This looks really nice! It's a beautiful form factor. My only gripe is that I'd like the option of getting their 8GB model in this, but I suppose they must have a good reason for only offering this SKU.
Raspberry Pi 400 Desktop PC
531–540 of 776 posts
Re: Raspberry Pi 400 Desktop PC
#532I haven't followed Raspberry Pi very closely... Just curious, what kind of software can these run? Does it have a functional web browser? Can it run GMail? Google Docs?
In addition to all the standard FOSS software you can think of, Wolfram has made the full commercial version of Mathematica available for free for Raspberry Pi users. (It's a huge 600mb+ download.) It's a phenomenal thing for kids who are into math.
Re: Raspberry Pi 400 Desktop PC
#533Earlier quoted context omitted.
Our TV sits unused during work hours for the most part, I think this is less of an issue than people are making it out to be.
I've done it, both relatively recently with a laptop connected to the TV and with a Spectrum +2A in the Good Old Days. It's pretty bad, and fortunately I am not and was not a child in a troubled household, or one of two children who both need to use the same TV to get their schoolwork done.
There definitely are possible concerns. I used my computer on my nice 4k tv for a bit and really liked it -- to the point where I went out and got a cheap 4k from Walmart... and returned it the same day, latency issues. TVs aren't designed to be nice monitors, but we're talking about cases where the alternative might be nothing.
Multiple kids -- definitely an issue, but it's still one fewer setups than before.
Re: Raspberry Pi 400 Desktop PC
#534Earlier quoted context omitted.
The RPi 4 has USB 3 + UAS which is actually quite decent. I use it for Aarch64 development[1]. It boots and runs entirely off the SSD, and the performance is not spectacular but perfectly usable, and being it's a regular SSD it should be at least as reliable as a laptop. It also has a firmware bug where it cannot boot unless there is an (empty, unused) SD card in the slot, which is annoying! [1] https://rwmj.wordpres…
I boot a RPi 4 via PXE (or rather, the RPi version of PXE, which is decidedly non-standard, meh). No SD card in the slot. No problem. Are you on the latest firmware?
It seems to be an EFI bug rather than RPi firmware bug.
Re: Raspberry Pi 400 Desktop PC
#535This blows my mind. I know, it's much more incremental than it is revolutionary, but I think the form factor achieves a much greater degree of access for many people than a typical Pi whose bare hardware may be a lot more intimidating. Now, it's "just" a computer, which happens to expose a 40-pin connector for the standard Pi hardware fun. And unlike other options you might find, this has the massive built-in communi…
"I'm also old enough to remember when you'd be hard pressed to find a desktop computer for under $1000, perhaps $1500 adjusted for inflation."
I'm old enough to remember buying a 40MB hard drive for $4,000 (about $9,600 after adjusting for inflation).
Re: Raspberry Pi 400 Desktop PC
#536This is cool, but I think it's a pretty big omission not to include a trackpad/nub or something to make this fully integrated (I use a Logitech K400 with my RPI 4 and having the trackpad on board is huge) - it's not really that fun to do default NOOBs/Ubuntu with no mouse, and having an attached USB mouse while, say, sitting on a couch, is a bit lame.
The 80s systems with this form factor mostly didn't have mice, and the joysticks were just as lap-able as the keyboard.
That said, this was a timely move, and should only help them get folks up and running.
I got a full RPI 4 kit for my team for the holidays last year, and getting it all assembled and running was a huge hurdle for technical adults who've never used linux/built a computer.
Re: Raspberry Pi 400 Desktop PC
#537Can we please have a Pi without a crappy storage interface. It's either a microSD card or something dangling off USB. An M2 SATA or NVMe would make this credible but 99% of the problems I've had with the Pi platform is storage related, either being knackered microSD cards, terrible performance or USB power problems.
You are looking for in Intel NUC.
Re: Raspberry Pi 400 Desktop PC
#538Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The district couldn't secure all of the necessary Chrome Books, and some students have been left attempting remote learning via their parent's phone, or simply left behind. A cheap mass market device has some truly amazing potential to fill in these gaps at the same time that it enables more advanced S(T)EM learning than you could get with a typical cheap Chrome Book. How many households in this situation have an e…
Hopefully, people will figure out that a lot of 2nd hand stores have a lot of used monitors for sale that just sit around forever.
Small scale solutions would only create jobs for individuals and small enterprise, not corporate profits. Alternatives to consumerism is NOT welcome on hacker news.
Re: Raspberry Pi 400 Desktop PC
#539Earlier quoted context omitted.
It reminds me of what Apple does when it redefines a product category by "just" bringing together existing technology into a more convenient form factor and UX. That's a wonderful observation. The form factor is as clever as it is logical. Stuff like this makes me really optimistic for the future of Raspberry Pi (and widespread computing!).
and it is british. anecdotally in terms of longevity and development i have seen they do the best job.
Perhaps that was the case with e.g. vintage sports cars from the 50s and 60s. But I don't think the British manufacturing industry has been doing well ever since. I would love to be wrong, though.