[hackerspaces] Raspberry Pi - $25 ARM based PC

[Jon Spriggs]

So, Jonty, from London Hackspace contacted them... Good stuff ahoy!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jonty Wareing <jonty at jonty.co.uk>
Date: 5 May 2011 23:30
Subject: Re: [london-hack-space] Re: New ultra low cost linux PC
To: london-hack-space at googlegroups.com


I dropped the guys making this an email with some questions, not
seriously expecting a reply. They got back to me within three hours!

I thought the responses might be of interest to everyone:

> > 1) How long do you think it will be before the boards become
> > available?
>
> I'd say three or four months. As you can see from the screenshots, we
> have usable Linux, but we're waiting to get final versions of the the
> chip from our supplier.
>
> > 2) Are there any plans for a version with onboard ethernet?
>
> I don't think we're likely to do onboard Ethernet; we will have an
> onboard 3-port USB hub so people can add an external adapter.
>
> > 3) Are there any plans for a version with onboard wifi?
>
> Yes. The final version (though maybe not the first distributables)
> will have onboard WiFi (probably 802.11n) in the price point.
>
> > 4) What are the power requirements, both under load and at rest?
>
> At rest I'd say 50mW (we could trim this if it was really important,
> but it gets a bit fiddly below this point), under serious load
> (original XBox class graphics or 1080p30 H.264), 700mW.

--jonty


--
Jon "The Nice Guy" Spriggs



On 5 May 2011 16:11, Jon Spriggs <jon at sprig.gs> wrote:
> I think the key here will be (if we want to get huge quantities out there)
>
> 1) Ask them whether Hack(er)spaces can get involved in working with
> and improving the design. Ask them for a mailing list, forum or
> website we can get involved *with* them in.
> 2) Encourage them to open source the design - point them, gently, at
> the Arduino design. Remind them that by making the design open, they
> don't lose control, but it does give more people more of a chance to
> collaborate.
> 3) If they don't want to open source it, get on the hacking wagon. Get
> some great plans of what you can (and should/shouldn't) do with such a
> box. I really liked the idea further down this chain (not sent to all
> the CC's above) that said:
>
> I was just reminded of an educational outdoor kiosk project for a
> local non-profit that got scrapped due to concerns over running power
> to where they'd need it.  This with a 15-17" LED lit lcd (20W max)
> could easily be solar powered, and greatly simplify the cabinet to
> install it all in as it wouldn't need active cooling, thus making it
> easier to weatherproof.
>
> A great example of this is the Joggler, AKA an OpenPeak frame, running
> Linux, and (was) selling at £50 in the UK. Went like hot cakes, and
> got LOADS of people interested in doing stuff with them... these boxes
> are still selling on EBay for around £50-70, with or without mods.
>
> Imagine one of these powering a wearable computing project??? How cool
> would that be?
> --
> Jon "The Nice Guy" Spriggs
>
> On 5 May 2011 15:53, Nils Hitze <nhitze at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Im ordering 10
>>
>> 2011/5/5 Bob Clough <parag0n at ivixor.net>:
>>> Wow, this is amazing.
>>> I wonder how we can get our hands on some to play with?  Looks like it'd be
>>> great for project a sketch:gaming edition.
>>>
>>> -Bob
>>> On 5 May 2011 15:42, Jon Spriggs <jon at sprig.gs> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> So, I saw this today http://www.raspberrypi.org/
>>>>
>>>> It's being produced by a UK based charity, and it has USB in on one
>>>> side and HDMI out on the other, running Linux.
>>>>
>>>> I don't think the design is yet to be open sourced, but for the price,
>>>> that's a whole lot of micro-computers we could throw at stuff... and
>>>> if enough geeks make enough noise, they might be up for doing
>>>> something interesting around construction (perhaps??)
>>>>
>>>> All the best,
>>>> --
>>>> Jon "The Nice Guy" Spriggs
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Discuss mailing list
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>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Nils Hitze
>>
>> Email: nhitze at gmail.com
>> Mobil: +49 179 9429701
>>
>> http://www.silberkind.de
>> http://twitter.com/kojote
>> _______________________________________________
>> Discuss mailing list
>> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>
>