stoolpigeon's Journal: Raspberry Pi

Just ordered my Raspberry Pi. I got the email from Allied Electronics & RS Components, telling me that I could order, last week. I've just been crazy busy so it had to wait. It was nice though, because I had been getting emails that always said something like, "We got a bunch more boards and told the people who get to order them - your turn will be coming." I was getting tired of that. My turn finally rolled around.
 
The email included a promo code that allowed me to log into a page just for the Raspberry Pi and I could add the board to my cart and then they had a set of accessories. They are very reasonably priced so I threw in a power supply and hdmi cable. (I've got plenty of rca/composite stuff laying around - and I think I have one of those little hdmi cables but I wasn't 100% sure.) They also had other cables like ethernet and usb as well as flash cards. Though the CF cards with the OS already on them were listed as out of stock. How does that happen? Can they not create them faster than they can ship them? That's really odd. No matter - I'll enjoy setting it up myself anyway.
 
I think I will build a case out of lego for starters while I think of a better approach. If I had the time and motivation, I'd see if I could get something fabricated for cheap and sell them. But I don't, so I wont.
 
They said they expect it to ship in 3 weeks. So a little more waiting, but that is o.k. Gives me more time to think about ways I may try to use it. If I can come up with some good ideas that work well, when they become more generally available I'll get more.
 
My total - with the computer, hdmi cable, power supply and shipping was $66. That's with VAT and it being shipped to Hungary. Pretty amazing. It cost my parents more than that just to mail us a small care package from the states.

I should have ordered one...

[jawtheshark]

Haven't heard news in ages. CC wasn't debited. We'll see...

Re:

[stoolpigeon]

From the emails I get - it's a matter of time until they are much more available. They are getting them in batches of 3,000 or so I think.

I think it will be very fun to play with and try stuff out. Hopefully there will be lots of other fun projects that build off it. I'll start digging once my board arrives.

Re:

[jawtheshark]

I think indeed it will be a fun toy. I just hope I'll actually have the time. I still have an Atom 330 board that I basically don't use and it was thought for playing around with. Never mind the Core i7 laptop I bought last June (yes, that's a year ago!).... Money, Time, Energy... Pick two...

slice of Pi

[The Fun Guy]

I ordered mine a couple of weeks ago, with a 6 week lead time on shipping. It sounds like we'll get them at the same time. I forget how much the bill came to with all the accessories - $75?

We're following the same logic: if it works well, I may eventually get another for something else.

For cases, though, I've never much been one for legos. Assuming I like the device, I'll probably knock together a small case out of oak veneer plywood.

Re:

[stoolpigeon]

I figure lego is good for trying out different ideas. With a 9 year old boy in the house - I've got lots of parts at my disposal.
 
I don't have a lot of word working tools. A nice wood case would be pretty sweet though. This is also the kind of thing you could embed in any number of every day objects. I've got a little plastic death star that would look nice sitting on my desk hooked up to a monitor. Though once I get things dialed in I'll probably use it more like a server.

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[jawtheshark]

I will be finally able to make these [so-net.ne.jp] in action-figure format ;-))

Re:

[stoolpigeon]

oh my.

impressive - but unsettling. like the virtual girl friend of the science guy on Archer - Dr. Krieger

moo

[Chacham]

I'm waiting for things to calm down before ordering. Though i do believe they will change the world.

Damn!

[jawtheshark]

I just checked my email, and I can order one at RS too now. Thing is, I think I have ordered one at Farnel. Their confirmation email was 04/04. No news ever since. Should I order at RS? Decisions, decisions....

Do it

[stoolpigeon]

Do it.

Re:

[jawtheshark]

I did.

Re:

[stoolpigeon]

I knew you would. :)

Re:

[jawtheshark]

I'm too predictable. I might have two toys to play with soon. Not enough for a Raspberry Pi Beowulf cluster, though. I do find it awesome that there is a connection for a normal TV. I'm still on a CRT TV.

Re:

[stoolpigeon]

I had one until we moved - wasn't trucking that beast across the ocean. Picked up a dual power/dual tuner lcd that should conceivably work pretty much anywhere.

Re:

[jawtheshark]

I'm just to cheap to replace a perfectly fine TV. Now, of course, in your context, having to pay for the transport, I'd probably have done the same.

Re:

[stoolpigeon]

And this brings up a question I have.

You seem to be able to find some great deals on computers - but I've struggled to find much that I can get in Hungary - even if I'm willing to pay a little more. Can you point me to some good European electronics retails sites that ship EU wide? I've looked at some stuff in the UK but often they wont ship here. English would be nice but is not necessary - Chrome plus the fact that a lot of tech terms just carry straight over is usually good enough.

Re:

[jawtheshark]

Me? Great deals on computers? Are you kidding? I probably live in the worst 1st world country to get anything cheap.

What I do is the following: I get my stuff in Germany, and not even in the cheapest stores because many companies do not ship to Luxembourg. Luxembourg may have a better "reputation" than Hungary for these things, so your luck is probably reduced (Well that's in Germany: when I order from the US, I usually get problems... but a few calls and a pre-paid wire transfer and I get what I want.