this post was submitted on 07 Feb 2026
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164
Is the Raspberry Pi Still an Affordable SBC? I Don't Think So (linuxiac.com)
submitted 1 day ago by throws_lemy@reddthat.com to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] pelya@lemmy.world 53 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (5 children)

Y'all need a price chart. You are literally getting what you are paying for.

Raspberry Pi 5, 16 GB RAM

  • Price: $205 (don't trust the price on RPi website, no way you are buying it for $145).
  • Generic desktop PC: runs Blender and video editors.
  • AI agent: yes.
  • Computer vision: yes, with face recognition and real-time AI filters.
  • SDR signal processor: you can broadcast an HD TV station on it.
  • Servers: whatever you want, can host Amazon and Netflix.

Raspberry PI 5, 1 GB RAM

  • Price: $45.
  • Generic desktop PC: you can edit office documents.
  • AI agent: lol no.
  • Computer vision: a movement sensor for your surveillance camera.
  • SDR signal processor: you can broadcast FM radio.
  • Servers: home file server and torrents.

Raspberry PI 4, 1 GB RAM

  • Price: $35.
  • Does everything that Raspberry Pi 5 does, but 0.6 GHz slower.
  • Does not throw a tantrum when your power supply outputs 4.999 volts instead of 5 volts 5 amperes.
  • The ultimate Raspberry Pi for all your hardware projects.

Raspberry PI Zero 2, 512 MB RAM

  • Price: $15 on a website, $19 in shops.
  • Generic desktop PC: probably runs Solitaire.
  • AI agent: dream on.
  • Computer vision: a movement sensor for your surveillance camera, and it won't support HD cameras.
  • SDR signal processor: you can record FM radio, not much else.
  • Servers: online garage door opener.
  • Ethernet adapter sold separately, if you don't want your garage door opener to drop offline at random because of unstable WiFi.

Raspberry Pi Pico, 264 KB RAM

  • Price: $4.
  • Generic desktop PC: nope.
  • AI agent: absolutely impossible.
  • Computer vision: nope.
  • SDR signal processor: nope.
  • Servers: unsecure garage door opener.
  • Ethernet adapter requires soldering skills.
  • You don't need 40 programmable pins to control one garage door.
  • Just buy ESP32 instead.

ESP32-C6-Zero, 400 KB RAM.

  • Price: $3.50.
  • Does everything that Raspberry Pi Pico does, but better.
  • Works for a year from three AAA batteries.
[–] Cocodapuf@lemmy.world 2 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

Only sane post on the page.

Here are the facts. I believe the pi 4 is what people are whining doesn't exist.

[–] AdrianTheFrog@lemmy.world 9 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

A few years ago I installed Linux on a $40 used Chromebook with 4gb RAM. It runs Blender, Freecad, Minecraft, Celeste, Portal, Kdenlive, etc perfectly acceptably. It has CPU performance a tiny bit worse than the Pi 5, but is x86 and comes with a mouse, keyboard, battery, etc.

I don't think comparing performance over used PCs is ever going to be favorable for a pi, I think the reasons to get one are reliability, gpio, and the small form factor.

[–] ouRKaoS@lemmy.today 2 points 17 hours ago

I linuxed a $50 Chromebook & I use it to do sketchy shit that I don't want to try on my main rig. "Hey, I found a flashdrive at the park! Let's plug it into the ChromeBurner"!

[–] thatonecoder@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Now I want to see a self-hosted LLM running solely on a Raspberry Pi Pico!!

[–] AdrianTheFrog@lemmy.world 2 points 21 hours ago

Not an LLM or a Pi Pico but I think this project is pretty cool regardless

https://github.com/traviszech/RPI-ZERO-2-OnnxStream

[–] friend_of_satan@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

After reading your comment on price I checked Microcenter, an authorized pi dealer, and you're right. The pi 5 with 16gb is listed at $200.

https://www.microcenter.com/product/702590/raspberry-pi-5

[–] HertzDentalBar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 day ago

That's not really bad pricing it's actually cheaper than I paid for my 4 according to the chart and that was a bunch of years ago