Raspberry Pi

I have had my raspberry pi for a while now, I have used it to interact with computercraft via http, but now I need another use for it. Any suggestions? :)/>

When I first heard of them, I considered getting one for the novelty value. They'd already sold out at that stage.

Since then, I haven't been able to think of a reason to have one besides novelty value. My current phone cost $80AU new (as a prepaid). Granted, that's a fair bit more than a Pi costs, but it's got a dual-core 1ghz processor and a half a gig of RAM - plus a built-in display, and the whole thing acts as a USB drive if I plug it into a computer or TV. I can run SWF files on it. High-def video, straight off its 32gb microSD card or streamed over whatever. Heck, a couple of days ago - much to my amazement - I got it running a PSP emulator, though it only managed something like 50%-70% speed. Of course, technology marches on, and they sell for less now. It's far from a top-of-the-line phone.

My point is that RPs might not be worthwhile in any market before long. That said, if I had one, I'd probably rig it up to run XBMC or similar - plug it into a TV and have it decode video files from a NAS (a role currently served by my collection of first-gen Xboxes).

I already have weather balloons, camera module, battery and heat pouches. Really considering recording some 'space' footage.

If you don't mind me asking, what phone are you refering to?

That'd be the one that you get the details for when you click the link I wrapped around "my current phone". Though these days, most Android (or Windows!) phones in that price range have nearly identical specs.

Doing some high-altertude recording sounds like fun, though I've got a suspicion that a mobile phone would be a better bet there too - easier to track where it lands!

I forgot about recovery, there goes more money into peripherals… a phone probably would have been easier and cheaper, but the raspberry pi is a bit 'cooler' when you introduce the novelty factor. :D/>

I use mine as a webhost & email host(once I get that working)
It's pretty great, very fast even on a low-power wifi dongle.
You can also make robots to tinker with, or laptops(although the practicality is not the greatest) or even a personal cloud system if you get a powered USB hub and a drive.
Ultimately, it excels in areas where semi-fast networked computing is needed, in my opinion.
also, they'd probably be great computers for students considering most stuff is online anyway. That's what they where intended for.
My site is http://jacksonmcneill.ddns.net/ if you're wondering.

I moved my website to my pi, it performs really well. The freedom of installing whatever you want is pretty awesome too. However I am using cloudflare to manually deal with my dyanmic ip (static ip's cost extra), any suggestions that help with dyn ips?

cdel, on 14 February 2015 - 11:54 PM said:

I moved my website to my pi, it performs really well. The freedom of installing whatever you want is pretty awesome too. However I am using cloudflare to manually deal with my dyanmic ip (static ip's cost extra), any suggestions that help with dyn ips?

I use http://freedns.afraid.org/.
My router doesn't support the freedns dynamic update thing, so i use a D-link domain then CNAME to it in freedns.
You can also install dynamic update scripts on your pi

Bomb Bloke, on 22 January 2015 - 01:50 PM said:

When I first heard of them, I considered getting one for the novelty value. They'd already sold out at that stage.

Since then, I haven't been able to think of a reason to have one besides novelty value. My current phone cost $80AU new (as a prepaid). Granted, that's a fair bit more than a Pi costs, but it's got a dual-core 1ghz processor and a half a gig of RAM - plus a built-in display, and the whole thing acts as a USB drive if I plug it into a computer or TV. I can run SWF files on it. High-def video, straight off its 32gb microSD card or streamed over whatever. Heck, a couple of days ago - much to my amazement - I got it running a PSP emulator, though it only managed something like 50%-70% speed. Of course, technology marches on, and they sell for less now. It's far from a top-of-the-line phone.

My point is that RPs might not be worthwhile in any market before long. That said, if I had one, I'd probably rig it up to run XBMC or similar - plug it into a TV and have it decode video files from a NAS (a role currently served by my collection of first-gen Xboxes).

The new pi has a quad core 900mhz processor and can run a psp emulator at pretty much full speed… :D/>

If you have an updated version of the Raspberry Pi, you can select an overclocking mode that closely matches the new pi.

cdel, on 20 February 2015 - 10:19 AM said:

If you have an updated version of the Raspberry Pi, you can select an overclocking mode that closely matches the new pi.

yeah, but the new pi is quad-core :D/> and has a faster processor
the old pi is single core

btw i have a pi

That new pi makes me rather jelly. They get so much more for the same price…
it's not fair.

I bought a second pi a few hours before the official release of the Pi 2… god damn it.

cdel, on 21 February 2015 - 05:21 AM said:

I bought a second pi a few hours before the official release of the Pi 2… god damn it.

can you return it?

Geforce Fan, on 21 February 2015 - 02:52 AM said:

That new pi makes me rather jelly. They get so much more for the same price…
it's not fair.

agreed
i even got the 256MB one, not the 512MB one
:(/>

cdel, on 21 February 2015 - 05:21 AM said:

I bought a second pi a few hours before the official release of the Pi 2… god damn it.

almost the same with me, I bought my first raspberry pi (model b+) a month ago
it seems you can return the product up to 21 days after you got it

hm, did a bit of research, its not worth the price to ship it back to the guys over at element 14.

comp500, on 21 February 2015 - 10:11 AM said:

Geforce Fan, on 21 February 2015 - 02:52 AM said:

That new pi makes me rather jelly. They get so much more for the same price…
it's not fair.

agreed
i even got the 256MB one, not the 512MB one
:(/>

that's a REALLY old pi!
it's probably stale

Bomb Bloke, on 22 January 2015 - 02:06 PM said:

That'd be the one that you get the details for when you click the link I wrapped around "my current phone". Though these days, most Android (or Windows!) phones in that price range have nearly identical specs.

Doing some high-altertude recording sounds like fun, though I've got a suspicion that a mobile phone would be a better bet there too - easier to track where it lands!

PHONE - $730 (off-contract, in-contract you pay that back slowly through higher cell phone bill)
PI - $35
Hmmmmm… Wonder why the phone is better?

Geforce Fan, on 22 February 2015 - 07:02 AM said:

comp500, on 21 February 2015 - 10:11 AM said:

Geforce Fan, on 21 February 2015 - 02:52 AM said:

That new pi makes me rather jelly. They get so much more for the same price…
it's not fair.

agreed
i even got the 256MB one, not the 512MB one
:(/>

that's a REALLY old pi!
it's probably stale

It's the first revision model B :)/>
And yes, it is collecting dust ;)/>

Geforce Fan, on 22 February 2015 - 07:02 AM said:

PHONE - $730 (off-contract, in-contract you pay that back slowly through higher cell phone bill)
PI - $35
Hmmmmm… Wonder why the phone is better?

Again, the particular handset I linked cost me $80 as a prepaid model (no contract, but removing the network lock typically costs something like an extra $50, assuming you do it the "proper" way). As a hobbyist phone/tablet/whatever repair guy, I'm under no illusions as to the real cost of building a phone - $730 devices are making more than a bit of profit. ;)/>

They sell for so much simply because gullible consumers are willing to pay.

Bomb Bloke, on 22 January 2015 - 01:50 PM said:

My current phone cost $80AU new (as a prepaid). Granted, that's a fair bit more than a Pi costs, but…

i would like to point out that the price point is very important for the pi,
what would you rather RUIN with hacking, a 35 doller pi, or a much more expansive cell phone. pi-s where made to let kids screw with them, hack them, and not worries about breaking a super expinsive computer, to help inspire more programmers :D/>