Raspberry Pi

[jdnet]

Hi guys,

I was wondering if anyone here has given the Raspberry Pi a try. Was looking at building one up to connect to a tv so that I can play HD movies off my external drive and some streaming. Trying to decide between that or just getting a media player.

[The Don]

There is always the option of android on a stick as well.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/08/favi_stick/

The Rasberry pi device is very cheap but if you then get add ons like case etc the costs creep up a bit....

[jdnet]

  On 2/28/2013 at 4:33 PM, The Don said:

There is always the option of android on a stick as well.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/08/favi_stick/

The Rasberry pi device is very cheap but if you then get add ons like case etc the costs creep up a bit....

I've been looking at the reviews on the android devices but they seem to have a bunch of issues. Mainly overheating. Any decent brands you could think of?

[The Don]

  On 2/28/2013 at 5:05 PM, jdnet said:

I've been looking at the reviews on the android devices but they seem to have a bunch of issues. Mainly overheating. Any decent brands you could think of?

Well the biggest problem for me in using the pi or the above is lack of silverlight support which both netflix and lovefilm use.

To be honest JD I haven't tried any of them personally but I did have a look at them, and it seems most of the early overheating issues have been resolved.

I think you will find this article interesting

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/145937-dell-eyeing-android-stick-pc

Also boxes like Roku and WD Live player have become pretty cheap and worth a look. I have used the WD product and its quite good. Also some TVs have this feature.

[Pericles]

On the Android stick subject, look up the MK808. My boss got one. Beta testing now, but kinda irregular with it, think he had a tv input issue.

[shanX]

Went for a Shuttle SH67H3. But still wanna try Rasberry Pi. As for a case, you can retrofit into an old vcr, vcd player or something

[k9master]

Not tried but keen to give it a go.

My current media centre is an energy consuming Core2Duo with Windows7 Media Centre. Serves me well but been dying to replace it with a suitable low energy & sleek HTPC. Pi is a very good candidate as there's no point in sticking with Windows as Windows Media Centre is in the dying stage now. Also all the XBMC development on the Pi (Xbian & RaspBMC) it should soon have a full blown media suite.

Add-ons like PlayOn Server is capable of bringing Netflix to Pi as I've heard but as Don said it adds to the overall cost.

Cheers,

K9M

[terrabytetango]

I've got a 256MB model B which I've been using since last June. It's run off a small a solar panel hooked up directly via a small ebay solar power controller to a 12V battery. It runs a minimalist version of Raspbian without any GUI, I use it for console work only, mainly as a torrent downloader and IRC eggdrop. I've got the new model B and model A on the way as well. The B will be used as a stand alone classic console and PC game emulator, not sure what I'm going to do with the other one yet.

[k9master]

  On 3/1/2013 at 1:30 AM, terrabytetango said:

I've got a 256MB model B which I've been using since last June. It's run off a small a solar panel hooked up directly via a small ebay solar power controller to a 12V battery. It runs a minimalist version of Raspbian without any GUI, I use it for console work only, mainly as a torrent downloader and IRC eggdrop. I've got the new model B and model A on the way as well. The B will be used as a stand alone classic console and PC game emulator, not sure what I'm going to do with the other one yet.

Wow this is a great idea. Big fan of NES here.

[terrabytetango]

  On 3/1/2013 at 1:55 AM, k9master said:

Wow this is a great idea. Big fan of NES here.

There are a handful of emulator distros currently available for the RPi, I personally prefer Chameleon since it emphasizes more on old computers than consoles.

[jdnet]

  On 2/28/2013 at 6:07 PM, Pericles said:

On the Android stick subject, look up the MK808. My boss got one. Beta testing now, but kinda irregular with it, think he had a tv input issue.

well I'm actually thinking of giving this one a try. The mouse and USB hub should keep the price under a hundred dollars I guess. Plus Amazon has it so if it doesn't work, returns would be easy.

Edited March 1, 2013 by jdnet

[jdnet]

Also, while we are on this subject. Does anyone know if the 32" 1080p panasonic viera's are any good?

[k9master]

Building a Media Centre with Raspberry Pi

http://thedigitallifestyle.com/w/index.php/2013/02/05/building-a-media-center-with-a-raspberry-pi/

[Crosswind]

  On 3/1/2013 at 1:37 PM, jdnet said:

Also, while we are on this subject. Does anyone know if the 32" 1080p panasonic viera's are any good?

NO.

Believe me, I found out the hard way.

[The Don]

  On 3/1/2013 at 1:37 PM, jdnet said:

Also, while we are on this subject. Does anyone know if the 32" 1080p panasonic viera's are any good?

I've got two and they are both pretty good (one I bought in SL from the duty free while the other in the UK). But the base model doesn't support dolby while my old sharp 32 does!