The Banana Pi BPI-F3 is a new single-board computer that is now available. The system can be seen as a (strong) alternative to the Raspberry Pi and comes in two model variants.
  • itsnicodegallo@lemm.ee
    143·
    7 months ago

    Can somebody explain what this Raspberry Pi is that I see talked about all over Lemmy? Certainly, it is no pie, but I can’t seem to grasp what it actually is.

    • Longpork3@lemmy.nz
      23·
      7 months ago

      It is a very popular Single Board Computer, with a lot of community support that allows people to build and program a variety of things for a low price. Think of it like lego, but for things which can be useful as well as fun.

      Want to run a weather station? Pi and a couple of off the shelf sensors, done.

      Want to control your lights or appliances from your phone without getting out of bed? Pi and a couple of off the shelf relays, done.

      Want to build a retro gaming console? Pi, a couple of off the shelf controllers and some pre-made emulators, done.

    • CheesyGordita@lemmy.world
      12·
      7 months ago

      Super small, super cheap computer designed to run Linux. The board itself is about the size of a pack of cards, and cost about $80 although earlier models a few years ago before prices of everything skyrocketed was about $35. It’s a fully fledged computer and with a microssd card loaded with a Linux distribution, a keyboard, monitor and mouse (last two optional) you can have either a command line only or fully fledged gui OS up and running in minutes.

      Not super powerful but it’s low energy requirements and form factor make it great for tinkerers and specific tasks/functions. Home automation, video game emulation, pi hole (network wide dns ad blocking), and home based VPN services are a few that pop into mind.

      • Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        7 months ago

        There’s a much cheaper model, the Zero, that’s good enough for messing around with and performing simple server tasks like PiHole. Even it has had its price increase multifold over the years, though only to fifteen bucks from an original price of five.

        It’s also much smaller than the already tiny Pi, being able to fit in a standard orange pill bottle. Though the downside of that size is smaller and fewer ports, so you need a USB OTG adapter (preferably a hub) and micro HDMI adapter to plug things into it if you don’t want to run it headless.