Author Topic: Full computer for $25 (Read 44616 times)

TimO · « **Reply #25 on:** 29 February, 2012, 07:37:46 am »

Quote from: rusky on 29 February, 2012, 07:15:00 am

RS "Register here to express an interest in Raspberry Pi"

There are also reports on Twitter that RS won't sell to private individuals!!

That always used to be the case, they used to have another company that would (at a premium), although I forget the name.

I may be able to get one through work, and can possibly justify it. If they limit sales to one per company then no chance!

rusky · « **Reply #26 on:** 29 February, 2012, 07:57:25 am »

I get the impression that Pi weren't expecting RS to be B2B only.

Woofage · « **Reply #27 on:** 29 February, 2012, 08:20:15 am »

I've registered with RS. Farnell's website seems to have fallen over!

MattH · « **Reply #28 on:** 29 February, 2012, 08:47:32 am »

My son has been avidly following this, desperate to get his hands on one. I guess that means it's hitting the target market!

It is just like being back in the 80s though - Model A, Model B, order now and it'll come in 28 days (OK, 30 according to Farnell).

spenceey · « **Reply #29 on:** 29 February, 2012, 10:20:27 am »

Looking forward to these - hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on a model b before long.

TimO · « **Reply #30 on:** 29 February, 2012, 11:53:16 am »

I think the implication of the "wait 28 days" bit, is that they'll need to put in another order (or presumably Farnell and/or RS will) to the manufacturers.

I wonder how anybody managed to get an order in? I've yet to get anything better than an error page from Farnell (and RS either isn't taking orders, or has hidden them really well).

David Martin · « **Reply #31 on:** 29 February, 2012, 12:02:57 pm »

Farnell is S L O W but getting there. Apparently they will take telephone orders but are quoting delivery end of April.

dasmoth · « **Reply #32 on:** 29 February, 2012, 12:05:00 pm »

A few people on Hacker News seem to have managed to get an order through to Farnell. The common factor seems to be a lot of patience. Really, this seems to be just the job for "Fulfilment by Amazon" or a similar service.

I'd love to have one, but have low patience for dealing with bad/overloaded ordering systems. Now that production has started, I'm sure there'll be an easy way to get hold of on in a few months time.

TimO · « **Reply #33 on:** 29 February, 2012, 12:06:20 pm »

I'm glad I didn't need to urgently buy any components from Farnell today!

MattH · « **Reply #34 on:** 29 February, 2012, 12:06:54 pm »

Quote from: TimO on 29 February, 2012, 11:53:16 am

I think the implication of the "wait 28 days" bit, is that they'll need to put in another order (or presumably Farnell and/or RS will) to the manufacturers.

Yes, I'm sure it is. It just reminds me of the days (30 years ago!) when Sinclair promised 28 day delivery that turned into 3+ months. I'm sure that won't happen in this case - contract manufacturing is far more scalable now.

Quote

I wonder how anybody managed to get an order in? I've yet to get anything better than an error page from Farnell (and RS either isn't taking orders, or has hidden them really well).

I've got an order in with Farnell (with delivery quoted as end of March - got in about 8am; I was online at 6 as MrsH needed to be up early today by pure co-incidence). RS does seem to just be collecting email addresses for an order process at the end of the week - and was doing so from the start (when their site worked). I'm sure the press coverage isn't helping RS and Farnell at the moment - they must be suffering on their normal business.

Woofage · « **Reply #35 on:** 29 February, 2012, 12:09:52 pm »

Having used both Farnell and RS Components in a previous life, both companies are very efficient in dealing with orders and deliver on time. I think this is just a case of demand exceeding both expectations and system capabilities. I'm sure Amazon would experience a similar problem.

David Martin · « **Reply #36 on:** 29 February, 2012, 12:15:35 pm »

I can imagine the guys in cambridge sitting there going 'one meeelion Pi'..

Still struggleing with the farnell web site.

tiermat · « **Reply #37 on:** 29 February, 2012, 12:23:55 pm »

TBH, like most bits of tech, I am holding off a little until they are easier to get hold of. If things go as per their plan then by the end of March/beginning of April supply should be flowing and it should be possible to just rock up at the RS website (or Farnell) and order one, getting it within a few days.

If I tried to get one now, the following would happen:
1) I would get stressed out at constantly entering and re-entering my details on the site, only to lose them when it times out.
2) if I finally got an order through when it arrived it would probably just sit on my desk for a few more weeks or months until I got time and inclination to do anything with it.

So I can wait

Woofage · « **Reply #38 on:** 29 February, 2012, 12:30:01 pm »

Quote from: tiermat on 29 February, 2012, 12:23:55 pm

2) if I finally got an order through when it arrived it would probably just sit on my desk for a few more weeks or months until I got time and inclination to do anything with it.

So I can wait

^ this

.

Phil · « **Reply #39 on:** 29 February, 2012, 12:31:22 pm »

I've just come to a similar conclusion whilst hovering over the 'buy' button on Farnell.

There are Awesome Robotic Possibilities inherent in the thing though.

David Martin · « **Reply #40 on:** 29 February, 2012, 12:41:23 pm »

yes, ... but ..

I suppose waiting a day or so would be a smart idea..

simonp · « **Reply #41 on:** 29 February, 2012, 12:46:17 pm »

The processor chip in the Pi is capable of full HD encode/decode. I wonder if a homebrew helmet cam is feasible?

urban_biker · « **Reply #42 on:** 29 February, 2012, 12:47:37 pm »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17190918

That's really rather cool. Just about to download the scratch package mentioned on the BBC video so I can teach my boys some simple programming.

simonp · « **Reply #43 on:** 29 February, 2012, 12:50:07 pm »

Heh, didn't realise Eben was involved.

tom_e · « **Reply #44 on:** 29 February, 2012, 12:50:44 pm »

Ooo, I went to school with that Eben Upton guy. Feel like I should buy one now but I'm not sure what I need it for. $:-\$

andyoxon · « **Reply #45 on:** 29 February, 2012, 12:51:03 pm »

So what are people going to do with R-Pi; and out of interest how would one set it up to perform operations with keyboard using TV screen as monitor?

TimO · « **Reply #46 on:** 29 February, 2012, 01:03:01 pm »

Quote from: simonp on 29 February, 2012, 12:46:17 pm

The processor chip in the Pi is capable of full HD encode/decode. I wonder if a homebrew helmet cam is feasible?

One of the things that the Raspberry Pi Foundation has been muttering about bringing out later on, is a camera, so this seems an entirely plausible possibility. I'd like to plug two cameras in, so I can have forward and rearward camera views merged into one time synchronised data stream, which is surprisingly hard to do with more conventionally available equipment.

Quote from: andyoxon on 29 February, 2012, 12:51:03 pm

So what are people going to do with R-Pi ...

I want to use it to do things I was planning on trying to do with a Teensy anyway, but which should be cheaper and easier with this.

With a Teensy, connecting to a network is possible, but requires complicated and relatively expensive bits to be added.

I've been using Teensy's for EGSE (Electronic Ground Support Equipment) for our small CubeSat instrument. Since the entire instrument weighs less than 150g, you don't want a stupidly complicated big bit of test equipment to plug in. The Teensy works pretty well, but needs a PC to plug the USB connection into. I could use a Raspberry Pi board, and only need a screen and keyboard. Additionally, instead of the half arsed ASCII art graphics plotting I use at the moment, I can plot full HD graphics, and have direct access to the downloaded data over the net (whereas even connecting an SD card to a Teensy is a bit of a faff).

I'll probably try and use it to talk to the RFID scanners I've got to monitor that cats with, so that's also something which I'll want to try, if and when I manage to get one!

Quote from: andyoxon on 29 February, 2012, 12:51:03 pm

... and out of interest how would one set it up to perform operations with keyboard using TV screen as monitor?

Just plug them in.

If you've got a modern TV with an HDMI connector it's trivial, since the board has an HDMI connector on it. Alternatively it has a composite output (on a phono), so that can probably be plugged into a lot of other, older TVs (via a SCART connector for example, with a simple cable).

So long as the keyboard is USB, you should just be able to plug that directly into the USB connector. It won't work with a PS/2 style keyboard connector, but a cheap USB keyboard is probably £5, slightly more if you want a better quality device.

MattH · « **Reply #47 on:** 29 February, 2012, 01:12:33 pm »

Quote from: TimO on 29 February, 2012, 01:03:01 pm

If you've got a modern TV with an HDMI connector it's trivial, since the board has an HDMI connector on it. Alternatively it has a composite output (on a phono), so that can probably be plugged into a lot of other, older TVs (via a SCART connector for example, with a simple cable).

So a whole new generation of kids can take over the family TV to hack away on their computer, whilst their mother wants to watch her soaps

Woofage · « **Reply #48 on:** 29 February, 2012, 01:21:20 pm »

Am I right in that HDMI can talk directly to DVI? I must remember to buy a suitable cable when I order my board.

Pickled Onion · « **Reply #49 on:** 29 February, 2012, 01:29:31 pm »

Yes, standard hdmi to DVI lead is a couple of quid. So this thing can display on virtually any monitor and any TV from when SCART leads came out.

Or you can just plug it into the network and telnet/ssh to it from whatever pc/phone/notebook you have handy.