Pricing for similar hardware has literally crashed in the time it's taken Pi production levels to ramp up. There are now multiple ARM vendors with open source BSPs supporting hardware that's much more powerful and with comparable pricing. See for example http://www.cnx-software.com/tag/amlogic/ and http://www.cnx-software.com/tag/freescale/ .
Unlike the Pi these offerings usually come with Bluetooth, WiFi, larger flash and 1GB RAM in dual or quad core configurations, and pre-packaged in consumer friendly boxes ready for hooking to a display, although access to auxiliary IO buses may be more difficult. SATA (Mele A1000G), GigE (Wandboard) and mini PCI designs (i.mx6 Sabre Lite) are even available.
Price and features aside, don't forget that RaspberryPi is a charity on a mission, so if you can support them with a purchase, please do!
"We don’t claim to have all the answers. We don’t think that the Raspberry Pi is a fix to all of the world’s computing issues; we do believe that we can be a catalyst. We want to see cheap, accessible, programmable computers everywhere; we actively encourage other companies to clone what we’re doing. We want to break the paradigm where without spending hundreds of pounds on a PC, families can’t use the internet. We want owning a truly personal computer to be normal for children."
If all you want is USB, there are (seemingly hundreds of) Allwinner sticks available via Aliexpress, e.g. http://goo.gl/th1bO as low as $34, which is supported via the linux-sunxi port. Boards generally cost more, I've less information on that.
A board like the Pi is defined by these attributes (order irrelevant):
Price
Performance
Exposed I/O
Device Size
Community Size
I don't know of any board that beats the Pi on more than 3 of these attributes.
The allwinner sticks you mentioned are comparably priced, but have a smaller development community and very limited I/O. If all you want is a little media player, I think they are a good choice though.
I'd disagree that the order of those is irrelevant. Far and away the two most important ones are `Price' and `Community Size'. If it cost three times as much, the RPi wouldn't have been such a hit; if the community of users was tiny, it wouldn't matter how cheap it was because it wouldn't have critical mass. The Raspberry Pi managed to get out cheap enough and with enough support to make it a runaway success, which is why we now face a glut of similar machines.
I have an R-Pi and an mk802. I run linux on both. While the mk802 is faster for most general things (compiling, serving web pages, etc) the R-Pi beats it as a media player due to the fact the mk802 video drivers haven't been released.
I believe most people would like a cheap and small board to use it like they would use a regular computer: high-level development, media player, various "apps", small home server. Clearly, for these people, performance/price is the first and foremost criterion. If it works like it's supposed to, it's a done deal.
As for lower level development, you are probably right, few boards can claim to beat the Pi.
The stick you link to is A10s, I'm not sure it's well support by sunxi-linux at the moment. For Linux support, better stick to A10 dongles which cost about the same.
I also got mine from Newark and it arrived even faster. They even phoned me to follow up which I thought was a bit over the top for a $40 item (although I think they were just checking to see whether I might be a potential volume purchaser)
I also ordered 2 Model B's from Newark. Placed the order 2 days ago (maybe 1.5 days ago?), got them today. They might 'restock' daily? Probably just artificially restricting supply.
Edit: nevermind... looks like I just got lucky when I ordered mine. Newark now says "7200 Expected to ship 6 Feb, 2013"
They're a marvel. I don't know what magic they're using to get their stocks replenished so quickly but they'd be my go-to for purchasing a pi in the US. In fact they have them in stock right now.
I have been planning on ordering one for a while, but always get a little confused on what else I should order with it -- any recommendations for someone thinking "hey, I want to tinker around with this thing" -- sounds like an SD card with the OS on it, and then a power supply cable are a must, any things you'd recommend?
My standard 'kit' now is a knock off iPad charger for power supply ($10), USB mini A/B cable, an HDMI cable, a 16G SD card, and a Logitech K400 wireless keyboard with built in touchpad. I've been using double sided tape and the free Priority Mail 'small box' cardboard box as a case. So the reasoning.
The iPad charger from Apple is 10W (5v @ 2A) so even the knock offs try to meet that spec. If you are careful (and this is important because there are some crappy ones out there) you can get them for $10 - 15 and they are quite small.
I usually get a 9' (3M) USB cable, that lets me put the Rpi on a table close to a monitor even when the outlet isn't too close.
The HDMI cable is a much better way to connect your Rpi to a monitor than composite video :-) I haven't got audio over HDMI working, but a small portable speaker plugged into the headphone jack works great.
The K400 from Logitech gives me both a keyboard and a mouse. I don't use wired keyboards with the Rpi since it is way too easy to drop the keyboard and have its cord yank the works off the table and on to the ground.
I've got one on my desk which ssh -X's into a "real" computer and then throws a java script heavy dashboard up on the Rpi's X11 screen. Sort of like an X-terminal of yore. Running the browser native on the Rpi bogs down.
I've also got one serving up a static view of some database with json and thttpd. I've found that NFS mounting storage is more effective than using the SD card (in another thread where we were debating the longevity of SD Cards I took one and wrote a bunch of files to it until it failed, which it did fairly quickly, so I try to keep all file systems mostly readonly on the SDcard and R/W mounted ones. You could also use a USB drive for that. The Rpi's Achilles heel is that everything goes through USB though.
Kitchen sink: MicroUSB cable, blank SD Card, USB power supply (ideally >= 1 amp out), USB keyboard, mouse (if you want GUI), case, powered USB hub (I power my RPi from the hub but YMMV), HDMI cable, ethernet cable, WiFi adapter, Bluetooth adapter, USB sound card, breakout cable, breadboard.
One of the reasons the Raspberry Pi is really cool is it's helping to make it easier for people to get into hardware hacking. It's fun, and it's cheap enough you don't need to worry about break it.
While it's not quite as simple as a arduino, for those of us who like Linux anyway, it makes it almost trivial to wire into all sorts of projects - Wireless Helicopters, Door badges, tiny webservers, etc.
It's a great piece of kit, and a nice introduction into the embedded HW world.
No, it is not helping people get into hardware hacking. There is no more "hardware hacking" going on here than there is on my macbook.
Arduino AVR is helping people get into hardware.
Raspberry pi is helping people build cheap netflix settop boxes.
edit: maybe I'm jaded. We've got about 4 totally idle raspis at our hackerspace that have been donated by people who have no idea what to do with them, but bought them anyway.
Raspberry pi is helping people build cheap netflix settop boxes. ... edit: maybe I'm jaded. We've got about 4 totally idle raspis at our hackerspace that have been donated by people who have no idea what to do with them, but bought them anyway.
I'd agree with that, based on my own personal experience. Of the several people I know who have them, half have no clue what to do with it, and the other half are using them as tiny media centres. There's definitely not much hardware hacking going on.
And I can understand it, to be honest. I can't think of a good use for one that isn't already covered ably by some other computer I have. Media centre? Xbox plus external hard-disk does the job. Small *nix box? Better off using my MacBook -- it's got everything built-in.
The best idea I came up with was a mini backup server connected to my router that pulls power from its spare USB port, but even then, it's easier just to plug in an external HD once in a while, or dump things onto one of the SD cards I have in rotation.
Well considering the pi can't run Netflix I would have to disagree with you. There are tons of hardware projects using the pi. I know of a few people locally that just got a pi and basic electronics kit to learn with.
Raspberry pi is helping people build cheap netflix settop boxes.
That's hardware hacking.
In reality, those of us who don't bring a pickaxe and a carbide lamp to work are just "systems integrators" anyway. Attitudes and titles don't pay the bills.
Wha? There's a difference between SWE, EE/CE, and IT. The community around the pi is more for the IT crowd. I see very few using the gpio pins for anything, though that does seem to be getting marginally better.
Most of the value in the pi is the video decoder. So, that's the types of projects it gets used for.
FWIW, I and many of my friends (who admittedly deal primarily with hardware) find the gpio a big draw. The machine is cheaper and more useful than an arduino after you've thrown in an ethernet shield. I got one to serve as a doorbell router.
The HDMI port on mine has never been touched. I'm using it right now to control my roomba though its SCI interface. An uno with a wifi shield costs way more than a Raspberry Pi with a usb wifi dongle. Unless you need more GPIO pins or lower power consumption, Pis just make more sense.
What project that is supposed to be an introduction to embedded electronics can you think of that the raspi would be good for, and the arduino wouldn't be?
500ma is a problem. The fact that you can't easily run it off of a battery without buying additional [expensive] hardware is a problem.
Nasty attitude? If you're telling people that a raspi is a good intro to embedded electronics, then you're harming their development.
This isn't even what the raspberry pi was intended for. It was intended as a cheap machine to introduce people to programming with. For that, it's awesome, but I have yet to see anybody actually use it for that.
Your tunnel-vision is absurd. Not everyone is interested in tinkering with the lowest of low in their projects, some people want to be able to use USB peripherals immediately with zero hassle, and have a handful of GPIO pins if needed. Yeah, you can do those sorts of things with an arduino, but why bother if the power is not a concern and the hardware is cheaper?
And yes, the power is not a concern for everybody under the sun.
So in short, development is easier and more flexible (obviously), peripherals are cheaper (for the difference between the usb adapter I got for my Pi and a wifi shield from sparkfun, I would have $75 left over for an "expensive" PSU for a Pi... I mean come on... At least with the Pi you have the option of just using ethernet if you want to be cheap, with an arduino that will still set you back more than the price of a Pi), and the devices themselves are more flexible (get tired of your project for some reason? No problem, just ducttape it to the back of your TV and use it as a media-pc whatever.).
Downsides are... worse GPIO and you need to feed it 500mA. Wow. Anyone who does not find that daunting is surely an idiot.
Nasty attitudes have harmed peoples' development far more than $35 computers ever have. Your vitriol is baffling, how could something so minor evoke this? How have raspberry pis really wronged you?
I would argue that connecting something physical to the web is a great first project to ease into electronics, especially if you come from a programming background already. The circuit can remain simple to start, while providing something that is more interesting to play with than just a blinking LED.
And then there are projects like the door lock on our hackerspace which unlocks the door with an RFID-Reader and allows user-management via the web. A perfectly reasonable application for a webserver switching a relais.
MK808's might be a better alternative for that, with built-in wifi and male hdmi dongle type design.
My son (6) got his pi as his first computer, we built a lego case for it and he gets excited everytime he connects peripherals. It may not be hw hacking for us, but it is for little folks.
In a world where devices are getting smaller and smaller, and hobbyist PC computers are going the way of hobbyist automobiles, the RPi offers a cool choice of open hardware you can really play with. This is a milestone I wish they had hit sooner by trying to solve their supply chain problems.
On a personal note, I don't want a replaceable battery or hackable ROM on my phone. I want that thing locked down tight, and small as possible. I'd rather "hack" a $35 board than a $600 phone.
It also re-affirms the business model of creating a super-cheap yet capable development platform, and then not attempting to extract max profit from it.
I'm not really sure you could call that a `business model': the Raspberry Pi Foundation is a charity, so by definition they aren't out to make a profit. I'm not sure the Raspberry Pi would even exist in the first place if a for-profit company was responsible for making it. It certainly wouldn't be so cheap, and as a result, unlikely to be so successful.
If you are in the US, be sure to check out www.newark.com. I tried ordering through Allied and it was a disaster. After 6 months of delays they eventually screwed up my shipment and said I'd have to resubmit an order and wait in the back of the line. I didn't realize newark.com (a subsidiary/partner of element14) sold them in the US.
Avoid shopping at Amazon (it's a ripoff by someone who is hoarding units).
It'd be great if RPi could find a way to expand production. At the very least, being more upfront about the delays in production and who will actually get units, would be a big help.
I waited nine months to get mine, and I ordered two days after they were released. Now that I have the board, my attention has been drawn back to Arduino in the meantime and my Pi is just a general purpose computer I put in the garage to view project plans for woodworking or repairing my truck and occasionally SSHing into to test the occasional code to make sure it's ARM compatible. I still have the plans for all the Pi projects I was planning, but interest has worn off and the parts have been repurposed for things where a couple Arduino boards can do the same work one Pi was going to do.
TriLUG is having a meeting tomorrow night about Raspberry Pi's and you can join via Google Hangout. This should give you a great overview of some of the neat things you could do with one of these. Details here: http://www.trilug.org/2013-01-10/Raspberry_Pi
Is it possible to run Plex on a Raspberry Pi to make any normal tv an awesome plex machine? or is the overhead of cables and setup not worth the effort at the moment?
I don't believe it's possible to run Plex Media Center on it yet, though there are forum discussions on porting it to the Pi.
But I do know that it can run XBMC quite well and that is why I ordered mine a couple of days ago. I'm gonna turn it into a sweet little XBMC machine which will be hidden behind the tv.
Just Google "Raspberry Pi XBMC", there are a lot of reviews and tutorials showing how it's done.
I'm just laying out the schematic for a GPIO board that includes a 4x20LCD display interface, two mains relays, two opto-isolated mains power sensors, a real time clock chip and interface to some one-wire temp sensors.
The Pi is going to be the master controller for my central heating system. There will be a Web interface and I hope to implement something with a service such as Google Latitude so I can have a 'back from holiday' mode where the system knows when I'm, say, back within 25 miles of the house and fires up the heating and water again.
That's my fun project for when I have some spare time.
Voice controlled smart home - Run siriproxy on it, install lightwave rf lightswitches and sockets, and voice control lights, appliances, XBMC, etc from my phone.
My parents have one sitting in their living room and queue video to it from their iPhone/RAZR from my upnp server and their desktop computer (win7 has a builtin upnp server).
For those looking for complete control of their hardware platform, the following link is a great place to start. Ever wonder how ARM Cortex chips work at a lower level? Afaik, this is the only available open source hypervisor.
Unlike the Pi these offerings usually come with Bluetooth, WiFi, larger flash and 1GB RAM in dual or quad core configurations, and pre-packaged in consumer friendly boxes ready for hooking to a display, although access to auxiliary IO buses may be more difficult. SATA (Mele A1000G), GigE (Wandboard) and mini PCI designs (i.mx6 Sabre Lite) are even available.