Raspberry Pi Zero

[caffrey]

https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/raspberry-pi-zero

 

Only 4 quid (Plus the extra bits)

[mikeprice]

Look interesting

 

The article say it is free on the latest edition of the MagPi magazine - can we get that in this country??

[5tu]

Article says...

 

we are giving away a free Raspberry Pi Zero on the front of each copy of the December issue of The MagPi, which arrives in UK stores today

[mikeprice]

Whoops - must learn to read whole article

[LosOjos]

Aside from the free Pi Zero, the MagPi is an awesome magazine - they're bringing back the days you'd sit in front of your computer typing in code from a magazine to make a game and I love it

[mats]

Amazing kit for the price, but it's a linux computer without a network connection so I'm struggling a bit to see applications (apart from ones using the hdmi) where you'd use it instead of an arduino. Ethernet or wifi (and not a £10 add-on) would have made it much more useful.

[caffrey]

I always thought one day that they would be giving away computers on the front of magazines, and now here we are

[LosOjos]

Amazing kit for the price, but it's a linux computer without a network connection so I'm struggling a bit to see applications (apart from ones using the hdmi) where you'd use it instead of an arduino. Ethernet or wifi (and not a £10 add-on) would have made it much more useful.

 

It's a completely different beast to an Arduino, much more powerful. You can get a WiFi dongle for a couple of quid if you need networking. This is a full PC on a stick, so it's a fantastic, cheap device to give to kids (or anyone else for that matter) who wants to learn to code in a 'safe' environment (by that I mean the worst case scenario is you reflash the SD card and they're up and running again)

 

Personally, I'll be picking up a couple for some embedded computing (things like home automation, noticeboards etc.) to plonk around the house. They're cheap enough to just mess around with, worst case scenario I've 'wasted' £4.

 

Arduino are great bits of kit, but they're not comparable to a Pi - neither is inherently 'better' than the other, they're just different.

[CAWJames]

So who went to [insert generic supermarket here] and frantically searched for a copy of MagPi last night....and was lucky?

[mikeprice]

So who went to [insert generic supermarket here] and frantically searched for a copy of MagPi last night....and was lucky?

 

good - I got one in WHSmith - it was the afternoon so maybe I got in first:)

 

bad - picked girlfriend up from work then left it in her house - can't play with it when I'm off this afternoon:(

[pcstru]

Arduino are great bits of kit, but they're not comparable to a Pi - neither is inherently 'better' than the other, they're just different.

Exactly right. For many applications, Arduino offers much better power consumption/management - so for a battery powered data logger that will spend a month stuck up a tree taking temperature measurements every 30 seconds, an arduino based rig won't have you climbing the tree every few days to change the battery (just as an example). Also, £4 is cheap but for embedded applications that is still expensive compared to single chip MCU's like Microchips PIC 12F series which can be had for less than a quid.

 

None of which is meant to imply that Pi Zero is not an amazing bit of kit for the money.

[CAWJames]

I have attached mine to a RGB LCD and am going to replace the clock in my truck Although it will do a bit more like interface with the ECU and give me a modern computer with MPG etc, and allow me to keep an eye on the V8,

 

Having a 3.9 litre V8 means I need to keep an eye on all these measurements to keep fuel costs down! Although at 99p for petrol and circa 47p for LPG, I am thinking of commuting in it Flick it to petrol and put your foot down, mmmmm noisy

[RowlandoGloom]

I like the Pi Zero now I've managed to get my hands on one.

 

Problem is, by the time you spend time attaching the pins and plug in adapters I might as well just buy a normal one cos it makes it so big.