The Raspberry Pi, a super-cheap, low-power, single-board computer that uses an SD card for storage, plugs into a keyboard and a TV, and has been heralded as the future of everything from home theatre PCs to classroom computers, finally launched this morning. The first few batches sold out in minutes, but more are on the way, and the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s retail partners are locking in pre-orders now.
The first units to go on sale were the $US35 USD “Model B”, which sports a 700Mhz Broadcom BCM2835 (which serves as the system’s CPU, GPU and SDRAM,) composite and HDMI outputs for video, an SD slot for storage, two USB ports and a single Ethernet port on the board. The $US25 USD “Model A”, which, aside from dropping a USB port and the Ethernet port, is exactly like its more expensive brother, is still in manufacturing and will be available soon. In addition to the launch of the Model B this morning, the Raspberry Pi Foundation noted that the Model A would ship with the same amount of memory (256MB) as the Model B, twice what they had originally planned.
Raspberry Pi is selling the units through two retail partners in the EU, RS Components and Element 14, both of which sold out in minutes of the announcement. If you didn’t get in on the action, you can add your name to a pre-order list, and when the next batches begin to ship, you’ll be notified to place your order. If you missed the first batch, you won’t have to wait long for the next ones to arrive, especially now that the launch is official.
Did you get in on the early-morning fiasco? Are you planning on buying a Raspberry Pi when they’re available in Australia? What will you use yours for? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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