Poll of the Day > Anyone knowledgeable about Raspberry Pi and alternate devices?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm looking at getting my sister one of those devices for videos and maybe some multiplayer games. Wanting it to come with casing, be simple to use and have some decent compatibility with gamepads (if any can work wirelessly with a PS3 pad or wireless 360 pad out of the box, that would be very useful). Would need to have a good bit of internal storage space if if can't expand it with an SD card or the like, but I imagine most shouldn't have that issue. Might need to be able to take a few bangs between the ages of my nephews and the fact it would be used during camping trips (they have a small TV and DVD player along with a generator for the bad weather days).
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with rasberry pi, you will need to download the programs you want. So you will need to find a video program and maybe an emulator if you want to play old console games.

as long as you have get a blu tooth usb adapter you should be able to find a ps3/xbox program that can use those controller wirelessly.


Or if you have a android phone, you pretty much have everything you are looking for. Just go to the Play Store and download the apps you want to use.
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The only gaming you can do on a raspberry pi is emulation, I don't know if you're expecting to play CoD or something.

It is very good at emulation and will work with most controllers you throw at it. If you want to play a bunch of SNES/ps1 classics and maybe some n64 it'll do it.

wtf kind of brother are you. buy her a macbook air so she can go to starbucks and be a basic bitch
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she hot?
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find a psp with video out cables?
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So are you looking to connect this to TVs?

This is what setting up an emulator on the PI is like
http://www.emulationstation.org/gettingstarted.html

The Pi is designed for tinkerers. If you don't want to get your hands dirty then it's probably not for you. Unfortunately I can't just set that up for you and hand it back over a screen, otherwise your options come down to finding an Ouya, buying a 3ds, a psp, or an Android.

If you're up for it and you want to sort through that, I say go for it.

I can do the OS / software set up stuff myself (enough tutorials around), but my sister and her kids will need it to be simple to use once it is done.

What games are on it doesn't matter. I'm not expecting anything recent. They won't even be the main focus, mostly want movies on it.

I just want to make sure I can get a basic case with it, that it can take the knocks, and hook up to their television and some gamepads.

I know other devices exist, and asked here to find out if one of those might be better suited for them and what else I should look at.
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Good, then the Pi should be a perfect fit. You should get the Raspbian OS on it, from there you can install VLC media player and emulation station. It has a couple USB ports that will work with most controllers.

You might want to get something like this
https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-920-007119-Wireless-Keyboard-Connected/dp/B014EUQOGK/ref=sr_1_10?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1496352160&sr=1-10&keywords=wireless+keyboard

I'd avoid bluetooth.

There are a lot of Pi cases out there, and it has a micro SD card slot for storage.

Fair warning as I own a few Pi 3 (RetroPie, LibreElec ((KODI)), and Raspian ((Basic OS))), they get blistering hot. So, invest in a case with proper ventilation and heat sinks; the later being a must with the Pi 3. >__<'
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jamieyello3 posted...

You might want to get something like this
https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-920-007119-Wireless-Keyboard-Connected/dp/B014EUQOGK/ref=sr_1_10?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1496352160&sr=1-10&keywords=wireless+keyboard

I'd avoid bluetooth.

Does the media software work with gamepads? I basically want it to have as little extra stuff around as possible (less to pack or lose).
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If it's just for movies and tv shows, you can buy an android box fully loaded with Kodi off of Amazon.
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DeltaBladeX posted...

Does the media software work with gamepads? I basically want it to have as little extra stuff around as possible (less to pack or lose).

https://tutorials-raspberrypi.com/raspberry-pi-xbox-360-controller-wireless/

If you follow just the "Use the Xbox 360 Controller as Raspberry Pi Mouse" part, you can do that and even have it set to do that automatically every time you turn it on.

DeltaBladeX posted...

I know other devices exist, and asked here to find out if one of those might be better suited for them and what else I should look at.

Android boxes.
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helIy posted...

Android boxes.

This might be a better fit to be honest.

Pi wasn't really designed for general use. You still could do everything on a Pi though.

you can get a ChromeBit for around $100. it just plugs into any HDMI port and is a fully functional Chrome O/S computer. it only has one USB port, so you most likely want to buy a USB hub as well.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1N83TV6237

you can also get mini PCs for $100-$200, although you also need to buy the right RAM and hard drive, and you need to provide the O/S yourself.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856164017
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you just really want to tinker with a raspberry pi, don't you
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Sahuagin posted...

you can also get mini PCs for $100-$200, although you also need to buy the right RAM and hard drive, and you need to provide the O/S yourself.

I'll probably skip that. I basically want something that could do the job of a system like their PS3, just with less space. They could take a console, but the less space taken, the better when camping.
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DeltaBladeX posted...

Sahuagin posted...

you can also get mini PCs for $100-$200, although you also need to buy the right RAM and hard drive, and you need to provide the O/S yourself.

I'll probably skip that. I basically want something that could do the job of a system like their PS3, just with less space. They could take a console, but the less space taken, the better when camping.

well, the chromebit will have anything and everything you can do on Chrome, including internet stuff as well as Google Store games (have never tried a game though so for all I know there is a technical hurdle to get over).
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Sahuagin posted...

including internet stuff

They won't need that, no WiFi in the camping area. :P
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oh k yeah, the chromebit is really internet-dependent

if you want something small and portable but also instantly functional and not necessarily dependent on the internet, then probably what you really want is a tablet or laptop or something
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What kind of games did you want to play?
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AwesomeTurtwig posted...

What kind of games did you want to play?

I was just going to toss some basic stuff, just needed to support multiplayer. They would probably want Minecraft, but they don't need it on everything.

Sahuagin posted...

then probably what you really want is a tablet or laptop or something

Sure, if I wanted to pay a couple of thousand on a Christmas gift for them. I wasn't going to dump that kind of cash on them. $100 and postage at most, maybe a bit more if a certain model stands out. I heard that these things can be pretty cheap.
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DeltaBladeX posted...

Sure, if I wanted to pay a couple of thousand on a Christmas gift for them. I wasn't going to dump that kind of cash on them. $100 and postage at most

you can get low quality tablets for under $100. I doubt they would play minecraft very well though. (although maybe the mobile version would not be too bad, who knows?)

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA5EF4U18296

you can get low end laptops for about $200 to $300. they would play minecraft, but not fantastically.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834266769

(note that I'm linking these as proof of my claims and not as recommendations of particular products.)

I still think the chromebit is probably the best option. I think you can use a guest account and pre-load it with games, although I'm not 100% sure. I have them at work, but not at home to try gaming with.
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I'm in New Zealand, so PC level stuff would be expensive to get. Don't believe I can get them from NE cheap anyway (I remember checking once before when I had some sites mentioned, and they either didn't sell here or had a 'NZ tax'). I'm not worried about the nephews playing Minecraft anyway. I mostly want to replace their DVD player with something that uses internal storage for movies, not a bunch of discs that can get scratched. Games are basically a bonus that should be easy to do with one of these things.
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helIy posted...

Android boxes.

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