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Raspberry Pi 5: available now

raspberrypi.com

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Re: Raspberry Pi 5: available now

#141
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm with you on this. I have the Pi Zero W and Pi Zero 2 W. These are IMO the ideal devices in their lineup. Maybe I'm just nostalgic for when computers had limitations but I love them. I have the old one running PiHole, (so DNS stays up if I reboot my server) and the other doing monitoring. I've had zero problems doing everything over wifi, and actually being wifi is a benefit for my internet monitoring since wifi g…

Pi Zero 2 W are still hard to find. Even though the Rpi 4 supplies have gotten better in the past few months.

https://rpilocator.com/

It's been in stock for months every time I cared to look.

Re: Raspberry Pi 5: available now

#142

I'm sorry but it got too expensive and hence lost its main advantage. These days I use second-hand desktop mini-pcs that cost minimally more than the full Rpi set (charger, CD card, case, SBC) but are much more powerful. For anything involving WiFi/IoT, I use ESP32 - far less expensive and very easy to use. And for cases where WiFi is not needed, we have tons of interesting solutions and few reasons to use the Pi.

> I'm sorry but it got too expensive and hence lost its main advantage. I don't think that estimate takes into account the power savings you'd get from an ARM sbc versus a NUC or NUC-like minipic.

> I don't think that estimate takes into account the power savings (...)

I don't think this is relevant. RPis cost is a critical factor in it's usefulness as a disposable toy computing platform, not web servers that need to run 24/7.

Moreover, that cost is further worsened by the need to buy a custom power supply.

Re: Raspberry Pi 5: available now

#143
post #7
post #2

But is it still the most attractive SBC at its price point?

You have 3 choices: 1. Raspberry Pi 2. X86 System 3. Barely functioning SOCs with no mainline support and major software issues until eternity.

For three: look into second hand Chromeboxes.

Re: Raspberry Pi 5: available now

#144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are the two high RAM models but I expect the low RAM model to retain the same $35 price. That's no microntroller cost but if you can get away with such they also have the Pico these days which is $4.

Pico has its own problems: 1. VQFN package is a pain to deal with. You can't use a soldering iron, so its reflow-only and therefore requires hotplate + reflow hot air to deal with. Due to the difficulty of rework, you likely can't use the soldering iron+solder wick technique to fix solder bridges, for example... and therefore also require a soldering stencil to work with (gotta deposit the correct amount of solder-pa…

How do you feel about the esp32's? I know there's a few variants of the 32 with different capabilities, but how do you feel about using that as a general purpose MCU including projects that might not need wifi/bt?

I'm somewhat surprised they didn't go with these as they seem relatively powerful+low deep sleep, with builtin wifi/bt, etc? Their analog input I think is limited though

Re: Raspberry Pi 5: available now

#145

I'm sorry but it got too expensive and hence lost its main advantage. These days I use second-hand desktop mini-pcs that cost minimally more than the full Rpi set (charger, CD card, case, SBC) but are much more powerful. For anything involving WiFi/IoT, I use ESP32 - far less expensive and very easy to use. And for cases where WiFi is not needed, we have tons of interesting solutions and few reasons to use the Pi.

The main advantage of the Pi is the ecosystem and availability/consistency, not the price. The hardware is known and well documented has the best OS support. If I have issues, I can just move the SD card to another one, or just reflash another SD with 0 downtime or fuss.

Sure, but the reason it generated that ecosystem was because of the price. I remember when the first Pi's were being marketed, and "the $30 computer" was absolutely the main selling point being pushed.

Re: Raspberry Pi 5: available now

#146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pico has its own problems: 1. VQFN package is a pain to deal with. You can't use a soldering iron, so its reflow-only and therefore requires hotplate + reflow hot air to deal with. Due to the difficulty of rework, you likely can't use the soldering iron+solder wick technique to fix solder bridges, for example... and therefore also require a soldering stencil to work with (gotta deposit the correct amount of solder-pa…

How do you feel about the esp32's? I know there's a few variants of the 32 with different capabilities, but how do you feel about using that as a general purpose MCU including projects that might not need wifi/bt? I'm somewhat surprised they didn't go with these as they seem relatively powerful+low deep sleep, with builtin wifi/bt, etc? Their analog input I think is limited though

ESP32 honestly feels like its a WiFi/Bluetooth chip that people are hacking into a kinda-sorta usable uC. Probably because... that's what it actually is...

If you need WiFi/Bluetooth, it seems like ESP32 is a good fit. If not, its kind of awful with regards to integration.

---------

I know that not everyone's doing mixed-signal projects. But ADC, Comparators, OpAmps, Timers are just so damn useful. And STM32, AVR, TI all offer a huge amount of analog-components in practice (with pros/cons to each).

Given how absurdly cheap uCs are today, the minute you say "Oh, lemme just get an I2C ADC to add to the ESP32", and suddenly you realize that the AVR64EA32 chip over there is probably the best "I2C ADC" under $2 (16x PGA, 12-bit Differential 350kSample/sec), and you're suddenly wondering what the ESP32 was supposed to be doing if you're not using WiFi/Bluetooth.

Re: Raspberry Pi 5: available now

#147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Once an 8GB pi cost more than an i3 or i5 mini pc But the Pi probably costs less once you factor in energy costs, no?

X86 machines have had perfectly fine idle wattages for ages now. I’m not sure why people think an x86 machine is sucking 50W at all times or something.

It's because ATX PSU desktops have high idle whereas a laptop, embedded device, or ATX12VO doesn't. People mean different power delivery methods and bundle it all up under x86 vs ARM

Re: Raspberry Pi 5: available now

#148
post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm sorry but it got too expensive and hence lost its main advantage. I don't think that estimate takes into account the power savings you'd get from an ARM sbc versus a NUC or NUC-like minipic.

> I don't think that estimate takes into account the power savings (...) I don't think this is relevant. RPis cost is a critical factor in it's usefulness as a disposable toy computing platform, not web servers that need to run 24/7. Moreover, that cost is further worsened by the need to buy a custom power supply.

I have two RPi 4s that run 24/7 that I will likely replace with a 5.

> Moreover, that cost is further worsened by the need to buy a custom power supply.

But you don’t need to?

Re: Raspberry Pi 5: available now

#150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main advantage of the Pi is the ecosystem and availability/consistency, not the price. The hardware is known and well documented has the best OS support. If I have issues, I can just move the SD card to another one, or just reflash another SD with 0 downtime or fuss.

Sure, but the reason it generated that ecosystem was because of the price. I remember when the first Pi's were being marketed, and "the $30 computer" was absolutely the main selling point being pushed.

I think both are true.

The low price point got me into them over a decade ago. The ecosystem is why I prefer them even at their top spec lines.

Even at their current prices, the 8GB versions are inexpensive enough to grab instead of a 4GB one, even if there is no initial need.

And I don’t have to deal with the process of buying second hand, maybe will work, maybe won’t, items.

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