Raspberry Pi 3: More power and better, but for the same money

Raspberry Pi Foundation announced the third generation of the well-known single-board computer. Now he is 64-bit, 50% faster and with new interfaces.

It took quite a bit of time with the announcement Raspberry Pi Zero - the most affordable PCs in the world (ok, for the promised $ 5 it is still not buy, but 10-15 - please). But developers are not asleep and start the sale the new version of the microcomputer called Raspberry Pi 3.

New ideology continues the previous full-fledged "Malinki" and is a complete set for the development, use and entertainment. In contrast to the above Zero, trimmed to reduce the cost in all respects.

So, Raspberry Pi 3 - is already familiar from the second version of the board without changing the size and location of the components. Upgrade undergone the most important thing - the processor. In the third "Raspberry" has a 64-bit quad processor ARM Cortex-A53 clocked at 1.2 GHz to the core in the SoC part Broadcom BCM2837 platform. The developers claim that the new 50% faster than the previous processor, and is fully compatible with their computers first and second versions.

Also on board is soldered 1 GB of RAM, 40 GPIO pins and a bunch of additional interfaces, the same as in the previous version: 4 USB, HDMI, LAN and others. By the way, here is one more hidden improvement: Now Raspberry has soldered interfaces Wi-Fi 802.11n and Bluetooth 4.1, provided the chip Broadcom BCM43438.

The cost of the new version odnoplatnika remain painfully familiar: It's the same $ 35 when you order from an authorized dealer in the United Kingdom. Plus 5-8 dollars for shipping. Of course, this may seem a rather high cost, but only at first glance. Firstly, exactly at the same price at the moment you can buy weaker Raspberry Pi 2. And if the latter add wireless communication modules, the cost will be higher than $ 10.

Of course, instead of the "Malinki" is much easier to buy an unnamed Chinese TV Box on Android 4.4. But the latter option is actually losing a British creation, even as a multi-media centers. At least, in terms of stability, scalability and firmware. In addition, the new processor in Raspberry theoretically exceeds the capacity is set in the set-top box Amlogic. A GPIO to connect the periphery in general there is little substitute.

Incidentally, a detailed comparison with other competitors Raspberry Pi single-board 3 over looks the absolute leader. One can hardly find an equally stable, productive and versatile solution with quality support.