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Raspberry pi buyer advice

chop983chop983
edited October 2014 in Chit chat
So I'm considering buying a pi for Xmas, can someone point me towards a decent bundle, one with a wireless keyboard as I'm going to plug it into my TV.

Could you also recommend some add kits that are floating around.

The vast number of stuff out there makes it difficult to sort the wheat form the chaff.

Thanks
Post edited by chop983 on

Comments

  • milemile
    edited October 2014
    not really what your looking for but i saw this on reddit last week.

    https://imgur.com/a/5qgRU

    some guys gutted a snes and stuck a pi inside, loaded with emulators.

    looks awesome :)
  • joefishjoefish
    edited October 2014
    Make sure you get the Model B+, which has micro-SD, extra USB ports and ditches the Composite video, just leaving HDMI.

    Not sure I've seen any bundles with a wireless keyboard though. The bundles usually try to do things as cheap as possible.
    Joefish
    - IONIAN-GAMES.com -
  • guesserguesser
    edited October 2014
    joefish wrote: »
    ditches the Composite video, just leaving HDMI.

    The B+ has composite video, it just doesn't have the phono socket any more. Instead it's on the tip of the TRRS socket.
    My rubbish website including the redrawn Amstrad schematics and the Sinclair Wiki.
  • ZupZup
    edited October 2014
    I use a Logitech K400 keyboard. Wireless, not too small, includes trackpad so you don't need a mouse.

    Also, I'd recommend not to buy an unbranded power source... most of them won't give you the advertised curren (I have a 1.5A one that don't work reliably wirth the 700mA Raspberry Pi). A good 2A PSU (or better, a good PSU and a powered USB hub) would be a better choice.

    About SD cards: get any branded 8 Gb card. Speed is not important: the raspberry SD slot is slooooow.
    I was there, too
    An' you know what they said?
    Well, some of it was true!
  • ADJBADJB
    edited October 2014
    Asda are doing "Poloroid" brand keyboards and mice at the moment and there wireless keyboard / mouse set is ?15. I use this with my Pi so I can vouch it works out of the box and the quality is remarkably good considering the price. Uses a single dongle as well which is good.
  • festershinetopfestershinetop
    edited October 2014
    It does require a bit of tinkering (software not hardware) to get right.

    Id highly suggest getting a extra spare sd card or 2, a mains powered usb hub (the one on the pi site is good as it doesn't "backfeed") and a case (or you can make one out of lego).

    I use mine primarily for a media centre and have a 32 gb usb stick for storing video on.

    The usb hub is definitely needed if you are using wireless keyboards/mice or a wifi dongle as they use a lot more power than ethernet/wired devices and the pi will run poorly due to the lack of power without it. I don't know if this was fixed in the new model but back when i first got my model B it was pretty much unusable without the hub as it crashed constantly and was very flaky.
  • Matt_BMatt_B
    edited October 2014
    I'll second the recommendation for the K400. It might not be the cheapest option on the market, but it's a heck of a lot sturdier than the sub-?20 offerings and it'll also come in handy should you need a keyboard for an HTPC or games console.

    Also, one thing to bear in mind about the B+ model is that the different ports make it incompatible with a lot of the cases designed for the A/B models. That said, having enough USB ports built-in not to have to use an external hub would go a long way towards offsetting that.
  • AceGraceAceGrace
    edited October 2014
    I got a bundle from Maplins. A but pricey but everything you need is in there.
  • ADJBADJB
    edited October 2014
    The Kano kit is a very good starting place

    http://uk.kano.me/
  • Bermondsey BobBermondsey Bob
    edited October 2014
    I've been curious about these things for ages, but knowing what I'm like with things like this, I've always decided against buying one as it'll just end up being another expensive thing on a shelf or in a box (being off work for so long, I don't really have ?30 or so to throw away) but I just looked this up on Amazon and saw this:

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BBJTGRM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    Actually, I saw it yesterday and it was around ?27 or so, but I thought for just under ?6 (the description still says it contains a Raspberry Pi) I had nothing to loose! They also had another version going for about the same price too. I'm guessing they're having a clear out as this is a model B and most people are after the B+ but it'l give me a taste and see if it works.

    That's if it turns up ;-)

    *EDIT* They've cancelled my order due to a "pricing error" which I expected them to do anyway, but I thought I'd try, just on the off chance. I'd take it up with Amazon, but I can't be bothered to be honest. If I decide to buy one eventually, it won't be from them!
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