Raspberry Pi 2

[caLLous]

Good as a standalone thing I suppose but useless without any networking capability whatsoever out of the box.

 

[Ormorof]

has a usb port so just plug in a usb wifi thingy and you'll be good to go

 

[caLLous]

Sure but what if you need the USB port for something else? Then you have to add a hub of some description, which will most likely draw power externally, and then the cost of the USB wireless dongle (if you even want wireless over wired) and the price and the size soon start adding up. I'm sure this Pi has its uses but it feels like a step backward for lack of connectivity out of the box.

 

[MYstIC G]

Feels like it's both a good idea and a direct shot at that kickstarter project (chip?)

 

[Syri]

I think, given the price point and the connectivity options, it's designed less as a general purpose computer, and more as a programmable controller, to set up and then stick into some device or other to make it work. I can certainly think of several things it could be handy for, that would be better suited to something smaller than a standard pi.

 

[strangely brown]

I now have 3 Rasberry Pis at home, all running pretty much 24x7:-

1 original that's running my home network DNS/DHCP server and Squid proxy server (used to be good enough to get BBC iPlayer whilst abroad until they tightened the detection).

1 Rasberry Pi 2 that's now running openVPN server so I can get iPlayer whilst abroad...

1 Raspberry Pi 2 running openELEC & Kodi to replace my defunct Netgear media streamer that packed in about a month ago (and much cheaper too). I've been impressed with this - control it through an app on the phone.

I think they're brilliant little devices but then, I'm quite happy with Linux and don't mind fiddling around to try and get things working...

I'm now after a decent NAS solution to replace my original Windows Home Server box and numerous external HDs which are configured in a single drive pool...

 

[soze]

I think, given the price point and the connectivity options, it's designed less as a general purpose computer, and more as a programmable controller, to set up and then stick into some device or other to make it work. I can certainly think of several things it could be handy for, that would be better suited to something smaller than a standard pi.

The original mission for the Pi was a small cheap computer for kids to learn programming on I think. I do not think they every intended it to kick off as a media centre. I wonder if they could build a slightly higher spec version to sell to the home market to further subsidies the Pi for Schools ect.

 

[MYstIC G]

I think in reality the unexpected volume of sales will end up assisting the project which will in turn benefit the kids, so win win.