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I'm looking for a tiny computer that allows me to create my own media center, but also allows me to code something with it. Should I buy a RPi or are there alternatives?

Lekensteyn
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user6827
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3 Answers3

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It depends on what you want(which you told us) and how much you're willing to pay for it. The Raspberry Pi can do all of what you mentioned(you'll probably alsoo want to buy the MPEG-2 license) and is $35.

Alternatives that I can think of would be things such as the Pandaboard, but that's ~$180. I'm guessing that the Raspberry Pi community is a little more beginner friendly than more complex alternatives, and I'm just assuming here, but it seems that might be even more beneficial to you.

I, at least, don't see a reason to not go with the RPi.

NOTE: Removed "beginner oriented" for clarity. The RPi community is very open for many different purposes; complex and non-complex alike.

coxley
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  • I agree with everything except your last comment, "little more beginner oriented/friendly than more complex alternatives." The great thing about the Pi is that it caters to all, both beginners and experts. – xxmbabanexx Apr 08 '13 at 00:32
  • Totally not the way I meant it. The RPi community is very much for every kind of folk, but I was meaning that it's just really easy for a beginner to jump right in with the documentation and projects that are being done by others. Oriented probably wasn't the best word. :) – coxley Apr 08 '13 at 00:55
  • Thanks for the clarification. But, you probably should edit the post to eliminate the ambiguity. – xxmbabanexx Apr 08 '13 at 00:56
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    I can't say the raspberry pi is particularly beginner friendly. Some past linux/command line experience is definitely required. – Alexander Apr 09 '13 at 00:48
  • I wouldn't say it's required. How on Earth does someone get linux experience without starting? :) The Pi can be an affordable way to learn Linux among other things. The community is welcoming, has a lot of other beginners, and has decent documentation. If that's not enough, the official RPi distro is Debian which I consider one of the easiest to use flavors; especially for starting out. There's just a ton of potential for beginner's to the Linux world here with the RPi. – coxley Apr 09 '13 at 03:28
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What do you expect us to say? There's no objective answer that can be given. A Raspberry Pi can make a great media center, and can code in python, C(++), among other. No _ _ _ _ there are alternatives, but wether you should buy a RPi is up to you.

Alexander
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Not a great question, but if you want something that can be a media center and give you the ability to mess around and program, the RPi is a great idea and has a low enough price for experimentation.

recantha
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