Raspberry Pi -can anyone tell me where to buy one?

[Deleted User]

If he's got an old Amiga, tell him to get hold of a copy of the programming language AMOS (which is pretty much where I got into IT)

cit_k

shegirl wrote: »

As above.Really want to get my son one for his birthday next month.

Thanks.

How old is he, and how technical?

Its not really something for a novice, or a young person.

[Deleted User]

cit_k wrote: »

How old is he, and how technical?

Its not really something for a novice, or a young person.

I thought the whole idea was a cheap, accessible way to get youngsters into coding?

bigdave196

cit_k wrote: »

How old is he, and how technical?

Its not really something for a novice, or a young person.

Err... actually that's exactly what it's for

shegirl

cit_k wrote: »

How old is he, and how technical?

Its not really something for a novice, or a young person.

Firstly,that's what they were intended for.

Secondly,there are many adults who are very technically minded who are desperate for them and have all sorts of plans,but that was not the intention behind them.

Thirdly,he's 12,severely autistic with learning disabilities,speech problems,sensory problems etc etc but even 3 years ago he was working with computers above GCSE level -completely self taught,they don't teach things like that in the severe special schools.He learns himself and his skill with computers opened the world for him and is how he communicates,aswell as his designs and programming etc.

So his age doesn't come into it either.It's just a shame he can't have somebody helping and teaching him as they can't get past the autism and speech into his computer fascinated brain to help him!But he does it himself

Mr_Toad

How about pointing him at some robot building websites like;

http://www.pc-control.co.uk/

http://letsmakerobots.com/node/1845

There are loads if you Google. Also Lego Technic is a great tool for building robots and other stuff that can be controlled via a computer if that sort of thing engages his attention.

I got an email from RS yesterday telling me that

"We have received extraordinary levels of demand for this product. To help ensure as many people as possible can experience the Raspberry Pi concept, we are limiting boards to one per customer, and we will send you further information on your request in the next seven days. Once we receive the boards into stock, they will be allocated on a first-come first-serve basis, in order of when requests were received.

Thank you for your patience; we will be in touch as soon as possible with more details."

So far I haven't been given a date.

If he wants to have a play in advance he can download a Raspberry Pi Virtual Machine (VM). I'm using the free Oracle VirtualBox to run the VM.
Once VirtualBox is installed all he has to do is download the VM image and Virtualbox will install it.

Have a look at these tutorials on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/user/RaspberryPiTutorials

The first one covers the installation of Virtualbox and the rPi VM then he can play with it until the real thing arrives.

shegirl

masonn wrote: »

How about pointing him at some robot building websites like;

http://www.pc-control.co.uk/

http://letsmakerobots.com/node/1845

There are loads if you Google. Also Lego Technic is a great tool for building robots and other stuff that can be controlled via a computer if that sort of thing engages his attention.

I got an email from RS yesterday telling me that

"We have received extraordinary levels of demand for this product. To help ensure as many people as possible can experience the Raspberry Pi concept, we are limiting boards to one per customer, and we will send you further information on your request in the next seven days. Once we receive the boards into stock, they will be allocated on a first-come first-serve basis, in order of when requests were received.

Thank you for your patience; we will be in touch as soon as possible with more details."

So far I haven't been given a date.

If he wants to have a play in advance he can download a Raspberry Pi Virtual Machine (VM). I'm using the free Oracle VirtualBox to run the VM.
Once VirtualBox is installed all he has to do is download the VM image and Virtualbox will install it.

Have a look at these tutorials on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/user/RaspberryPiTutorials

The first one covers the installation of Virtualbox and the rPi VM then he can play with it until the real thing arrives.

Thank you,that's very helpful

shegirl

Farnell are taking pre-orders now.Not sure if it's just for those who have already registered interest though.

[Deleted User]

BTW, there's currently delay because they didn't bother applying to get a CE mark (they thought they could classify it as a component)

There won't be any Pi's in the UK before they get the right regulatory compliance

Also - do you know if there's anyone selling cases? I'm still a bit tempted to get one as a cheap XBMC client. Bit annoyed to buy a new Apple TV only to find out you can't jailbreak them and install it

fwor

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Also - do you know if there's anyone selling cases?

Once you get your 3D printer up and running, there's due to be one that you can print for yourself:

http://www.geek.com/articles/chips/raspberry-pi-gets-a-case-you-can-download-and-3d-print-2012035/

IIRC the people behind the Pi were planning to release a case (and other accessories such as the Gertboard) but looks like they've been overwhelmed by initial demand...