Thinking About Buying A Pi

Beginnings

So, there I was in my local branch of Maplins when I noticed something calling itself a Raspberry Pi Users Guide on a rack.

After thumbing through it for a couple minutes, I realised a 'Raspberry Pi' (RPi) was, in fact, a fully fledged computer that could also be used for electronics projects like controlling robotic arms.

I was intrigued. I've always been interested in electronics but it's always struck me as a lot of work for very little result. The RPi promised something more.

Research

Once I got home I did some web searches and quickly discovered there's an awful lot of information out there about the RPi. The things that first grabbed my attention though were it's size (about the size of a deck of cards), and it's price (@ £35).

I was definately interested but I still had some questions:

• What could I do with it? The RPi is a decent enough computer with a variation of the Unix operating system running it called Raspbian. Once you've got it up and running it looks and acts much like any other PC. It provides something called Scratch which can be used write games; it has a programming language called Python if you create something more sophisticated; you can set it up as a web server (To host your own website), and learn skills like PHP, HTML, and Javascript on the way; but, above all, it's the ease of access the RPi gives for projects like robotics, weather stations, in-car computers, radios, jukeboxes, webcam servers etc.
• Was it for me? With all those possibilities and more, it was a no-brainer for me. It could even add skills to my C.V.
• Was it reliable? It's difficult to find a bad word about the Raspberry. I couldn't find anything about reliability problems.
• Was that £35 the only cost? This was the final and biggest hurdle to me making the final decision. This is the subject of the next section.

Shopping List

When you buy an RPi it's like buying PC base unit: No keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, leads, or a power supply.

It's just the basic computer. As with a standard PC, this option keeps your costs down as it's assumed that you already have most of what you need stored in your own home.

There are Raspberry Pi 'bundles' out there that can provide all these missing items. However, it's likely that you'll end up with some items you already have in house. But since these bundles are relatively cheap (between £30 - £100 depending on your needs), you might consider this to be an issue.

Anyway, here's a list of what you may need:

• Raspberry Pi, Model B 512MB
• 5V 1500mA Power Supply 
• TV (Preferably with HDMI port) or monitor (You will probably need an adaptor though)
• HDMI or RCA cable (Depending on which one you use on your TV or monitor. HDMI can connect to an HDMI TV or a monitor with VGA using an HDMI to VGA cable adapter or a monitor with DVI using an HDMI to DVI adapter. RCA is used on a TV with an RCA socket)
• Network/Ethernet cable or Wifi dongle
• 8GB SD Card Pre-Loaded with Debian Linux OS
• Case (It's possible to make one out of card or Lego!)
• Keyboard (Preferably with USB connector but you can get adaptors for PS2 connectors)
• Mouse (Preferably USB but you can get a PS2 adaptor)
• USB Hub (For future expansion)
• Speakers

In the end, I only needed to buy the RPi, power supply, 8GB SD card, case, a USB to PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse Adapter, and an HDMI to VGA cable adapter for my monitor. I got all of them on-line from Amazon, ModMyPi and CPC.

And, because I'm an old-fashioned sort of guy, I also decided to buy a Raspberry Pi User Guide (for £9) to get me started.

The Wait

So now I'm just waiting for it everything to arrive in the post. All being well I should have the lot by this time next week. Then the fun really starts.