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A Tiny Computer Attracts a Million Tinkerers
Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2013 7:31 am
by minir
Raspberry Pi may sound like the name of a math-based dessert. But it is actually one of the hottest and cheapest little computers in the world right now. Almost one million of these $35 machines have shipped since last February, capturing the imaginations of educators, hobbyists and tinkerers around the world.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/techn ... ef=general
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minir
Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2013 8:23 am
by morbidpete
Very cool device, XBMC Frodo just added support for it. Looking to replace my dedicated XBMC pc's with the Pi's.. The even cheaper model a's should be out soon. Only problem is there are no MPEG-2 hardware decoding unless you buy the license separably.
Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2013 12:03 pm
by minir
morbidpete wrote:Very cool device, XBMC Frodo just added support for it. Looking to replace my dedicated XBMC pc's with the Pi's.. The even cheaper model a's should be out soon. Only problem is there are no MPEG-2 hardware decoding unless you buy the license separably.
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Hi morbidpete
I'd never heard of it before & thought some here might be interested in it. I see your way ahead of the game...Good for you.
Enjoy
Larry
Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 1:20 am
by nightowl
I got one...its pretty neat! just a FYI if you get the pi + WIFI dongle + case + charger + HDMI to vga adapter you are looking at about 100$
Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 1:55 am
by morbidpete
nightowl wrote:I got one...its pretty neat! just a FYI if you get the pi + WIFI dongle + case + charger + HDMI to vga adapter you are looking at about 100$
My plan:
xbmcfrodo
hardwired (already in place for current PC)
HDMI (currently used for current PC)
use the USB on the TV to power it, or a small 1amp USB charger I have laying around along with the cable.
using my current Flirc (flirc.tv) to control it with my harmony remote.
a case is my only accessory I need.
What case did you grab?
I want something I can stick to the back of the TV possibly
Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 4:52 pm
by nightowl
morbidpete wrote:My plan:
xbmcfrodo
hardwired (already in place for current PC)
HDMI (currently used for current PC)
use the USB on the TV to power it, or a small 1amp USB charger I have laying around along with the cable.
using my current Flirc (flirc.tv) to control it with my harmony remote.
a case is my only accessory I need.
What case did you grab?
I want something I can stick to the back of the TV possibly
i got a cheap red case....there are cases out there that allow you to mount it onm the back of the monitor
Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 9:51 pm
by Bastid
This is relative to my interests... I scanned over the article a few days ago and was kinda like meh that's cool and forgot about it. Friend of mine was talking about them today and piqued my interests. I have never messed with linux becausei was scared of frying something i have put a lot of money into or just didnt know enough ect ect... but now im very excited that this is coming to fruition so i can tinker with stuff
Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 12:21 pm
by morbidpete
Well, Just placed my order for the 2. Need to shop around for cases and SD cards
Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 10:22 pm
by Bastid
Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 10:33 pm
by morbidpete
Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 10:34 pm
by morbidpete
all that is left is to figure out how to get the multichannel sound to my receiver. My TV will not pass thru 5.1. need either an adapter to yank out the audio via toslink or a new AV receiver (im leaning towards a new receiver)
Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 1:00 am
by Bastid
Thats the one i was leaning towards but i did see a clear acrylic one that had some nice etching on it but i cant remember where i saw it... lol
Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 1:02 am
by Bastid
Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 2:06 pm
by Bastid
Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 9:57 pm
by BaLa
Seems pretty cool.
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 9:00 pm
by morbidpete
Well my PI's arrived today. I have one up and running XBIAN. Working great. Just waiting for my keys to playback MPEG2 and VC1. $4.50 for both codecs for 1 Pi. Only issues so far is NextPVR is not compatible, So it crashes on loadup of the PVR. Disabled for now. I only use the pvr for sports anyways and football is over
Setting up the video sources was a pain since my storage server is on my domain with authenticated shares. Learning experience there
Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:16 am
by loop2kil
morbidpete wrote:Well my PI's arrived today. I have one up and running XBIAN. Working great. Just waiting for my keys to playback MPEG2 and VC1. $4.50 for both codecs for 1 Pi. Only issues so far is NextPVR is not compatible, So it crashes on loadup of the PVR. Disabled for now. I only use the pvr for sports anyways and football is over
Setting up the video sources was a pain since my storage server is on my domain with authenticated shares. Learning experience there
What was your total setup and running cost?
Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 9:28 am
by morbidpete
$77.59 for 2x Rasp Pi (includes shipping)
$27.80 for the 2x cases (
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008TC ... UTF8&psc=1)
$16.00 for 2x Sandisk 8GB Class 10 SD Card (
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0085Q ... UTF8&psc=1)
$121.39 total
$60.70 per
It will pay for it's self in a few month's in the electric bill.
I had extra micro usb and hdmi cables on hand. I dont pay shipping with amazon since I'm a prime member.
I also already use a flirc and harmoney 650 to control the old XBMC PC. The flirc worked with out having to do anything
Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 7:57 am
by TonyT
morbidpete wrote:My plan:
xbmcfrodo
hardwired (already in place for current PC)
HDMI (currently used for current PC)
use the USB on the TV to power it, or a small 1amp USB charger I have laying around along with the cable.
using my current Flirc (flirc.tv) to control it with my harmony remote.
a case is my only accessory I need.
I tinkered with xbmc all last week on several different Debian installs, a win7 install and ended up using xp on the comp.
This was all just research and play until I build a dedicated system, probably using a zbox barebones.
FYI, frodo has apps for android/ios now that lets a device (phone, table) be a remote control for it.
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Of ... te/Android
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Of ... Remote/iOS
Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 7:01 pm
by morbidpete
It's a very powerful piece of software. Been my main source of media for 3+ years now. I have 3 dedicated kits for XBMC in the house. It does everything from Live tv to my music and TV shows, Hulu and Amazon prime. I used to use the ios app exclusively to control it. But them I purchased 2 Flircs. I now use them with a harmony 650
the Constellation app blows every other XBMC remote out of the water
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/xbmc-co ... 07301?mt=8
Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 10:58 am
by TonyT
The htpc I'm using is an older P4, 2GB RAM, nvidia 6 series agp, XP. Worked great but CPU idles at about 60-80% running xbmc. Just swapped in a different drive and loaded openelec generic (stable [xbmc 11]) & the system runs 500% smoother, faster and cooler. When openelec latest version goes final I'll then get a modern mini pc to use. For now, it works great.
Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2013 1:42 pm
by morbidpete
TonyT wrote:The htpc I'm using is an older P4, 2GB RAM, nvidia 6 series agp, XP. Worked great but CPU idles at about 60-80% running xbmc. Just swapped in a different drive and loaded openelec generic (stable [xbmc 11]) & the system runs 500% smoother, faster and cooler. When openelec latest version goes final I'll then get a modern mini pc to use. For now, it works great.
3.0 is now out and final, Built on frodo 21.1
Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2013 1:44 pm
by morbidpete
Setup a pi as a test at work last week, Loaded up rapbian. Used piano bar and pidora to stream pandora to the speaker system int he resturant. Gives a nice web gui to control pandora. We purchased the pandora one so no commercials. The web gui controls Pandora on the pi, been running for 3 days straight without an issue. We are getting more for the other stores
Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2013 1:47 pm
by Shinobi
morbidpete wrote:Setup a pi as a test at work last week, Loaded up rapbian. Used piano bar and pidora to stream pandora to the speaker system int he resturant. Gives a nice web gui to control pandora. We purchased the pandora one so no commercials. The web gui controls Pandora on the pi, been running for 3 days straight without an issue. We are getting more for the other stores
That's is very cool.
Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2013 7:44 am
by TonyT
morbidpete wrote:3.0 is now out and final, Built on frodo 21.1
Setup a pi as a test at work last week, Loaded up rapbian. Used piano bar and pidora to stream pandora to the speaker system int he resturant. Gives a nice web gui to control pandora. We purchased the pandora one so no commercials. The web gui controls Pandora on the pi, been running for 3 days straight without an issue. We are getting more for the other stores
Yup, I'm using 3.0 RC5. Smooth as silk!
I was considering a Pi. Yesterday I ordered a
Zotac ID80. I have 4 GB Ram and a 500 GB drive to put in it. Can't wait...
Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2013 11:35 am
by morbidpete
TonyT wrote:Yup, I'm using 3.0 RC5. Smooth as silk!
I was considering a Pi. Yesterday I ordered a
Zotac ID80. I have 4 GB Ram and a 500 GB drive to put in it. Can't wait...
That should work nicely, Are you only running one? I have 3 using a central NAS for the SQL backend and synced artwork and add-ons.
I have noticed the Pi's wont do the crazy animated backgrounds and transitions. But im cool with that
Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 7:42 am
by TonyT
morbidpete wrote:That should work nicely, Are you only running one? I have 3 using a central NAS for the SQL backend and synced artwork and add-ons.
I have noticed the Pi's wont do the crazy animated backgrounds and transitions. But im cool with that
Just one htpc is all I need, I only have one tv. I can use its pnp to stream content to computers on the lan.
I gave the 'testing' computer to my brother, set it up yesterday with his projector in his theater room. Picked up a cheap MCE remote for it which works like a charm. At xmas I'll gift them a pi or a zotac.
Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 2:10 pm
by Mark
so i can build one of these things to stream video from another PC or internet, like with youtube, ect.
i am getting a new plasma monday and need a new dvd player as it took a crap also.
how hard is it to use, can i run ethernet to it or only wireless ?
Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 6:07 pm
by morbidpete
Mark wrote:so i can build one of these things to stream video from another PC or internet, like with youtube, ect.
i am getting a new plasma monday and need a new dvd player as it took a crap also.
how hard is it to use, can i run ethernet to it or only wireless ?
Yes, raspbmc is your best bet. It has an ethernet port, Wireless would need an adapter. Not hard to setup at all. Just add the pc share to the "sources" in the video's menu. Very easy to use with the android or iphone app
Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 6:56 pm
by Mark
what about a WD TV live, a bit more money but seems to do the same things ?
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/WD---WD-TV- ... Id=3558057
or is the pi offer something else ?
Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 7:46 pm
by Bastid
pi is more for tinkerers...