While the Raspberry Pi is interesting to everyone, it is most suitable for absolute newbies learning software, it’s target market.
Here’s a gadget that will knock your socks off for $129 which is much more reasonable as a general-purpose PC:
ODROID-X open mobile development platform is based on Samsung Exynos4412 quad-core CPU which has some guts and with 1gB of RAM is capable of reasonable performance for many uses. With 6 USB ports, and Android/Linux there is no problem connecting a keyboard and mouse or serious storage.
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They are probably more reliable than those bulk laptops with Windows? Wife of my son had that with Windows 7 and it sucks after less than a year. Now she has Ubuntu on it but this $129 is real the future of ordinary computing. You don’t really have to have 1000 € PC for Facebook, Youtube, e-mail and multimedia.
OMG! A “small cheap computer” with which you can … surf the web! Two thumbs up!
Wife of my son had that with Windows 7 and it sucks after less than a year.
That only ever happens to those where a relative happens to be a Linux evangelist. My Windows 7 installation is now 2.5 years old. No slowdowns, no sucking.
more reasonable as a general-purpose PC
The operative term must be “more”, Mr. Pogson. The rest of the phrase makes no sense. With all those wires running between the units and the circuit tracks exposed to one’s pet cat stepping on them with wet feet, what you are showing appears to be the most unreasonable candidate for a general use device as can be imagined. Of course the Raspberry Pi may be even worse, but they would have to work very imaginatively to do so.
Clarence Moon go back to the early dos age.
We are seeing a repeat here. Stack of prototype frames being configures to be able to be used like a PC.
The worst item for a general use device I can name. Is a 20 dollar computer. Officially the worst computer you can decide to buy new. Humane PC http://humaneinfo.com/pc.html
Yes its not even advanced enough to run a 32 bit OS.
Yes forget colour graphics it don’t do those.
Clarence Moon
“what you are showing appears to be the most unreasonable candidate for a general use device as can be imagined.”
Basically your imagination is limited. Humane PC is the worst I know of in production yes the thing is in production. RasberyPi compare to a Humane PC is light-years ahead even the 25 dollar version.
I can imagine worse but it get on the side of insane. Like using water based logic gates to build a computer so it does not to require electricity to operate. But worse than the Humane PC is also highly impractical.
Next time you think your computer suxs be thankful that you are not stuck with the Humane PC as your only computer.
http://hackaday.com/2012/09/12/64-rasberry-pis-turned-into-a-supercomputer/
Just goes to show that the term “supercomputer” has lost all meaning today. But at least those 64 raspis between them might have the computing power of one PC.