davejonesbkk Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_boo Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaimite Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dharmabm Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davejonesbkk Posted September 21, 2014 Author Share Posted September 21, 2014 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cloggie Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dddave Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phazey Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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