drahkon Posted September 14, 2016 Posted September 14, 2016 Now that I wil have a steady income for at least a few months I can finally afford a Raspberry Pi. I think @Ike and @Goafer have one. Maybe you can help me out (others, too :p) There are two things I'd love to with it at first: #1 - Learn programming #2 - emulators When I search for "Raspberry Pi starter pack" I get bombarded with offers and deals and whatnot so I'd rather ask people who already own one: What do I need? Here's what I think: Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Power supply Mouse and Keyboard (bluetooth?) HDMI Cable Micro SD card Casing Anything else? And I've heard of a Windows 10 version that can run on a Raspberry. What's the deal with that?
Ike Posted September 14, 2016 Posted September 14, 2016 Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Power supply Mouse and Keyboard (bluetooth?) HDMI Cable Micro SD card Casing Anything else? Here's what I think is 100% required: Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Power supply HDMI Cable Micro SD card A Case is nice not not really needed, but I have a few naked ones. A mouse 100% isn't required, unless your using the GUI interface. If your just going to use the command line you don't need one. A keyboard is maybe only really required during setup. You can enable SSH and use your keyboard from your PC (or whatever you use to connect). The Pi 3 has wifi and Bluetooth build in which is nice (and frees up some USB ports). For emulators just Google Retropie. It's easy to install but it's bit more of a pain to configure (it uses Retroarch). For programming, Python comes preinstalled. Or you can easily install a webserver (runs a bit slow on a Raspberry Pi though). You can use the same install for both your needs if you want, or it's just a case of swapping SD cards. If I think of anything else, I'll update my post. And I've heard of a Windows 10 version that can run on a Raspberry. What's the deal with that? I think it runs the IoT (Internet of Things) versions of Windows 10. Don't know much about it myself.
Goafer Posted September 14, 2016 Posted September 14, 2016 I can't help with the programming side of things, but as Ike said, RetroPie is the way to go for emulators. There's plenty of documentation on how to set it up on Google. My setup is as follows: Raspberry Pi 2 Case XBox wired controller USB keyboard (only used for setup) Power cable HDMI cable Memory card (micro SD I think) Mine is currently used as a SNES/Mega Drive emulator, with a full collection of games for each. I won't post any links, but full game collections for each console can be found easily online. I was also impressed by how well the Pi can emulate later consoles such as the N64 and the Dreamcast.
Shorty Posted September 14, 2016 Posted September 14, 2016 For programming, what is your aim? Unless you're looking to use the pi to program a device with a specific, pi-related function, I would just use your computer since it'll probably be much faster.
drahkon Posted September 14, 2016 Author Posted September 14, 2016 For programming, what is your aim? Unless you're looking to use the pi to program a device with a specific, pi-related function, I would just use your computer since it'll probably be much faster. No idea, to be honest. I have zero knowledge of programming, where to start or what to aim for. I always dreamt about making a video game, so maybe that's my aim?
Shorty Posted September 15, 2016 Posted September 15, 2016 People associate pi with learning programming because it's something that can be provided to students at a budget, and expanded to be used in an actual physical capacity (like a smart mirror or a robot or something). But if you just want to learn code from scratch I would just start on whatever you're comfortable using.
Ike Posted September 15, 2016 Posted September 15, 2016 The benefit of using the Pi for programming is that if you screw up it's easy to reset. Especially if you're messing around with Linux, it's easy to lock yourself out or format your drive if your not carefully (sudo rm -f /). You could definitely start on a Pi and then move onto a PC later once you're more comfortable.
drahkon Posted September 15, 2016 Author Posted September 15, 2016 Hm, I intend to start with learning how to programm at the end of the year so enough time to figure out which device to use. As it stands now the Raspberry Pi I will order soon will primarily be used as a device with emulators. Thanks for the help, guys. : peace:
Recommended Posts