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Raspberry Pi Model A+ — Parallax Forums

Raspberry Pi Model A+

John A. ZoidbergJohn A. Zoidberg Posts: 514
edited 2014-11-13 14:20 in General Discussion
Just received a news about that: Raspberry Pi Model A+ released

The thing is, the RAM amount has been halved, the size of the thing has been halved, and the price is also half too. One problem is there's no casing for that, I have to invent my own, or use that box.

The price is $20 - cheaper than those PIC32 kits I bought. That is really strange.:innocent:
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Comments

  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2014-11-10 20:49
    The RAM has not been halved. It's the same 256 meg as ever. The original model B was also 256 meg until they doubled it this summer.

    The lack of a case won't be a problem, if it is indeed a problem, for long. People will be working on it as we speak. Most boards like that do not come with a case from the vendor.

    The price is amazing. Even 5 or so dollars cheaper than ever expected. It's about the same price as a Prop Plug around here!

    In fact with this http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/158102-PropellerC-WebApp and this http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/158102-PropellerC-WebApp my A+, when it arrives, will be exactly a very intelligent Prop Plug.

    I love the form factor. Nice an symmetrical with a good solid mounting hole in each corner.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2014-11-10 21:01
    Amazing price. BTW, you have a bad link in post #1, John. It reads correctly, but the embedded link is bad. Should simply be http://www.raspberrypi.org/raspberry-pi-model-a-plus-on-sale/
  • jmgjmg Posts: 15,173
    edited 2014-11-10 21:18
    Heater. wrote: »
    ...
    I love the form factor. Nice an symmetrical with a good solid mounting hole in each corner.

    Yes, a P2 Board should stack nicely on that , for an interesting combination of features. :)
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2014-11-10 21:27
    jmg,
    Yes, a P2 Board should stack nicely on that , for an interesting combination of features.
    My thoughts exactly.

    I'm sure Bill Henning will be coming up with such a board soon.
  • jmgjmg Posts: 15,173
    edited 2014-11-10 21:51
    Heater. wrote: »
    I'm sure Bill Henning will be coming up with such a board soon.

    Yup, as soon as he can get his hands on a P2 ;)

    ( Even a FPGA board in that form-factor could make sense... )
  • John A. ZoidbergJohn A. Zoidberg Posts: 514
    edited 2014-11-10 22:29
    @Heater: Ah, I mean the half of the 512MB from the latest Model B+, sorry for the confusion. Agreed that the price is just right. Could make myself a mini-arcade! :)

    @erco: Thanks for pointing that out! Fixed the link so you guys can read more about them! I ordered one today and hope I can get to play it tomorrow. Might combine it with a Prop.

    Btw, the Arduino Uno costs slightly more than that Model A+, isn't it?
  • ValeTValeT Posts: 308
    edited 2014-11-11 08:57
    Anyone else notice that there is not an Ethernet port on it?

    Seems like a small problem to me :)
  • David BetzDavid Betz Posts: 14,516
    edited 2014-11-11 09:13
    ValeT wrote: »
    Anyone else notice that there is not an Ethernet port on it?

    Seems like a small problem to me :)
    I suppose they expect you to plug in a USB-WiFi dongle.
  • ValeTValeT Posts: 308
    edited 2014-11-11 09:16
    David Betz wrote: »
    I suppose they expect you to plug in a USB-WiFi dongle.

    Probably, but there is only one USB port. It will be pretty hard to attach a keyboard, mouse, and Wifi dongle to only one USB port. You can get a USB hub, but then that costs more money. In the end, it might actually make more sense to just buy the Model A.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2014-11-11 09:16
    No problem at all. When you have your Model A+ installed in that robot you are building you will not want an ethernet cable tethering your creation to your switch/router.

    A WIFI dongle is very small and very cheap now a days. Or you might be using a Zigbee or other wireless dongle.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2014-11-11 09:21
    Yes, if you want use a keyboard and mouse and ethernet, i.e. a personal computer, get the bigger brother. If you want small, i.e. an embedded controller, get the A+. Horses for courses and all that.

    I'm really glad there is not Ethernet jack on there. Those things are huge and ugly.
  • ValeTValeT Posts: 308
    edited 2014-11-11 09:27
    Heater. wrote: »
    Yes, if you want use a keyboard and mouse and ethernet, i.e. a personal computer, get the bigger brother. If you want small, i.e. an embedded controller, get the A+. Horses for courses and all that.

    I'm really glad there is not Ethernet jack on there. Those things are huge and ugly.

    That is true. As an embedded controller, it is perfect and it is great that there is not an Ethernet port on there. Before, I was assuming that you were using the Model A+ as a personal computer. In which case the lack of an Ethernet port is a huge loss.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2014-11-11 09:36
    Where do you fellows buy from in the US?
  • RsadeikaRsadeika Posts: 3,837
    edited 2014-11-11 09:48
    The first one that I bought I got from Element14, I also got one from Adafruit, but the last couple of units that I got were from Microcenter. Since there is a Microcenter store in the area, I can pick one up at any time, and so far they have the best prices for the RPi units. Beside the fact that they also carry Parallax stuff, which I can pick up while I am there.

    Today I checked on line for the A+, Element14 - $34.62; Adafruit - $24.95(not in stock), and Microcenter still does not have them listed, but I think they will be around $20.00. Why do I say that, because I just picked up a couple of B+ units for $29.95.

    Ray
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2014-11-11 09:51
    erco wrote: »
    Where do you fellows buy from in the US?

    Mine are on order from MCM Electronics. (One of the few places you can actually buy anything of interest in Ohio that is more technologically advanced than fresh produce) They were expecting them in yesterday - I just checked my order, it has shipped EXCEPT for the back ordered RasPi A+ :frown:

    As far as an Ethernet port? Most of my RasPi have been set up as headless and wireless. To get a $20 RasPi A+, I can go without the Ethernet. (And to agree with Heater, they are big ugly things to have on a board!) It will be a very capable replacement for a PropPlug :lol:

    EDIT: They now show as "In Stock" with an estimated shipping date of 11/12! Woo Hoo!! Yeti burgers and mini Raspberry Pi by the weekend!!!
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2014-11-11 10:51
    I'll be getting one from Farnell/Element 14. They are 15.51 GBP here in the UK, which equates to $24.6805.
  • ColeyColey Posts: 1,110
    edited 2014-11-11 11:45
    @Leon, they are cheaper at CPC, only £14.03 + VAT ;-)

    http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?sku=SC13576
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2014-11-11 11:54
    Yes, but postage would have to be added. I usually have other stuff I want from Farnell which would take it over the £20 for free postage. CPC doesn't usually have anything else I want.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2014-11-11 12:00
    Life is sweet sometimes. Now the objects of our desire are so cheap that people fuss over the cost of postage.

    I find it amazing that the RPis can be produced in the UK at such low cost.
  • TorTor Posts: 2,010
    edited 2014-11-11 12:55
    I have lots of USB hubs, and several USB->Ethernet dongles. So that won't be an extra cost for me. Right now the only problem is to get one at a fair price to my location. Maybe the situation will improve later.
  • John A. ZoidbergJohn A. Zoidberg Posts: 514
    edited 2014-11-11 18:51
    Tor wrote: »
    I have lots of USB hubs, and several USB->Ethernet dongles. So that won't be an extra cost for me. Right now the only problem is to get one at a fair price to my location. Maybe the situation will improve later.

    Hmm, I got these from Element14 - no extra shipping costs. It's just $20, no more no less.

    I believe there is Element14 in Europe and they are all over that continent?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2014-11-12 01:06
    Element 14 is Farnell in Europe.
  • TorTor Posts: 2,010
    edited 2014-11-12 01:48
    Well, Farnell/Element 14 always redirect me to no.farnell.com and a) they don't have the A+ (no surprise there), and b) they have absurd shipping prices - I've never been able to buy anything there. It's always been difficult to buy the Pi in Norway, those at work who bought a B all ended up paying four or five times the real price due to shipping and extra charges. Anyway, I'll check if the situation is better from Japan when I go back there.
  • GadgetmanGadgetman Posts: 2,436
    edited 2014-11-12 01:52
    @tor, it may not be the lowest priced, but Komplett.no has them, an they ship fast and cheap...
  • TorTor Posts: 2,010
    edited 2014-11-12 02:01
    Gadgetman wrote: »
    @tor, it may not be the lowest priced, but Komplett.no has them, an they ship fast and cheap...
    Who would have thought? The place where I bought my kitchen machine.. thanks for that, Gadgetman. They don't have the A+ (yet), and the B is $56.. but with free shipping (they used to have more costly shipping in the past). A reasonable alternative so I'll watch them for the arrival of the A+.

    Thanks again
    -Tor
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2014-11-12 08:24
    mindrobots wrote: »
    Mine are on order from MCM Electronics. (One of the few places you can actually buy anything of interest in Ohio that is more technologically advanced than fresh produce)

    That's funny, I've been seeing MCM in pop-up ads just this week. Sounds like Ohio's version of Fry's.
  • NWCCTVNWCCTV Posts: 3,629
    edited 2014-11-12 13:39
    I have bought items from MCM also. I get their catalog every couple of months. They have pretty much everything an electronics fanatic can think of.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2014-11-13 03:47
    I received my A+ from Farnell this morning. I've tried it out and it's working OK with my HDMI TV, wireless mouse and keyboard, supplied from a USB port on my laptop. I installed the NOOBS 1.3 software on a MicroSD card, and am running the Raspbian OS that came with it. I'll get my Philips HDMI monitor working with it, next.

    Farnell is now out of stock.
  • Bill HenningBill Henning Posts: 6,445
    edited 2014-11-13 10:57
    Heater. wrote: »
    jmg,

    my thoughts exactly.

    I'm sure bill henning will be coming up with such a board soon.

    "no comment"
  • Bill HenningBill Henning Posts: 6,445
    edited 2014-11-13 10:59
    Well, I am eagerly awaiting for Chip's recepie and the foundry's cooking to yield a chip...

    Hopefully it will be a Chipmas!

    As soon as a P2 image arrives, my DE2-115 gets dusted off. Unfortunately I have not had time to play with the P1V yet (very frustrating).
    jmg wrote: »
    Yup, as soon as he can get his hands on a P2 ;)

    ( Even a FPGA board in that form-factor could make sense... )
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