Thread: This $25 computer

This $25 computer (yes, computer!) also runs Quake 3

Remember that $25 computer about the size of a flash drive game developer David Braben unveiled in May? According to a video posted on Saturday, it can run games in high-definition, too.





The Raspberry Pi computer is a single-board computer that’s capable of rendering video games like Quake 3 at a 1920-by-1080 pixel monitor resolution. The game cruises along at around 20 frames per second with the lighting and geometrical details cranked up to maximum quality. It’s also running at a 1920-by-1080 pixel resolution, which brought the frame rate down slightly, Raspberry Pi foundation’s Eben Upton said. Considering the limited horsepower on the Pi, it’s still pretty impressive.

The computer has a 700-megahertz ARM processor and 128 megabytes of RAM. That’s about half as much memory as most smartphones today, which also sport processors that usually clock in at around 1 gigahertz. That makes it slightly weaker than a smartphone. There’s an SD card slot on the device that handles any storage, and it can output video and other images at 1080p resolution. It has a USB-out port that lets owners plug in a keyboard, and an HDMI-out port that can connect to an HDMI-enabled television or monitor.




(It’s also tiny — you can see it just under the monitor in the picture above.)

The Quake 3 version running is an open-sourced version of the game compiled for the Pi’s Linux build. The Pi sports a version of Linux, an open-sourced operating system that has become increasingly popular in philanthropic causes like this because it’s free to install and distribute. Braben said earlier he hopes the computer will be available to the public sometime later this year.

You can check out a full video of the demo below.

Raspberry Pi - Quake 3 demo

What was the point of making this computer the way it is since a smartphone is technically better?

They made it so they could install the ::sarcastic air quotes:: BEST OS IN THE WORLD ::sarcastic air quotes:: on it :) Anyhow, that's good news, computers are getting tinier and tinier, so maybe in like 10 years I can get one implanted in my brain and connect it to a tiny monitor attached to my retina that I'll be able to use to cheat on my tests!

this is like comparing a trotinette (or maybe a rocket trotinette) to a car they both gonna get you places.. personally size is not an issue for me id rather have a high end gaming pc 3 times the size if it could run 3 times the performance and 3 times cooler..

What hasn't been said is that the purpose of the Raspberry Pi is to provide a cheap computer to poor schools and 3rd world countries. It can run from AA batteries and can use an old TV as its monitor, allowing people to reuse old electronics in a charitable way.

In any case, it is also potentially useful for hobbyists, who could make good use of a small, powerful computer, and those who want a "green" file server/always-om bittorrent box/HTPC.

nice idea, low specks on the hardware with no upgrade-able features...i might look into this one though for the gaming ;)

To those that don't think there are uses:

you could easily adapt something like this (there are others like it) to be an altoids-tin mp3 player.

a little soldering and some buttons and you have a $25 shuffle that can play .flac
a little more and a 2x10 char screen and you have a classic.
with some decent components you could add a headphone amp (probably have to rivet a second tin to the back for batteries) and have a better (audiophile-wise at least) portable music device than exists on the market right now, only slightly larger than a pack of smokes, and I guarantee you'll be the only one of your friends that has one :)

I've been waiting on a little disposable income for a while now for this project.

This is nice. Dont know why ppl diss thing like this. This is how technology evolves. By the way where do they sell these?(for a split sec there i almost asked how much does it cost lol) Nice post man

Very nice post I was recently become interested in buying a $100 sheevaplug until I found this post. Great hardware not only for financially-challenged schools but also for geeks wanting more for less.