Raspberry Pi Mini-PC Available Next Month
The $25 mini-PC Raspberry Pi will be available for purchase next month.
The developers behind the upcoming super-cheap Raspberry Pi computer report that it will be available for public consumption next month. Last week the team uploaded images of populated boards from the first run of beta devices which are currently undergoing electrical testing alongside hardware and software testing. Ten of these beta boards may actually be auctioned off sometime this week.
"Once we’re happy that this test run is fine, we’ll be pushing the button immediately on full-scale manufacture in more than one factory," the team reports.
For the uninitiated, Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized computer that can plug directly into a TV via an RCA jack or an HDMI port. Users can also connect a keyboard via its one USB 2.0 port, or connect a wireless mouse/keyboard like Verbatim's Mini Wirless Slim set. Two versions will be offered at launch: the $25 Model A with 128 MB of RAM and the $35 Model B which sports 256 MB of RAM and an additional 10/100 Ethernet port -- Wi-Fi can be added using a standard USB dongle.
As for additional specs, the Raspberry Pi will measure 85.60 x 53.98 x 17-mm, with a little overlap for the SD card and connectors which project over the edges. It also weighs around 45g and provides a standard 3.5-mm audio jack, a micro-USB slot for power (it can run on 4xAA batteries too), and an ARM-based Broadcom BCM2835 SoC clocked at 700 MHz. There's no VGA support, but adapters are available. There also isn't a protective cover -- customers will be purchasing a "naked" product with its components exposed.
"Debian, Fedora and ArchLinux will be supported from the start," reads the FAQ. "We hope to see support from other distros later. We will be selling SD cards with the distros preloaded."
The team adds that users can "un-brick" the device by re-flashing the SD card. To learn more about Raspberry Pi, head here. So far there's no indication of when the auction will take place, so keep checking back with the team's development blog.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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waethorn 256MB just isn't enough to run any modern OS with a decent web browser, unless you're going to heavily customize it. It's alright as a hobby computer maybe. An enterprising individual might be able to make a custom browser with .Net MF maybe.Reply
Note to self: buy one of these and make a custom browser in .Net MF. -
DSpider I'm sure that Xfce, LXDE, Openbox, etc will run just fine. The PS3 ran full-blown GNOME back when it had OtherOS (albeit using 256 MB XDR DRAM at 1600 MHz and the "Cell" CPU at 3.2 GHz) but no GPU acceleration... it was strictly in software mode. And AFAIK this little firecracker runs Quake III !Reply
Google "raspberry pi quake" to see it in action. Runs better than you'd expect. And come on... You can't expect a $25 PC to work right out of the box without some Linux juju. -
JeTJL They already announced this, they are going to auction off some beta boards soon.Reply
I have a few cool project ideas to throw this into.
Anyone up for a Pizza Box Laptop?
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alyoshka now all we need is a wireless credit card and voila! the next big bank heist is gonna be the biggest with a hand held computing device like this.....Reply -
sykozis Only 5 days late on this one....according to the date stamp on the Raspberry-Pi website.Reply -
amk-aka-Phantom ReplyThe developers behind the upcoming super-cheap Raspberry Pi computer report that it will be available for public consumption next month.
CONSUMPTION? No, not eating that.
$25/35 is just awesome. I will SO get this!!! Fun toy. -
Well this might come in handy..Reply
Been working on my very own KIT car..This will help me save more space in my car to make things more atractive ;-)
Can't wait to test it out..