Been looking for RPI4 CMs for ages now and they’ve been sold out for as long as I can remember. Same with full size RPI4s and some Odroids. Is this just the new normal or are SBCs and CMs going to show up on the market again at some point?
Supply and demand, pandemic, chip shortage, scalpers. That pretty much covers it.
RPi’s and RPi compatibles got co-opted by a huge number of commercial and industrial control systems companies being used for cheap full-fat embedded systems that needed more than a simple microcontroller, but where industrial PLC’s were overkill or not sourcable. Everything they produce, which is not a lot given covid supply chain whiplash, has now been going towards those customer’s contracts and fuck the little guy consumer they were meant for.
If you want to get into the SBC ecosystem leave rpi in the dust, they’re dead to the enthusiasts and won’t be coming back. There are much better options. See Linus tech tips video on them.
They aren’t even great platforms anymore in comparison.
Other SBCs are cheaper, more smartly designed, and have more features (emmc, pcie, etc)
The big thing RPI have going for them is that they are the standard and all the OS/software/etc end up being super turnkey
Look at the Libre Computer boards. I got a Le Potato for 35usd last year and it’s been rock solid. Seems to be about the same performance as a RBP 3B.
In their defence, the pi was never intended to be a powerhouse. Their focus was on getting good software support for a low cost system. This provided a stable foundation that built that turnkey reliability.
A lot of the other board providers have a habit of just creating a powerful little board, and throwing it out there to fend for itself. This is great for competent geeks, but less good for those still learning.
Meh, I don’t know if they need defense. It’s just kind of how it is.
They got big and popular and that means momentum. Momentum is good for adoption and momentum is good for support, but it’s not great for huge jumps in technological sophistication.
I still LOVE the 2040, pico, etc, but there are just better options when you go bigger than that.
The Potato, Rock Pis.
This creator is great for when you want to SBC shop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJvCVw1yONQ
@pipedlinkbot@feddit.rocks
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See Linus tech tips video on them.
See Jeff Geerling’s fab tour video on them instead.
Gotcha. I figured I’d try the RPI this time around since I had such a terrible time with Odroid’s C1 (or C2? It’s been 6+ years).
I’m not tied to the RPI at all, but ameridroid seems to be out of stock of everything low cost and low power with a decent amount of RAM (eg 4GB+).
Have you ever checked out OrangePi? I was considering them before picking up a jetson nano. It’s crazy to think that a rpi4b is going for the same price from resellers as a jetson with cuda and tenserflow support.
Still the same situation, high demand, low production capacity, part shortages. Try finding an alternative SBC.
Personally I really like the BeagleBone black (https://beagleboard.org/black), because it has integrated flash (no more rummaging for a micro SD card), and lets you ssh over USB. (no more debugging network connectivity, or searching for a unused monitor). It still can boot from a micro SD or USB drive, so if the flash breaks (or gets bricked) it’s easy fixable. The best part is no USB Mini-B connectors that break after ten uses. (Those things are cancer, they are absolutely awful and everywhere)
One thing to be aware of with them is the lack of on board WiFi, so if you need that make sure to get a USB WiFi radio.
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These days you can find some kinda NUCS which are way more powerful and customisable for not a lot more than a fully fledged RPI4 with SD card and PSU
That’s why I added the “kinda”. There are a lot of small AMD boxes that can do a lot with those Ryzen.
There’s a lot of used mini PCs from Dell, HP, Lenovo that go for cheap on ebay. Those are a good alternative.
For a while there Adafruit was stocking pi4bs every business day at around 11am est, was able to get one by camping it at that time. Make an account first and add your address and payment
But that was a few months back I don’t know the situation now
