Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer • Hacker News Board

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#271

Post by dogma1138 » Thu, Nov 26, 2015, 2:16 PM UTC

teh_klev wrote: post #53

smarx007 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't be ridiculous. $5 will get you 80% of these peripherals from eBay. Especially if you're on the budget.

Sure if you fancy the risk of your house going up in flames because you bought some dodgy no-name power supply knocked out in a Chinese electronics sweatshop.

I'm not sure that low voltage 0.5-2amp power supplies can short that badly to cause fire, but heck anything is possible. That said you can find lots of old original cellphone chargers on Ebay or just get them at yard sale or thrift/goodwill stores for about a 1$ each easily. Even if it's not a micro/mini USB power adapter most of the old Nokia chargers have pretty much the same voltage output as USB, those that are close enough can still be used (normal USB power isn't overly reliable and it's heavily rectified on the consuming end any how), worse case you'll need to add a resistor but even that's not an issue. I've powered USB powered devices with 5.5V power bricks and none of them failed on me ever (due to power supply issues any how).

Yes most Chinese cheap power supplies are very dodge indeed, but unless you are using them to charge a device with power-sense and fast-charge that drives much higher current through than USB would normally provide it shouldn't be an issue, the normal USB power specifications are very dirty and lose, in many PC's USB is grounded to the case itself which makes it a very noise power source, but considering it's only 5v and 0.5amp usually it's easily rectified with cheap solid state components so it's not an issue.

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#272

Post by privong » Thu, Nov 26, 2015, 2:17 PM UTC

forinti wrote: post #266

pjc50 wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know Brazil has prohibitive import duties on electronics, does this also apply to Chile?

But books, magazines, etc. don't pay taxes. That's why this free Rpi with MagPi #40 is awesome: you don't have to pay taxes at all.

> But books, magazines, etc. don't pay taxes. That's why this free Rpi with MagPi #40 is awesome: you don't have to pay taxes at all.

I assume you mean in Brazil? Books and very expensive in Chile, compared to other things. And I believe it's because they are heavily taxed. I don't know about magazines, though.

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#273

Post by Cthulhu_ » Thu, Nov 26, 2015, 2:17 PM UTC

Tepix wrote: post #206

abdelhadikhiati wrote: post #182

Raspberry still costs more than 100$ in my country, due the rarity of such tools sometimes we found ourselves obliged to buy it with that price and pay the difference, and even though this is such a great step, i really doubt it would have any effect on 3rd world countries where this is really needed.

Sounds like a big market opportunity (if a market exists!) - import a couple of thousand and resell them at a nice markup.

Markup + import tax (as another commenter remarked) would not really allow a competitive price range. Only way to get around that would be to assemble it in the country itself (assuming the components can be imported without those taxes)

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#274

Post by eddd » Thu, Nov 26, 2015, 2:17 PM UTC

I am no Rasberry expect, so I need to ask: Is it possible to connect Rassbery Zero to some network in some convenient way?

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#275

Post by privong » Thu, Nov 26, 2015, 2:18 PM UTC

pjc50 wrote: post #247

privong wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect it's due to the combination of low sales volumes and import taxes. Here in Chile, Pi B's are around $50–60. Though to be fair, traditional PCs and laptops are more expensive than in the US (but not 2x as expensive).

I know Brazil has prohibitive import duties on electronics, does this also apply to Chile?

> I know Brazil has prohibitive import duties on electronics, does this also apply to Chile?

To be honest, I'm not sure. VAT here is 19%, so if you are assessed duties on things you bring, you'll often pay that rate. However, I don't know what the rates are like for merchants importhing goods for sale.

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#276

Post by mentos » Thu, Nov 26, 2015, 2:22 PM UTC

What speakers/mic/battery/wifi dongle would be best to pair with this if I wanted to make my own open version of the Amazon Echo?

I could see printing a 3D shell and selling a kit for $20 with the appeal of users being able to easily break it down if they wanted to repurpose the RPi.

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#277

Post by merah » Thu, Nov 26, 2015, 2:25 PM UTC

codeshaman wrote: post #194

dkx wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They already have: https://www.raspberrypi.org/magpi/

It's out of stock :(

It's flying off the shelves, had to vist three news outlets to find one! I got a spare one for a family member too, but if they change their mind I'll gladly post to a UK address.

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#278

Post by yitchelle » Thu, Nov 26, 2015, 2:27 PM UTC

dankohn1 wrote: post #229

geofft wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This one has micro-USB ports, which mean the usual slim USB wifi interfaces will need a cable. Are there micro-USB wifi interfaces? (Is it even possible to make a similar form-factor interface that fits mostly inside a micro-USB plug?)

$3 for this is just crazy: http://www.amazon.com/Gino-Micro-Ethernet-Adapter-Tablet/dp/...

Has anyone tried this adapter with any of the Pi variants?

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#279

Post by noarchy » Thu, Nov 26, 2015, 2:29 PM UTC

codecamper wrote: post #113

The biggest problem I had with my Raspberry PI was that it is seriously slow compared to a desktop machine. It takes time to setup. Time is money, right? I suppose if you have some mass deployment to do, then great. But for the individual maker hacker.. there must be a better way to setup and experiment than waiting for this computer to reboot with the new config, recompile, etc.

If your use case is comparable to a desktop machine, maybe the RPi isn't the best choice for you. You'd get a lot more power from an old laptop, though obviously in a larger form-factor.

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#280

Post by unfocused » Thu, Nov 26, 2015, 2:32 PM UTC

pjc50 wrote: post #243

simon_vetter wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> * via Raspbmc, which I just found out has apparently ceased to exist... Try OSMC [1], it's a massive improvement over Raspbmc and is being developed actively. Works like a charm. If I'm correct, the main Raspbmc dev went over to OSMC a while back. [1] https://osmc.tv

My frequently asked question: if I want to watch and record DVB-T television, what media centre solution should I be using?

I have been running the Pi since 2012 from the early days of Raspbmc to OSMC and sometime in 2013 starting watching and recording television using it.

I have ATSC (North American Over-The-Air TV) which is similar to DVB-T. I use an HDHomerun Network TV tuner. I watch using my Pi running OSMC and an Add-on for DVBLink, and when I select record, I use DVBLink software which runs on my Synology NAS. DVBLink however is paid software that can run on the Pi, as well as many other platforms (Windows, Linux, Asustor, Netgear, QNAP, Synology, Western Digital).

I tried using TVHeadend but found the interface and support of DVBLink to be better.

My other Pi currently runs Volumio (https://volumio.org) for music streaming.