A few questions about Raspberry Pi

[davejonesbkk]

Im thinking about getting a raspberry pi for two reasons, I want to have a new tech toy to play with and because I need a simple media player for the TV in my bedroom.

How much are they here in Bkk? Im going back to the UK next month, would I save more on it there?

How effective are they as media players?

What about controlling it? Ive heard there are remotes you can get, I dont really fancy using a keyboard and mouse with it.

[dave_boo]

Im thinking about getting a raspberry pi for two reasons, I want to have a new tech toy to play with and because I need a simple media player for the TV in my bedroom.

How much are they here in Bkk? Im going back to the UK next month, would I save more on it there?

How effective are they as media players?

What about controlling it? Ive heard there are remotes you can get, I dont really fancy using a keyboard and mouse with it.

Can't answer about price in BKK, but the others I can talk about.

As all of my ripped media uses x264, the Pi plays it back flawlessly. That includes 1920 blu ray rips at 12 mb/s. It however is very stuttery at navigation. Doesn't matter if it's off the SD card or usb drive or SMB/CIFS share. The stock XBMC install overclocks it but it's still not smooth as my old Core2 Duo XBMC.

You either can set it up to be controlled by a webpage or an app on your smart phone. Personally I like the webpage more, but due to the slowness of the Pi there's less frustration using the app.

**edit**

You can also get a usb based IR remote and receiver from a Linux HCL and use that. Just more hassle than it's worth IMHO.

Edited September 21, 2014 by dave_boo

[thaimite]

Here is one of many sites selling the Pi and accessories in Thailand so you can compare prices

http://www.arduitronics.com/category/4/raspberry-pi

[dharmabm]

dammit, I just wrote a long detailed post which disappeared thanks to the incredibly spotty internet this weekend!

Since others have made some of my points already, I will just say this - performance can be a bit frustrating at times but there are things you can do to improve it (lightweight skin, turn off RSS feeds, put system on a USB to avoid SDcard corruption, etc). Also, if your TV is CEC capable you can often just use your TV remote without any special configuration.

I don't know about availability but I just heard about a new device called the bananapi, which is basically a slightly more powerful device which uses very similar hardware. Don't know of anyone porting any XBMC builds yet though. Also, i bought a cubox-4i a few months ago which might be worth looking into, although it took forever to ship here from Israel.

[davejonesbkk]

Thanks guys, seems there isnt much difference in the prices so I might as well just buy it here.

What was the app you were referring to for remote control? Pi Buddy?

[Cloggie]

I bought it from http://www.thaieasyelec.com/

Keep in mind that nowadays there is also a Raspberry Pi Model B+, look at: http://thaieasyelec.com/products/development-boards/raspberry-pi-512mb-model-b-plus-detail.html

Good luck.

[dddave]

dammit, I just wrote a long detailed post which disappeared thanks to the incredibly spotty internet this weekend!

Since others have made some of my points already, I will just say this - performance can be a bit frustrating at times but there are things you can do to improve it (lightweight skin, turn off RSS feeds, put system on a USB to avoid SDcard corruption, etc). Also, if your TV is CEC capable you can often just use your TV remote without any special configuration.

I don't know about availability but I just heard about a new device called the bananapi, which is basically a slightly more powerful device which uses very similar hardware. Don't know of anyone porting any XBMC builds yet though. Also, i bought a cubox-4i a few months ago which might be worth looking into, although it took forever to ship here from Israel.

I've lost long and carefully written pages before as well...really frustrating. Now, I have learned to always "copy" a long post to my browser before I try to post it; just in case.

[phazey]

XBMC would do you for your media needs - raspbmc.com for an SD image.

My pi currently acts as a wifi bridge/router so i can use the free wifi that's around here. It's also spend some time outside as a 3d nature webcam

A work friend uses his to screen spam/sales calls coming into his landline.

It's a fun device, as long as you know a thing to two, or even better, if you wish to learn.