lot of money to me and I couldn't afford all the alternatives, sure. But, 'Murica? Don't understand.
Click to expand...

It's a developer board, ARM based and is designed to be an entry level device with a healthy ecosystem.
 
techrat said:
All of your options fail in at least one way:

1) No wired connection

and/or

2) More wasteful, whether in direct cost for the hardware or in energy costs.

Oh wait. #2 is a virtue cause 'MURICA.
Click to expand...

Honestly I don't think his statements are that wrong however I think he is misdirected on the major uses for raspberry pi. I see people largely using it for custom electronics where the I/O options are simply not possible or available or accessible on any mass market consumer devices. Most of the time I see people building devices they still go up near $100 or more but you cant get the sensors or other things on any $50 tablet.
 
I ordered one. Going to completely revamp my home automation system to use it. Right now I have a 1U server that then has a relay controller and arduino connected to it. I can replace all that with a Pi and a few external relay/bit shift IO boards that I make myself. All nice and tidy in a nema enclosure.
 
Red Squirrel said:
I ordered one. Going to completely revamp my home automation system to use it. Right now I have a 1U server that then has a relay controller and arduino connected to it. I can replace all that with a Pi and a few external relay/bit shift IO boards that I make myself. All nice and tidy in a nema enclosure.
Click to expand...

I thought this came on an arduino board?
 
If someone was to get into projects using this new Pi (or the old one I'm sure), what are some of the best resources for such things?
Anyone have any favorites?
 
I just one want that will reasonably quick run a browser and display to HDMI. I didn't get enough out of the first one, so I got the odroid one and it rocks as a surveillance monitor that requires almost no power and attaches to the back of the display.
 
tazeat said:
I just one want that will reasonably quick run a browser and display to HDMI. I didn't get enough out of the first one, so I got the odroid one and it rocks as a surveillance monitor that requires almost no power and attaches to the back of the display.
Click to expand...

I still think the ODroid C1 is the better buy of the two with the Pi2 update, if only because the C1 uses a more reliable barrel pin connector for power and has an IR Receiver. (And twice as much ram.)

I kind of use a similar board as these ARM setups as my print, ups and chat (CenterIM and idle clients in IRC) server. Seagate released the Dockstar which was just a custom built SheevaPlug with less ram. Slight modification to uBoot and you could boot anything you wanted from USB. Debian is the most popular distro for it. I set mine up to do a few things and purposely left it running as long as I could without updates.

h1dcojK.png


I could have kept it going even then but decided to tear down my setup to reorganize the cart and update the Dockstar to Wheezy. Nothing prevented me from keeping it going. Damned reliable little board that continues to be one of my most useful and rewarding projects ever.

Whether or not you get why people would want to bother with such "underpowered" hardware... there's no denying you can do some pretty nifty things with low power ARM boards.
 
tazeat said:
I just one want that will reasonably quick run a browser and display to HDMI. I didn't get enough out of the first one, so I got the odroid one and it rocks as a surveillance monitor that requires almost no power and attaches to the back of the display.
Click to expand...

Take a look into edison as well. That's an ultra low powered dual core atom with an ICC and a very awesome community behind it too.

I like the odroid but have yet to buy one.
 
techrat said:
I still think the ODroid C1 is the better buy of the two with the Pi2 update, if only because the C1 uses a more reliable barrel pin connector for power and has an IR Receiver. (And twice as much ram.)

I kind of use a similar board as these ARM setups as my print, ups and chat (CenterIM and idle clients in IRC) server. Seagate released the Dockstar which was just a custom built SheevaPlug with less ram. Slight modification to uBoot and you could boot anything you wanted from USB. Debian is the most popular distro for it. I set mine up to do a few things and purposely left it running as long as I could without updates.

h1dcojK.png


I could have kept it going even then but decided to tear down my setup to reorganize the cart and update the Dockstar to Wheezy. Nothing prevented me from keeping it going. Damned reliable little board that continues to be one of my most useful and rewarding projects ever.

Whether or not you get why people would want to bother with such "underpowered" hardware... there's no denying you can do some pretty nifty things with low power ARM boards.
Click to expand...
The memory is the same unless your talking about some variant. From what I can tell they're the same board where the pi sacrificed generalized flexibility for video & audio output.
 
techrat said:
Did they fix the issue where USB utilization would slow down ethernet speeds due to bus saturation?
Click to expand...

I don't think so - everything still shares the same USB 2.0 bus, so 480Mb/s is all you get. I use a wifi dongle. It's not fast enough to cause problems.
 
Ducman69 said:
What are you guys even using it for though?

A carputer? Use a tablet.

A HTPC? Use a more powerful NUC.

A home server? If just for one drive, hook up a 6TB external USB3 to your router, or if a real server spend $199 for a Dell T20.

And if you need a really mobile small computer, why not hook up the $500-800 smartphone you already have on you almost always?

I could understand maybe if I was in Africa and $35 was a lot of money to me and I couldn't afford all the alternatives, sure. But, 'Murica? Don't understand.
Click to expand...

We use them at a local museum for interactive multimedia displays. They easily handle DVD-quality video. A panel with four momentary contact switches connected to the GPIO interface lets patrons select the videos they want to watch.

It's easy to make a clean and professional installation because the only cable is a power cord to the monitor/TV that's mounted to a wall.

The videos are served out of one computer in the curator's office, so it's easy-peasy to update them.

You should check out the prices of purpose-designed museum multimedia equipment. The vendors must think that all museums are funded like the Smithsonian.
 
I use mine for a WiFi enabled (shooting)Range-Cam. I plant the PI with camera module up at the targets, and use my tablet to watch the results of the shots. Makes easier shot groupings easier to see.

The biggest benefits are that if it gets blasted, I'm out a $35-60 piece of gear, versus a more expensive outlay. Also, I can power it for hours (days, even) with a cheap battery pack. I cant say this for my tablets or phones.

Its also a neat gadget that lets me tinker and develop more easily. I'm familiar with 'nix, and notatall, with android development.
 
Sigh... I know that is cool to blindly love microsoft, but please stop telling lies, the Pi 2 version of winblows is the IoT version, no gui, no x86 compatibility, etc.

Why don't you bother in mentioning that Raspian is a full blown Linux distro, GUI and everything, instead of continue spreading microcrap malware?

Something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSGxbcy9EUs

Seriously, get some help, you are showing signs of Stockholm syndrome.
 
Ducman69 said:
I could understand maybe if I was in Africa and $35 was a lot of money to me and I couldn't afford all the alternatives, sure.
Click to expand...

These are used for small-size projects which require very low power and a very low form factor.
They are also good for learning how to program, and for other small projects.

I'm using one as a backup server, and another will be used in a robot which will be built soon for the camera and audio recognition unit, paired with a custom Arduino board.

But, 'Murica? Don't understand.
Click to expand...
These are actually made in the UK, just fyi. ;)
 
Red Falcon said:
...another will be used in a robot which will be built soon for the camera and audio recognition unit, paired with a custom Arduino board.
Click to expand...

A robot?! Will it have lasers? Will it KILL US ALL?! Should I start stocking up on old bottle caps so I have acceptable currency in the future? :eek:
 
jpm100 said:
The memory is the same unless your talking about some variant. From what I can tell they're the same board where the pi sacrificed generalized flexibility for video & audio output.
Click to expand...

Not even close. The ODroid C1 uses Mali for graphics, the RasPi uses Broadcomm. The C1 has 1GB Ram, the RasPi tops out at 512MB with only the Pi2 having 1GB. Pi2 has a quadcore 900Mhz SOC, the C1 has a quadcore 1.5Ghz SOC. C1 has Gigabit ethernet, the Pi does not.

Even with the Pi2 update, there's not much competition. The C1 is much better.
 
Bullitt said:
I use mine for a WiFi enabled (shooting)Range-Cam. I plant the PI with camera module up at the targets, and use my tablet to watch the results of the shots. Makes easier shot groupings easier to see.

The biggest benefits are that if it gets blasted, I'm out a $35-60 piece of gear, versus a more expensive outlay. Also, I can power it for hours (days, even) with a cheap battery pack. I cant say this for my tablets or phones.

Its also a neat gadget that lets me tinker and develop more easily. I'm familiar with 'nix, and notatall, with android development.
Click to expand...
Sounds fantastic. I have a shitty tripod scope that I always seem to bump right before I look through it, lol.

Pics or it didn't happen.
 
grtitan said:
Sigh... I know that is cool to blindly love microsoft, but please stop telling lies, the Pi 2 version of winblows is the IoT version, no gui, no x86 compatibility, etc.

Why don't you bother in mentioning that Raspian is a full blown Linux distro, GUI and everything, instead of continue spreading microcrap malware?

Something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSGxbcy9EUs

Seriously, get some help, you are showing signs of Stockholm syndrome.
Click to expand...

Yeah I don't even care about the fact that it has windows. Sadly this is more than likely a ploy by MS to push 10 as it will keep getting mentioned when people/news sites etc talk about the PI. In schools they may also use Windows instead of Linux when using it as a teaching tool if it's easier to setup. I just hope the Pi does not turn into a Windows ecosystem where there wont be much Linux support anymore.
 
Red Squirrel said:
Yeah I don't even care about the fact that it has windows. Sadly this is more than likely a ploy by MS to push 10 as it will keep getting mentioned when people/news sites etc talk about the PI. In schools they may also use Windows instead of Linux when using it as a teaching tool if it's easier to setup. I just hope the Pi does not turn into a Windows ecosystem where there wont be much Linux support anymore.
Click to expand...

Then, by all means, don't ever go to ArsT, that place is lost to crapple and microcrap fanbois, especially the staff and by consequence, the articles.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top