Raspberry Pi Gets 512MB Filling 178
sfcrazy writes "Good (and bad) news for Raspberry Pi lovers, the Model B has been upgraded to 512MB RAM from 256MB. Bad news is for those who already got their Model B shipments because all those who have outstanding orders with either distributors will get the *upgraded* version of the device, means with 512MB RAM instead of 256MB. The upgraded devices should be arriving to customers from today onwards. Raspberry Pi team will be pushing a firmware upgrade soon so these news devices can detect and use the additional RAM."
Re:Good site for Raspberry Pi hardware? (Score:3, Informative)
Adafruit.com has some nifty items. Also checkout hackaday.com for some interesting raspi stuff.
THE!!!! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:How about actually shipping them? (Score:5, Informative)
Ordered from raspberrypi.rsdelivers.com - one of the two that was recommended from http://www.raspberrypi.org/ [raspberrypi.org] page.
I looked at element14 but they didn't seem to have a casing for it, so I ended up at the other recommended place.
Re:Good site for Raspberry Pi hardware? (Score:5, Informative)
I would check out the RPi forums and potentially the wiki. There are a lot of folks who use the RPi for robotics.
Here is a link to the sub forum that includes robotics, but I bet there are robotics threads in lots of other places on their forums as well:
http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=37 [raspberrypi.org]
And here is the RPi wiki:
http://elinux.org/RPi_Hub [elinux.org]
Feel free to ask on the forums, I have found them to be very friendly.
switch distributors (Score:5, Informative)
The one distributor (RS, I think) is notorious for crazy long shipping times, while the other has almost always had stock. Cancel your order, go with the other guy.
Re:switch distributors (Score:5, Informative)
Parent post is correct: RS has had atrociously long shipping times (though they'll charge your credit card almost immediately). Go with Farnell/Newark/Element instead.
And if you're not keen on trusting an AC's posting, go check the Shipping forum on the Raspberry Pi site for a second opinion.
Some Pi Alternatives (Score:2, Informative)
If you want a smartphone, the Alcatel Venture has comparable specs, and sells for $50, contract-free (and VirginMobile also has some of the cheapest cell plans, too, if you want to sign up).
If you want a desktop, you can usually get a used, mini P4 system (40w idle) for $32 from geeks.com. Better deals are often available from local off-lease PC dealers.
If you want a tablet, Walmart stocks a 7" Pandigital unit for $50.
If you want video streaming and 1080p decoding, the D-Link MovieNite Streaming Player, DSM310 is selling for $38 at WalMart.
If you want network-attached cameras, you can find ethernet and WiFi (g) models with PTZ, built-in mic and speaker, and night-vision for $50, maybe less.
With the Pi needing binary blobs as well, I really see nowhere than the Pi makes sense.