Raspberry Pi - The 35$ XBMC Game Changer?
#1
I guess it is time to open the debate for the Raspberry Pi.....

http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/571

There is addiitonal discussion in the "General Section" of this forum.

Please discuss...
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#2
Oh damn!!!
Nod

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#3
I guess we all knew it would happen one day, but nice to see it in video form. It's certainly going to sell a bucketload of Raspberry Pi units - damm cheap, and fanless.

Interested to see is how well the video decoder on-board can handle the multiple of video formats that users will want to throw at it (DivX/h.264 variants and all things in-between), but I guess that will improve with time if needed anyway on the software side.....
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#4
Just when I thought I was done building HTPC'S... I'll need to play with one or more of those. Maybe I can turn one of my others into a carputer...
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#5
Really can't wait for this, I think I might have to buy a boot load of them just in case !

I've just changed from my cyber punk cool xbox (RIP) to an ATV2 and am already sick of the abortion that is iOS. Although I have to say I've been very grateful for the effort put into ATV2 XBMC but to me it'll always be incompatible proprietary Apple tosh.

It's illegal to jailbreak dumbed down Apple plastic. Oh no, that's a lie from a corporation that thinks it owns something even after it's been sold, etc ... Worse than Microsoft ever were.

Rant over.

This is going to be a excellent device and unless some anti-competitive, anti-capitalist, corporation from hell (no names Big Grin) decides to get in the way I really see this taking over the HTPC market. Why would anyone with half an idea buy anything else ?!

Thank you and good luck to to Mr Braben et al, I hope all your dreams come true.
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#6
it is an interesting prospect but for a "pc" with only 256mb of ram im not too hopeful that it will run smooth.
especially on a large library such as mine.
for 35 bucks i will definitely get one to try it out.
im really biased on the subject of the micro pc cause i always build my systems with way more power than i need or will ever use.
anyways if they do actually turn out to work well ill be buying 1 for every tv in the house to replace the energy sucking over powered media pcs i am using right now.
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#7
RAM has bugger all to do with performance or running smoothly, assuming there is enough to run it to begin with.

On a large library, assuming there's enough RAM to load the listings (they don't require that much really) the more important thing is how fast the CPU is for the various functions that are performed on said items.

This first version of the rPi will be slower in terms of CPU than the ATV2 (which is a 1GHz ARM with Neon) but can output in 1080p which the ATV2 can't, and is completely open. All for $35. Just imagine what the next iteration of this type of embedded device will achieve. Helping support them in this endeavour could be seen as a donation towards bigger and better things, but please wait a while before ordering so that I make sure I get one! Wink

Cheers,
Jonathan
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#8
Another interesting, more powerful and maybe even cheaper alternative:

http://rhombus-tech.net/allwinner_a10/

Still in the works !
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#9
jmarshall Wrote:This first version of the rPi will be slower in terms of CPU than the ATV2 (which is a 1GHz ARM with Neon) but can output in 1080p which the ATV2 can't, and is completely open. All for $35. Just imagine what the next iteration of this type of embedded device will achieve. Helping support them in this endeavour could be seen as a donation towards bigger and better things, but please wait a while before ordering so that I make sure I get one! Wink

My understanding of it is that the chip supports hardware decoding H264 video but that other formats would use the GPU and no-one has seen any tests of that yet, only H264. It may well be that only H264 will play well on it.
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#10
mikeplow1961 Wrote:My understanding of it is that the chip supports hardware decoding H264 video but that other formats would use the GPU and no-one has seen any tests of that yet, only H264. It may well be that only H264 will play well on it.

And NVIDIA's Tegra 2 :

http://arstechnica.com/#!/gadgets/news/2...4s-gpu.ars
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#11
Ya, this will do well with H.264, but if you have straight BD rips, then you will need good VC1 and MPEG2 playback, and I am skeptical that it will be able to handle those nearly as well.
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#12
Game changer, i think so. I'll be buying loads for friends and a couple for other rooms around the house.

Just wondering, why dont XBMC buy a bucket load of these, design a nice case for it, maybe bundle with a HDMI cable and Remote. And sell on as a plug and play media center.

That way, raspberry Pi will be making their profit, So will XBMC, and the average joe can get a the best media player of all time for fairly cheap. Especially compared to whats currently out there, eg, WDTV etc.

Just a thought, and id love to see what xbmc developers think of this.
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#13
Initial orders are limited to one per person, so buying buckets of them isn't going to be in the cards for anyone for quite a while.
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#14
voip-ninja Wrote:Initial orders are limited to one per person, so buying buckets of them isn't going to be in the cards for anyone for quite a while.

Well im sure after the inital shortage, which is expected i dont think that raspberry pi will have any objections.
To me, it just seems like a good way for both to make some good money especially seeing as xbmc run off donations and raspberry are a charity.
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#15
skweezer Wrote:That way, raspberry Pi will be making their profit

They're not for profit
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Raspberry Pi - The 35$ XBMC Game Changer?1