This is a Dec 2015 Session on what to purchase if interested in Raspberry Pi. It covers Raspberry Pi through model PiZero and should help anyone new to this maker craze!

2.  Raspberry Pi, (aka Raspi or RPI) is a single
board computer developed in the UK.
 It’s around the size of a credit card, is
very low cost and requires little power.
 The compute power is relative to a
Pentium II pc and the graphics are similar
to a 2002 era game console.

3.  Beagle Bone
 Banana Pi
 Orange Pi
 PCDruino4
 NanoPC, ($65)
 CubieBoards, ($144!)
 MinnowBoard, ($145)
 Odroid, (varying models)

4.  Ardruino
› Ardruino “boards” are micro-controllers.
› Excellent for open source projects and at
collecting data.
› They shouldn’t be confused with a single
board computer.
› You can purchase a card, (i.e. hat) that
attaches to the RPI to simulate an ardruino.

5.  Leader of the single board computer
industry.
 Tons of online and printed resources.
 Parts are easily attainable, both name
brand and off market.
 Products are available online and in
many stores.
 Open architecture leads to myriad of
creative and functional projects.

7. Model Version
Displayed
above chip!

8.  Version 2, B+ or Pi Zero are the current
models out.

9.  900Mhz Arm11 Broadcom BCM2835
Processor
 Dualcore VideoCore GPU
 1Gb of Ram
 4 USB Ports
 Full Size HDMI Display Port
 Micro USB Power 5V
 40 Pin GPIO
 Micros SD Slot for Storage

11.  Good Quality Micro SD Card, 8Gb
preferrable.
 Power Adapter, (Smart Phone charger
works.)
 HDMI Cable
 USB Mouse and Keyboard
 WiFi USB
 USB to Micro SD Card adapter

12.  SD Formatter
› Used to format Micro SD Cards on your
computer via the USB port and USB to Micro
SD Card Adapter.
 Win32 Disk Imager
› Create backup images of your RPI from the
Micro SD Card to your computer and use to
load new OS images on Micro SD Cards after
downloading.

13. Raspberry Pi B+, Ver. 2 Pi Zero
Unit Cost $20 $5
Main accessories* $70 $70
Adapter for Micro** $15-25
Touch Screen
Mountable?
Yes With Additional
mounting.
Case? Often cumbersome Good Idea
GPIO Pins Pre-soldered Manual Purchase and
Solder
Good for small
projects
Yes Exceptional
Best Choice for First
Time Purchase
Yes No

14.  MagPi Magazine
 Pibrella, ($20, and discontinued)
 RPI’s 7 inch touchscreen monitor
 Or a Small, (7-10 inch) HDMI monitor

15.  You want to just do experiments vs. have
a computer to program on and build out
other projects.
 The project at hand would be better
suited to a controller.

18.  Raspberry Pi Organization
 AdaFruit’s Raspberry Pi Page
 Hackaday
 Makezine
 My RPI page on DBAKevlar