Raspberry Pi 2 – Quad core

Just spotted this >>

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/02/02/raspberry_pi_model_2/

In summary quad core 1Gb of RAM Raspberry Pi2, same size/shape as the B+ and the same price, bargain for a cheap desktop machine.

Interesting. People have been asking for this for some time but they’ve always maintained that they weren’t going to put out anything much more powerful as it was an educational tool.

Perhaps, given that they’ve got their camera modules now, they wanted a bit more power to allow some more interesting computer vision tasks.

Also, with that spec it is capable enough to act as a real XBMC box (Yes I know you could do it with a B+ but it was sluggish).

Wow, they kept that a bit quiet! Hopefully it’ll run XBMC/Kodi flawlessly although I’ll wait for confirmation before getting one. Could easily be the best/cheapest media centre solution with that extra power & memory.

Also, runs Windows 10.

What resolution will the Pi 2 allow for? I’ve got a W8.1 tablet that I had planned to use as a media PC but it’s rather limited by the screen resolution (to HDMI) being only 800pixels height as a maximum.

1080P (same as the original)

interesting! My newly ordered b+ will be going back to amazon… just ordered the new one from RS. Wondered whether this would happen as the b+ is going cheap.

Bloody typical, right after I bought a B+.

In moron terms, what are they good for? I hear a lot about them but never really pay much attention because the lingo gets a bit out of my depth. I’d like to know more and learn but don’t know where to start.

I might be off the mark but as I’m reading it, you could use this (with Windows 10 which will be free) to act as a media PC for well under £50 by my reckoning…

Windows 10 support is the most interesting bit, and Microsoft have been involved in supporting it. Will obviously be an ARM version, so either the same as the phone / phablet version or what they replace RT with. Though it may be then same thing. I’ve always said they should bin RT and upscale Phone to low spec and ARM tablets.

@nemesis – you can use existing Pi’s as media PCs already with various Linux based options, including XBMC.

I might be off the mark but as I’m reading it, you could use this (with Windows 10 which will be free) to act as a media PC for well under £50 by my reckoning…

Assuming someone ports W10 to the Pi. The embedded version of W10 might run very slowly on the Pi, but it won’t be a patch on a cheap desktop.

Bloody typical, right after I bought a B+.

Snap. Actually, I’m wandering now if it was your amazon review that convinced me to go for the kit I picked up. Oh well, it’s plenty powerful enough for my dicking about with MPD.

In moron terms, what are they good for? I hear a lot about them but never really pay much attention because the lingo gets a bit out of my depth. I’d like to know more and learn but don’t know where to start.

Basically, they’re a (really) small, cheap PC. Their USP is that they have input / output pins built in, so you can integrate them with electronics projects fairly readily.

I’m wandering now if it was your amazon review that convinced me to go for the kit I picked up.

Er, that’s entirely possible. Though I’m slightly concerned as to how you worked that out. (-:

Er, that’s entirely possible. Though I’m slightly concerned as to how you worked that out. (-:

The reviewer was also named Cougar…

with Windows 10 which will be free

Win 10 is free as an upgrade from 7 or 8, not sure if it’s going to a free purchase from scratch.

Win 10 is free as an upgrade from 7 or 8, not sure if it’s going to a free purchase from scratch.

A Raspberry Pi version of Win 10 was announced as being ‘free’ this morning.

The reviewer was also named Cougar…

Oh thank goodness. I thought I’d used my real name for a minute. As you were, Inspector.

This is good news. My PiMulator (RetroPie) will now work a lot better!

RetroPie looks interesting. Amiga emulation?! Is that anything like usable performance?

I’m also interested in emulation, although I would be running PiMAME/PiPlay. I assume the performance is acceptable even on the original R Pi? (should hope so; used to run MAME on the first Xbox and that was fine!)

@nemesis – you can use existing Pi’s as media PCs already with various Linux based options, including XBMC.

I know but linux is, in the real world and IME of course, pretty hit and miss at least for those who want it to just do the job it’s for rather than tinker with it.

With W10 on a Pi, you can have a media centre that works in a way that’s familiar to most people for peanuts.

Best place to purchase?

Possibly CPC Farnell – there’s a bit of chat on some forums with people being unexpectedly stung for postage when buying from RS although there’s not much in it.

Cougar – Yes, very usable, I only find the slow downs occur with PS1 and games that use the advanced gfx chips inside consoles such as Star Fox on SNES. I’m hoping it’ll be amazing with the Pi2.

ZiLog – I would use RetroPie, it has the setups for controllers and everything else all built in. It does MAME very well, Doom and Quake III work perfectly! I was/am using a Pi B, 2x PS3 controllers on bluetooth.

I forgot how good Micro Machines is!

nemesis – Member
I know but linux is, in the real world and IME of course, pretty hit and miss at least for those who want it to just do the job it’s for rather than tinker with it.

I’d never use it for the desktop, but for server use and media centre type stuff, it’s rock solid usually. As long as you avoid the bleeding edge and experimental distributions.

If it’s just a media centre, doesn’t matter what the OS looks like as it’s all covered by a fluffy media UI. I’ve run Windows as a media centre but I used MediaPortal for the app. In use wouldn’t really know it was Windows.

Now I use my Smart TV in the Samsung telly as my media player (using the Plex app generally) and the media server is in my Synology NAS which is linux-ish based (BusyBox), and runs Plex server (you can run Plex on Windows also though).

Beauty is with the Pi you can just play about with each OS, stick them on a different SD card, and see what you like best.

ZiLog – I would use RetroPie, it has the setups for controllers and everything else all built in. It does MAME very well, Doom and Quake III work perfectly! I was/am using a Pi B, 2x PS3 controllers on bluetooth.

Awesome. Only really interested in MAME (Frogger & Joust are my faves!) – picked up one of these cheaply years ago but could never build a PC small enough to go inside it affordably. R Pi will be perfect, then I’ll get a new one for media player duties!

Gosh.

Right, that’s a project. Ta.

My B+ has literally just arrived on my desk.
Is it worth sending back and changing for the 2?
This is my first venture into using the raspberry Pi.
If it won’t affect me while I learn I’d like to avoid the hassle/wait of swapping.

I ordered mine about 10am this morning from RS; will keep you updated on delivery etc.

Is it worth sending back and changing for the 2?

I would if it were me but it depends what you’re going to be using it for I suppose. The original is capable but obviously 2½ years old whereas the new one is bang-up-to-date yet costs the same!

The only reservation I’d have is whether there’s any compatibility issues with a new architecture. I’m sure it’ll be fine over time as stuff gets fixed.

it has the setups for controllers and everything else all built in.

Does it support 360 controllers? Should just read the site I suppose.

The only reservation I’d have is whether there’s any compatibility issues with a new architecture. I’m sure it’ll be fine over time as stuff gets fixed.

stuff needs recompiling for multi-core support but reading through the raspberry website it seems pretty well tested. They purposely stuck with the ARM chip by the sound of it to try and ensure stability/compatibility.

cokie – Member
My B+ has literally just arrived on my desk.
Is it worth sending back and changing for the 2?

Keep it, and order the 2 as well 😉

Can’t have too many Pi’s 😀 . They can be used for so many things. Currently got my old Pi working as a VPN server, though that’s a bit dull.

Don’t forget, the Pi also runs RISC OS if you’re into some old British Acorn Archimedes style nostalgia 😉 (and remember the Pi was developed as a modern day sort of Acorn’s BBC Micro, hence even the naming, Model A, B, B+)

The new Pi does look good but it does seem to have compatibility issues with some distros such as RetroPie and Raspbmc (link)

I’m sure they will be re-compiled within a few days

Don’t forget, the Pi also runs RISC OS if you’re into some old British Acorn Archimedes style nostalgia (and remember the Pi was developed as a modern day sort of Acorn’s BBC Micro, hence even the naming, Model A, B, B+)

Ooooh… A ROM of Pandora’s Box would make me a happy man – wonder if I can get one up and running.

The RASPBMC chap has said he cant be arsed spending time porting it across to Pi2 while he’s busy finalizing OSMC for April 2015. OSMC will be the RASPBMC replacement, and will be Pi2 compatible. No idea re OpenElec or XBIAN the other Pi XBMC builds

lemonysam – Member
Ooooh… A ROM of Pandora’s Box would make me a happy man – wonder if I can get one up and running.

The tricky thing is the ARM chip on the Pi is full 32bit addressing but the old ARM2 was 26bit, and apparently many of the old native games would have to be rebuilt to work on the modern ARM chips sadly. A few I think have been updated, but a lot haven’t.

Though there are emulator options to emulate the 26bit ARM. There’s some for RISC OS that’ll run on the Pi. Supposedly this will get Elite working http://www.themagpi.com/issue/issue-13/article/risc-os-elite/ (still the best version of the original Elite in my opinion).

Thanks for the heads up, have just ordered one!