Notes

Raspberry Pi 400 - First Impressions

I was a child programming on my TV using a Sinclair ZX81 and later by ZX Spectum. Computers that are built into keyboards that you can easily plug into a TV, are a part of my DNA. So, given this how can I not buy the latest Raspberry Pi 400! ?



Here are my initial thoughts about the hardware and how it could be used for lightweight development.



The short version is that I like it.



Tech Specs



The Raspberry Pi 400 is essentially a Raspberry Pi 4 inside a keyboard. You can read much better descriptions elseewhere, but the main aspects of the technical specifications are:



- Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 (ARM v8) 64-bit SoC @ 1.8GHz - 4GB LPDDR4-3200 - Dual-band (2.4GHz and 5.0GHz) IEEE 802.11b/g/n/ac wireless LAN - Bluetooth 5.0, BLE - Gigabit Ethernet - 2 x USB 3.0 1 USB 2.0 ports - Horizontal 40-pin GPIO header 2 micro HDMI ports (supports up to 4Kp60) - MicroSD card slot to operate system and data storage - 79-key compact keyboard



(full specifications can be found here)



The 400 comes with a 16GB SD card that comes pre-installed with Raspbian and a plethora of applications (LibreOffice) and tools for developers (Geany, Mathematica, Scratch), utilities (Chromium, VLC Media Player), and games (Minecraft).



First Impressions on Hardware



It was easy to plug the 400 in and get it up and running. It's a great device, with a good collection of connectors and ports at the back. The keyboard is okay. The device is PS67 in the UK. The kit, which includes an electric mouse and power supply, HDMI cable, official guide and power supply, was purchased for PS94. For the price, the keyboard is absolutely fine, but it does feel a little "plasticy".



The 400 is not equipped with an audio-out. Audio is provided via the HDMI output. For me, this is an issue since my monitor doesn't have speakers. While it's not a huge issue, it's something I didn't think of.



The connector for the Raspberry Pi camera module is another issue that the 400 doesn't have. This isn't something I'm concerned about, but if you're hoping to build any camera projects, then the 400 isn't the right option.



The 400has the GPIO header on the back, which means that with the ribbon cable, you can build electronics projects very easily. I have an Adafruit T-Cobbler Plus that makes it very easy to connect the 400 to a breadboard and build...stuff!



The 400 starts up quickly and is extremely capable as a general-purpose desktop computer. It's been an excellent device for surfing the web and installing apps, as well as running docker containers, and writing code.



Overall, I like the hardware and the design factor. These devices could be purchased by code clubs and schools to use in their computing labs.



Developer Experience



I've spent the day setting my Raspberry Pi 400 up, and I'm pretty pleased. My setup includes:



- Installed Chromium and installed the 1Password extension - Installed Visual Studio Code using these instructions - Installed the VS Code Remote Containers extension so that I can use Docker dev containers to write code within



Overall this setup was very simple. It was so simple , it was almost boring! Although there were a few issues, it was simple to install my Raspberry Pi 400 so that I could write code and use Docker and then push my changes to Github. For example, I'm currently writing this blog post using VS Code, building it using Jekyll inside a Docker container.



The only issue that I hit is the ARM support for different Docker images. Because it was dependent on dependencies that didn't have ARM variants and the default Ruby dev container image would not build. In the end, I used the Ruby 2.7 docker image as a base and then copied/pasted into my own Dockerfile the components of the definition I needed (removing Node, Zsh, Oh my Zsh and some other things). I'm not sure what it was that was causing the build to fail and I'll need to go back and work out the details however it's important to remember that if you're using the Rasberry Pi is ARM based, and not all development tools come with ARM versions.



After installing the tools and playing around with them, I was able to create some basic Rust code with build times comparable to my MacBook's. I have written some Python 3 code that is GPIOZero based (controlling LEDs and butons) and set up a Jekyll/Ruby Development container. I also updated my blog.



I have several Raspberry Pi computers (1 to 3). They're mostly Model B, but I also have a few Zeros. All of them sit in a box, unopened. I've played with them, and then put them away. While the performance isn't the best, the form factor is crucial. Minecraft survival servers I feel like the Raspberry Pi 400 has enough power to handle a variety of projects, and is compact enough that I can leave it connected to my desk.



It gives me a huge nostalgic rush!



Below, you can see two instances of VS Code running (both dev containers), and I'm browsing. It handles it all with ease.


Read More: https://minecraft-survival-servers.co/