The new Raspberry Pi 4 is out and about. The new model has something folk have been screaming for i.e. 2GB and 4GB RAM options, not only that but BUSTER, the new version of Raspbian which is not only supported but recommended – and it is backward compatible. In my limited experience it is also beautiful. Read the July 9 update after the break… I wrote the original article when the Pi4 first appeared but a lot has happened since then – see also the comments in here.
The Raspberry Pi site states prices (in US dollars) from $35 for the 1GB RAM version, up to $55 for the 4GB version. The new board has both USB2 and USB3 but the original standard HDMI connector has gone in favour of two micro HDMI connectors, great for 4K dual screen action, all good stuff but totally wasted if you’re planning headless operation. We are now looking at a 64-bit 1.5Ghz quad core Cortex A72 (Arm V8). There is now USB-C for power – (3 amps). The new board is supposed to be backward-compatible with previous models and the new operating system version (Buster)certainly is in my very limited experience (I’ve been using Jessie for a long time now). I’m awaiting delivery of the 2GB model of the RPI4 just to get extra RAM without losing the very useful RPI-Clone (and let’s not forget the extra speed). Gigabit Ethernet is of course built-in along with Bluetooth 5.0 and WIFI. I’m assuming that serial port remains as grim as in the past (competitors have up to 4 serial ports) but that’s just an assumption. I’ll soon report on that first hand.
Not sure about HDR yet for the video and we never did get a decent Android + PlayStore running on the Pi3 – my own Pi use case does not involve multimedia as I prefer a decent Android-9-based TV box such as the H96 Max – but that’s just me. If a TV box won’t run ShowBox then I’m not interested. As a home controller however, having tried many different SBCs over recent years, I remain committed to the Raspberry Pi so the Model 4 is likely to get at least one job, probably two or more.
Continue reading Raspberry Pi 4 + Buster
