Raspberry Pi is growing more popular these days for a variety of reasons that you should be aware of. While the Raspberry Pi was created with the intention of teaching basic computer literacy, it has subsequently gained a large following from a variety of fields due to its numerous advantages. The advantages and disadvantages of the Raspberry Pi are discussed in this blog.
Raspberry Pi
The Raspberry Pi is a small, low-cost computer the size of a credit card that connects to a computer monitor or television and utilizes a conventional keyboard and mouse. The Raspberry Pi was first released in 2012, and since then, it has undergone numerous updates and modifications. The original Pi had a single-core 700MHz processor and 256MB of RAM, whereas the most recent model has a quad-core 1.5GHz processor and 4GB of RAM.
The Raspberry Pi is a low-cost computer that runs Linux and contains GPIO connections for manipulating electronic components and experimenting with the Internet of Things (IoT).It’s a capable small device that allows individuals of all ages to learn about computers and programming languages like Scratch and Python.
The Raspberry Pi line has evolved over time, from the Pi 1 to the Pi 4, and even a Pi 400. In most generations, there has been a Model A and a Model B. Model A is a less costly variation with less RAM and fewer ports (such as USB and Ethernet). The Pi Zero is a smaller and less expensive version of the original (Pi 1) generation. So far, here’s the line-up:
- Pi 1 Model B (2012)
- Pi 1 Model A (2013)
- Pi 1 Model B+ (2014)
- Pi 1 Model A+ (2014)
- Pi 2 Model B (2015)
- Pi Zero (2015)
- Pi 3 Model B (2016)
- Pi Zero W (2017)
- Pi 3 Model B+ (2018)
- Pi 3 Model A+ (2019)
- Pi 4 Model A (2019)
- Pi 4 Model B (2020)
- Pi 400 (2021)
Advantages of Raspberry Pi Board:
- Vast Peripheral Support
The Raspberry Pi has 26 GPIO pins, which are highly useful for embedded projects and hardware interfaces. These pins are really helpful when it comes to learning about component interfaces. Due to the large number of GPIO pins available, you can integrate numerous digital sensors. It works with practically all of the Arduino peripherals.
There are a variety of Raspberry Pi cases available, as well as Raspberry Pi HATs, Fans, Heat Sinks, and other accessories. You’ll also find a large community and a lot of help. It is claimed to be the era’s most popular single-board computer.
- Low Power Consumption:
Another reason why a Raspberry Pi computer is popular among a wide range of users is that it consumes very little power. That’s because it’s just a little computer with a few modest components that don’t require a lot of power to run. Furthermore, this computer is simply powered by a single board, which means it won’t consume a lot of power.
A Raspberry Pi computer would be ideal for you and your needs if you want to save money not only on the purchase of the computer but also on the overall effects on your electricity consumption.
- Multiple Sensors
It has a large number of GPIO pins, as seen above, thus it’s clear that it can accommodate multiple sensors at once. It can communicate with a wide range of displays, modules, sensors, and other devices. Unless you’re talking about a digital device.
- Supports all type of Codes
Its one of the best part of this board, if we compare it with arduino you will know that arduino only supports C, C++. While this board works as a single board computer. You get a linux desktop environment in which you can code in almost any language, be it C,C++,C#,Ruby,Java,Python,etc…
This Support for all types of code makes this board famous, one of the main goal of the raspberry pi foundation was to provide cheap computing to people, so that they can learn programming. They have really reached their goal in providing cheap computing to people, so they can learn programming easily.
Moving towards the future, everything is turning digital, so we need more and more programmers. Raspberry Pi is really helping people who cannot spend much for desktop computers.
- Faster Processor
When compared to Arduino and other boards, we can see that it has a quicker processor. The Raspberry Pi 4B model comes with a 1.6 GHz processor, whereas the Arduino comes with a controller.
- Can be Used as a Portable Computer
This is the most exciting aspect of the Raspberry Pi. Assume you attach a display to it, and it transforms into a pocket computer. You can perform any task that a computer can. You can browse the web, connect to WiFi, and perform computations.
Easy to use
Raspberry Pi was specifically designed to be easy to use because of how it was designed for kids or even for people with little to no knowledge and experience regarding programming. So, if you want something that’s simple, a Raspberry Pi computer should be a good choice for you.
- It is affordable
The most important thing you should know about the Raspberry Pi is that it is really inexpensive. It does not have the typical price tag that most other computers have because you can acquire this for a great price without having to pay a premium to be able to conduct simple activities with a computer.
Disadvantages of Raspberry Pi Board:
- Bad for multitasking
The Raspberry Pi computer isn’t powerful enough to handle numerous tasks on the same machine. As a result, for those who constantly multitask, a Raspberry Pi would not be the greatest solution because it is primarily designed to tackle simple activities.
- Missing eMMC Internal Storage
Because the Raspberry Pi lacks internal storage, it must rely on a micro SD card to function as such. SD cards, as we all know, aren’t particularly fast. Even if we compare an eMMC internal storage with a class 10 High Speed micro SD card. It is slow, therefore this boosts the board’s boot time and the Raspberry Pi’s read/write speed.
- Graphics Processor Missing
If you’re into photo editing, video editing, or gaming, the graphics process is incredibly important. Your computer would be little more than a potato without it. A graphics processor is required by many of us in order to complete specific jobs. The Raspberry Pi, on the other hand, does not come with a GPU. It is inefficient since the CPU performs all of the tasks for it.
A graphics processor is included with the Asus Tinker board. While installing Android OS, you can play Android games on the board. You’ll be able to edit photographs and videos more quickly.
- Impractical as a Desktop Computer
When we consider the board in its larger context, we can imagine it as a desktop computer. It leaves out a lot of information. Even if you purchase the most recent Raspberry Pi with 4GB of RAM. It has some problems in terms of performance. It offers to render 4K video at 60 frames per second, but it really does so at a lower frame rate, resulting in stutters in 4K 60 FPS video.
If you have too many tabs open, the board will begin to slow down. You will need to install additional codecs to watch online videos on Netflix or Amazon. Even after that, you’ll be lucky if you can stream 2K adequately. It may use some tweaking and optimization on both the software and hardware sides.
- Overheating
In this Raspberry Pi board, there are no pre-installed heatsinks or cooling fans. Because the Raspberry Pi 4 has a strong processor and numerous capabilities, it begins to heat up after a while. Due to the same board size, heat dissipation is not as efficient as it should be. If you use it without air conditioning or a heat sink for a continuous 6-7 hours, it will reach temperatures much beyond 70 degrees Celsius.
- Not able to run Windows Operating system
Many people will argue that it is capable of running the Windows operating system. However, it is merely a community-created Windows 10 port. There will be a lot of crashes, and there will be a lot of glitches. As we all know, the Windows operating system is the most user-friendly, and it is the principal operating system for gaming. On Linux platforms, games are almost impossible to play. Because of the “.exe” format support, many apps are available for Windows OS. On Linux, we have alternative programmes, however many popular software developers utilize the.exe format.
Conclusion
I hope all of you are clear about the advantages and disadvantages of the Raspberry Pi board.For more interesting topic follow us on Matha Electronics