[ILUG] Raspberry Pi

[Michael Jonker]

IMHO:

Rasberry Pi was not designed to handle multimedia - this is reflected in 
the price also.

I have used a range of machines to run XBMC and performance varies on 
HD. Trouble with it is that a +- 2hr HD movie file can range from 2GB to 
14GB and more, depending on how it was encoded. How all that info is 
decoded leads to not much visual difference - but large performance 
discrepancies.

Spec on Cotton Candy:

  * Dual Core ARM Cortex A9 at 1.2GHz CPU
  * Quad Core ARM Mali-400MP Graphics Processing Unit
  * 1GB DRAM
  * Up to 64GB memory local storage (microSD)
  * 480p/720p/1080p decode of MPEG4-SP/H.263/H.264 AVC/MPEG-2/VC1
  * USB 2.0 male connector for power and connection to devices that
    supports USB mass storage
  * MicroUSB
  * HDMI 1.3 Connector with audio
  * Wifi 802.11b/g/n
  * Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

This should (on paper anyway) give you reliable HD playback for 
reasonable file sizes.

You could also research thin clients like:

http://www.linutop.com/index.en.html

Problem with older machines repurposed is:

  * Energy hogs
  * Fan noise



On 14/03/12 13:16, ollie wrote:
> Thanks Michael,
>
> Mostly im worried that the raspberry Pi/ Cotton Stick candy wont be as 
> responsive as a faster pc.
>
> If anyone else has recommendations for a media center pc or even 
> better experiences to share i'll be happy to hear.
>
> Mostly I want to avoid spending too much money :)
>
> My old laptop (DELL Vostro 1500) has a (for the time) powerfull NVIDIA 
> gaming graphics card. However it still has trouble with full HD 
> content, so im wary about buying some old pc and using that.
>
> - Oliver
>
>
> On 2012-03-14 14:08, Michael Jonker wrote:
>> Pricier - but this will be better suited to a media center (does
>> 1080p and has wi-fi/ bluetooth) - runs Ubuntu for ARM and android
>>
>>
>> http://www.webupd8.org/2012/02/usb-stick-pc-cotton-candy-available-for.html 
>>
>>
>> I know you're in 'blackout' but try and have a look. I believe that
>> Rasberry Pi is 'sold out/first come first serve', and they are working
>> on supply/manufacture partnerships.
>>
>> On 14/03/12 12:53, ollie wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> Arent these out around nowish?
>>>
>>> I dont have internet at the moment so i'm curently in an involuntary 
>>> media blackout.
>>>
>>> I'm hoping to use it as a media center pc and avoid getting cable.
>>>
>>> - Oliver
>>>
>>>
>>> On 2012-03-02 10:49, Kevin Brennan wrote:
>>>> Raspberry Pi is shipping soon for a whopping €27.43
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> http://radionics.rs-online.com/web/generalDisplay.html?id=raspberrypi
>>>
>