A New Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ Has Arrived With Bluetooth 4.2 and Dual-Band Wi-Fi For $25 (pcworld.com) 69
Raspberry Pi has introduced a new version of one of its most popular models just in time to stuff your stocking: the Model A+. And this time around, it's even more attractive. From a report: The Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ costs $25, $5 more than the previous generation, but has a lot more going for it. Just like the top-of-the-line Model B+, the new Model A+ has a 1.4GHz 64-bit quad-core processor, and you'll also get dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4GHz + 5 GHz), a feature that was missing from the previous A+. And you'll have to use it, since the A+ doesn't have an Ethernet port. It does, however, have Bluetooth 4.2 on board. For $10 less than the $35 Model B+, you'll also only get a single USB port (versus four on the B+) as well as 512MB of RAM (versus 1GB on the B+). But otherwise, the devices are identical, with a full-size HDMI port, CSI camera port, DSI display port, stereo output and composite video port, and a micro SD port. The Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ isn't the cheapest Pi model available -- the Zero costs $5 and the Zero W costs just $10 -- but it rounds out the options nicely. The new model is available now through Raspberry Pi retailers.
Do they still have all IO on 1 usb 2.0 bus? (Score:2)
Do they still have all IO on 1 usb 2.0 bus?
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Most likely yes. There isn't much reason to change the design. If you want better I/O, I'd suggest looking at 3rd party alternatives. They're quite competitive nowadays, and support most of the same operating systems.
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Do they still have all IO on 1 usb 2.0 bus?
They've never had all the I/O on one USB 2.0 bus. The GPIO port is native.
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The USB controller on "A series" models is only used for the single USB port. On "B series" models it is used for a USB hub with ethernet chip that drives the USB and Ethernet ports.
The SD card, HDMI, DSI and CSI interfaces and the interfaces available on the GPIO header go directly to the SoC. The wifi is connected to the SoC by SDIO. The bluetooth is connected to the SoC via serial.
A form factor is finally back (Score:5, Interesting)
I had been using the A+ form factor for my robotics projects, as they pulled about 0.230 amps peak, or 0.115 amps during normal operation. If you could smooth out that brief 0.230 spike at boot, you could run an A+ off of a 250ma solar panel (a little larger than the size of a playing card) in direct sunlight.
The A+ has been discontinued for years - probably since at least mid-2015, maybe even late 2014.
It's good to see it back, I never had use for the extra 3 USB ports that the B+ provided, especially now that bluetooth and wifi are built in, solves most of the reason to own the B+. The square formfactor is both smaller on the X axis, and because it doesn't have that 4xUSB-A riser, is quite a bit more flat on the Y axis, which makes it ideal for homebrew embedded projects.
Curious to see how the power usage is on the new A+, I doubt it will chill out at 0.115 like the old single core device did, but it's probably still lower than the B+ by at least 15%, which is a big plus for robotics projects.
Re:A form factor is finally back (Score:5, Informative)
The original 256M Pi1 A+ was replaced by the 512M Pi1 A+ which is still available. Farnell. CPC, RS, Allied and newark are all showing it as in-stock.
As for power draw according to https://medium.com/@ghalfacree... [medium.com] the idle power draw is significantly higher than an A+ but lower than any B-series pi. The full-load power draw is lower than a 3B+ but higher than everything else.
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The Pi Zero W idles around 100ma with a wifi connection going. Under load you can slow down the processor to flatten out the spikes during normal operation.
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Have you considered the Compute Module or Zero? Even smaller, and lower power if you avoid the need for 5V and supply 3.3V directly (or LiPo 3.8-4.2V). For the CM you need your own base board, for the Zero you might be able to live with the pin header alone.
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The Zero W is a pretty good compromise, I wish it had been avalible when I was working on that project.
I considered the Compute Module but it's miserable to work with as a hobbyist, sort of like (worse than, really) using an ATMega328p bare, except you can't even plug the compute module in to a breadboard. Also all my robots are designed with the A+ form factor in mind.
I like the A form factor because it's small enough to fit in nearly any enclosure, plus it has full size ports, so you don't
802.11ac support! (Score:2)
Re:802.11ac support! (Score:4, Funny)
the new Model A+ has a 1.4GHz 64-bit quad-core processor, and you'll also get dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4GHz + 5 GHz), a feature that was missing from the previous A+.
Also comes with a sense of humour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
"Stuff your stocking??" (Score:1)
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This can't run Java, it's in the same "toy" class as the Arduino and C/C++ toy project boards.
All you need for Java is a few cores, preferable i3 or better, a few GB of ram, [at least 8 ] , and a few 100GB of disk space for helper libraries and classes.
for "hello world" type programs, this is the way to go. Anything beyond that, it's useless.
Ah, patience grasshopper... One must use the right tool for the job. Java is a resource hog that gives you platform independence, while C/C++ is where one gets performance... Who in their right mind runs Java on anything in this class of computer and expects to get performance? Code in C/C++ young one, it won't hurt you, unless it is a tool you do not have in your tool box, then you must suffer.
Wise developers obtain many tools, and use the right one for the job at hand. What job are you trying to do? Wh
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Anyone writing a greenfield project in Java in 2018, that isn't also targeting Android, or doing Big Data processing, needs to get their head checked
RAM (Score:4, Interesting)
I was very excited by this, until I saw the RAM reduction. I guess this particular board is intended for embedded applications more so than the B+ being designed as a tiny desktop? I'm having trouble seeing where this fits in, considering a single USB port, but still full HDMI? Maybe just for a wall display that is wireless networked only? That RAM reduction seriously hinders a lot of graphical applications that would use the HDMI port in the first place.
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I guess this particular board is intended for embedded applications more so than the B+ being designed as a tiny desktop?
No, all raspberry pi's are intended as embedded systems targeting educational use.
Not a single one was ever designed to be a tiny desktop, even though they can certainly do so for various definitions of "tiny"
HDMI is there for the sole purpose of working cheaply and with current tech.
Anything analog needing more bandwidth than composite is going to add components to convert to analog and thus cost, including VGA.
The HDMI 1 spec isn't licensed, is already digital, uses a cheap connector, and is present on a
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That RAM reduction seriously hinders a lot of graphical applications that would use the HDMI port in the first place.
I'm sure everyone over the age of 40 is cringing at that comment. And in any case the console looks great at 1080p. :-)
Ethernet port is like a headphone jack (Score:1)
I'm all about retrogaming... (Score:3)
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512MB RAM is a joke (Score:2)
With a 64-bit processor, why can't they at least standardize on 3-4GB of RAM minimum?
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512MB RAM is a joke
No it's not. You just need to learn to accpet that you're not going to have a full desktop up to a modern spec for $20.
There are PLENTY of uses for a $20 raspberry pi with 512M of RAM. They're just not a cheapass full spec desktop system.
For automation, robotics, embedding etc, it's sufficient overkill that you can do a lot of things easily without really thinking too hard. More than enough to run a full sized Linux distro (headless) without having to strip it down.
With a 64-bit processor
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I think there are competing products that have 2GB of RAM.
Pine64 looks promising, but they are hard to buy.
"Cost" means nothing if you cannot actually buy it (Score:2)
If this goes the way of most Raspberry Pi products. You won't be able to buy one at the advertised price for the next two years.