Raspberry PI 2B as Desktop PC Really?

[MarkHaysHarris777]

Yes, really.

I've had a Raspberry PI b+ for some time now, and have been experimenting with it as a controller; as a gnu/linux master controller, and general linux toy... what fun. Anyway, I read an article on Element14 stating that the new Raspberry PI 2B might be used to replace a desktop PC (for most things folks do with desktop PCs, like programming, office documents, gimp photo editing, email, surfing the net, and so forth). To make a longer story shorter, I bought one.

This is to report that I've been using a Raspberry PI 2B (even now) as my desktop PC for about a week now. It hangs quietly on the back of my Samsung S23C570 HDMI display glowing red|blue wipi| and green|yellow silently motionlessly without any heat nor fan noise with just two connections---power and HDMI. wipi is used for Internet, and Logitech combo usb is used for keyboard|mouse.

The response from this quad core Arm 7 running 700-900 Mhz is quite nice, and so far no complaints other than its Epiphany browser has not been as stable as I would have liked (its crashed a couple of times in a week). But the little Raspberry is humming along brilliantly.

Did I mention they are on sale now for $35 bucks? (same price as the RPi b+)

Cheers
marcus

[Dave Frederickson]

It also runs Windows 10.

[charger73]

In this moment I try to connect a PIL Box with a raspberry Pi B+... (With GNU C++ compiler. At the moment I fight with the GPIO lib for C++ and the 3.3V level)

For me this system is a little bit slow, they say it runs like a Pentium II with
700Mhz.

But anyway, I like this system too. A very cheap tool for programmers and hacker ;-)
Something like a good old "home computer"

Best regards
Tobie

[Thomas Radtke]

(04-02-2015 04:57 AM)MarkHaysHarris777 Wrote:  The response from this quad core Arm 7 running 700-900 Mhz is quite nice, and so far no complaints other than its Epiphany browser has not been as stable as I would have liked (its crashed a couple of times in a week).

The last couple of days, I was using the Pi2 exclusively for browsing (while working with Apache FOP-finally possible with 1GB, and quite fast). Epiphany crashes when running out of memory, try increasing virtual memory.

Linux is a brilliant server OS. I've built several, with Oracle Linux 6 in a VirtualBox being my favourite. OTOH as a desktop system it fails miserably as it is developer centric, not user centric. It would have had a much larger user base by now if you could fully control it through GUI.

[Bill (Smithville NJ)]

Hi Marcus,

I have just picked up a couple of Raspberry PI 2 and, like you, have been playing around with them. They are a big improvement over the earlier PI. I am an Amateur Radio operator and there are a group of us who are playing around with these little computers to use them as servers for our ham radio networks.

We run an open source phone pbx software Asterisk. It lets us tie our radios together over the internet with high quality audio. At present, using two Beagle Bone Black (BBB) computers running Arch Linux and Asterisk. Later this week, I should be able to replace one of the BBB with the new PI 2 running a beta version of the Asterisk on Arch Linux. The resulting network is called Allstar Link.

For any Radio Operators interested in this, following are a couple of links:

AllStar Link

HAMVOIP


Bill
WD9EQD
Smithville, NJ

[Jeff_Kearns]

I use the Raspberry Pi as an XBMC (now Kodi) entertainment centre with my 60" HDTV and surround sound system. Check out tvaddons.ag for details.

The entire setup cost CAD$100 - cheaper than an Android box and most other platforms unless you have a laptop with HDMI output in which case the only cost would be an HDMI cable. Included in the kit from buyapi.ca were the following:

> Pi2
> Power Supply
> USB wifi dongle
> HDMI cable
> Case
> OpenELEC OS, with XBMC (now Kodi) pre-installed.

Jeff

[Les Bell]

(04-02-2015 02:39 PM)Bill (Smithville NJ) Wrote:  We run an open source phone pbx software Asterisk. It lets us tie our radios together over the internet with high quality audio. At present, using two Beagle Bone Black (BBB) computers running Arch Linux and Asterisk. Later this week, I should be able to replace one of the BBB with the new PI 2 running a beta version of the Asterisk on Arch Linux. The resulting network is called Allstar Link.

I'll be interested to hear how that works out, Bill. I currently have a three-line (POTS) 9-extension Asterisk setup running on an IBM 1U rack-mount server. I have a 46U rack cabinet downstairs but have gradually been moving the applications that were running there out to the cloud (with great success), and the Asterisk server is one of the last things I'd like to get rid of. If I could replace it with a Pi in a small box screwed to the wall somewhere, I'd be a happy camper

--- Les [ex-GM4CFM]

[Bill (Smithville NJ)]

(04-03-2015 01:33 AM)Les Bell Wrote:  I'll be interested to hear how that works out, Bill. I currently have a three-line (POTS) 9-extension Asterisk setup running on an IBM 1U rack-mount server. I have a 46U rack cabinet downstairs but have gradually been moving the applications that were running there out to the cloud (with great success), and the Asterisk server is one of the last things I'd like to get rid of. If I could replace it with a Pi in a small box screwed to the wall somewhere, I'd be a happy camper

--- Les [ex-GM4CFM]

Hi Les,

I've only used the Asterisk software which has been modified and optimized for our radio use.

But there are a couple of Raspberry PI 2 versions of Asterisk for PBX use:

GOTCHA-FREE PBX
INCREDIBLE PBX

Just do a search for either of these with Raspberry PI 2 included in the search.

It should be possible to replace your current system with one of these. Assuming you know how to do the Asterisk PBX setup.

Bill
WD9EQD
Smithville, NJ

[MarkHaysHarris777]

(04-02-2015 02:39 PM)Bill (Smithville NJ) Wrote:  For any Radio Operators interested in this, following are a couple of links:

AllStar Link

HAMVOIP

Bill
WD9EQD
Smithville, NJ

hi Bill, I am very interested...

'73s 'ol man/

marcus
W0MHH

[Bill (Smithville NJ)]

(04-03-2015 06:36 PM)MarkHaysHarris777 Wrote:  

(04-02-2015 02:39 PM)Bill (Smithville NJ) Wrote:  For any Radio Operators interested in this, following are a couple of links:

AllStar Link

HAMVOIP

Bill
WD9EQD
Smithville, NJ

hi Bill, I am very interested...

'73s 'ol man/

marcus
W0MHH

Hi Marcus,

Great to see another Ham Radio/HP enthusiast.

If you wish to chat sometime, fire up Echolink and hook to
WA3DSP-L. This node is linked to his repeater which is linked to the AllStar
group that I am always linked to. Just link up and give me a call. I'm usually listening all day long, unless I'm out.

And any other Ham's here, please feel free to give me a shout.

73, Bill
WD9EQD
Smithville, NJ