Raspberry Pi or alternative - what to choose?
#1
I am thinking about buying a raspberry Pi (or two , and pry to god they arrive before the end of the world )
I plan on using them for XBMC machines only.
What I love about R.pi :
- cheap
- small form factor
- good support for linux, XBMC for R.pi is being developed and is in beta , AFAIK.

What concerns me :
I need to be able to run chrome, sopcast and vlc on that machine, too. I am not quite sure that these software packages will run OK on this machine.

What I use at the moment:
4-5 years old sony VAYO. It is used for
- XBMC
- watching sopcast broadcasts on vlc
- watching browser -embedded video ( some Bulgarian TVs)

I'd love my new machine to be able to do that , but I am not sure R.pi will cope. I never tried to start vlc or chrome or any other app from XBMC, I always used the Ubuntu desktop to start these apps.

My question is : should I go with the R.pi, or should I go for a different machine. I will love to hear your opinion. Smile
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#2
I'm very interested in the new small devices like the R.pi, but all I can suggest is to wait it out for the rest of the year maybe and see what comes out and how development goes with the Rpi.

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#3
Its equvalent to a pentium 2 300 mhz pc. i would not bet on anything but h.264 movies.
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#4
Thanx for the answers. I am more concerned with my "specific" software - VLC, chrome, sopcast (command-line) running under builds designed for ARM processors. The other think I am worried is the lack of desktop - though I should probably be able to install one. I dont cry for one, as long I can start correctly chorme and vlc - I can do everything in terminal and tty.
Please, advice for this and for any other machines which might be viable options Smile
I dont care for blue-ray quality, avi is good for me Smile
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#5
(2012-05-25, 04:10)calev Wrote: Its equvalent to a pentium 2 300 mhz pc. i would not bet on anything but h.264 movies.

The GPU will be able to decode h.264.

GPU: Broadcom VideoCore IV, OpenGL ES 2.0, 1080p30 h.264/MPEG-4 AVC high-profile decoder

Mine was delivered today. $43 bucks total. Now I am not sure what to use it for.
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#6
I was thinking about installing debian and XBMC on top of it. What about that? Wink
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#7
Check out CuBox
http://www.solid-run.com/products/cubox

http://www.solid-run.com/mw/index.php/Main_Page
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#8
If you are interested in running XBMC on R.Pi, you can install this beta: http://www.raspbmc.com/

I would be interested in how it goes ( as well as the ability to run additional software) I got my order code and ordered my RPi today.... My intention is to use it as an XBMC box.
Peace,
Fritz Boyle

NVIDIA Shield
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Raspberry Pi or alternative - what to choose?0