Raspberry Pi 400 Desktop PC

Post by codethief » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 10:27 PM UTC

itsoktocry wrote: post #206

minerjoe wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

E-waste is a massive problem nowadays. Why not assemble the lab out of "old" computers? They might take a bit more electricity to run, but, at least in the US, you can get truckloads of computers that were destined for the scrapyard, for free. One local school here threw away 50+ small dell quad-core i5's in their quest to make sure they spend their money wisely. I've assembled a small lab, with many computers, laser…

> One local school here threw away 50+ small dell quad-core i5's in their quest to make sure they spend their money wisely. I think broad computer illiteracy in the general population has convinced people that you "need" a new, powerful computer. In reality, 95% of the population can get away with any decent computer from the last 10 years. Grandma isn't training a neural net, she's checking Facebook. I continue to u…

Post by JorgeGT » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 10:31 PM UTC

Scoundreller wrote: post #505

0xffff2 wrote: post #489

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For people without internet in rural areas, cell data probably isn't a solution. Unless you live in a very flat area, being too far from civilization to get wired internet significantly correlates with being too far to get good cell reception. I recently moved out of the bay area to a my house in relatively rural Oregon. I can't actually work from home though, I had to rent a second house in a nearby town because the…

Jorge is in Spain it seems, where they have more density and cellular competition.

Post by thom » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 10:39 PM UTC

dheera wrote: post #601

ineedasername wrote: post #265

This 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 wish it had a trackpoint device in the middle instead of a separate mouse. That way everything would be in one box. One less thing to carry around.

Post by Dahoon » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 10:44 PM UTC

josefresco wrote: post #610

ineedasername wrote: post #492

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1) You can hook this up to a TV. 2) Webcam isn't strictly necessary: You'll be able to "see" your teacher, type in chat, virtually raise your hand, etc. 3) This enables more advanced STEM (The "T" portion, really) not because it's a desktop but because of the built-in 40-pin connector opening it up to the massive catalog of projects that exist for the Pi platform already. 4) Perfect is the enemy of the good: You're c…

> 2) Webcam isn't strictly necessary Not in our school district (Mass), students are required to have cameras on and showing most of their face.

Post by ptx » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 10:46 PM UTC

VLM wrote: post #273

tyingq wrote: post #203

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How is the keyboard? It looks, uh, cheap, so I'm curious if typing on it is an ok experience.

Apple made the chiclet keyboard cool again. It might be OK. Gen-x who remember the TRS80 MC10 and its keyboard remember chiclet keyboards as not much better than membrane keyboards (Consider the ZX81 Spectrum) But decades later Apple started shipping chiclet-appearing keyboards that actually worked, so the style has been somewhat revitalized. That said, yeah they could be shipping a 1980s quality chiclet keyboard or…