The Raspberry Pi 5 is now available ... if you pre-ordered The Raspberry Pi 5 has started shipping, but with pre-orders likely to snap up the first batch, will the faithful have a merry or miserable Christmas? According to Pi supremo Eben Upton, "Priority Boarding" orders are starting to head out this week and are expected to be complete by the end of next. Approved resellers are also …
So I gather from the description on the raspberry pi official site.
BTW my daughter and I finally set up her shiny new pi 5 last night (a birthday gift) and she is delighted. It looks like a toy in its official case (no bad thing for a kid) but performs like a "proper" computer. I lent her a Pi 3 for a week or so before the (8GB) Pi 5 arrived so she really appreciates the improvement (to say the least).
Not true. The Pi 5 will run fine from a Pi 4 5v3A supply. It will limit downstream USB current to 600mA, but you can override that if you want, there is headroom there. The 5V5A supply would be needed if you were pulling a lot of current from the USB ports AND running all the Arms at full tilt.
Putting the extra components on the board to handle higher voltages was considered, but the problems of the heat dissipation and board real estate meant 5v in was a better option.
However, I doubt that many children are getting started with their programming experience on a Pico or Pi Zero. Yes, you can get a Zero and plug it into a screen and a USB hub with an efficient keyboard and mouse to avoid requiring too much power, but it's clearly not meant for it. The Zero models are much more closely matched to wanting a board to build into some other device, although I have one that serves as an automation device for me. On the other hand, they've got a much better desktop in the Pi 4 than they did at the start, so the original educational dream is probably better served by that model than by the ones that came before. I wonder how many schools are using them as such, though.
Business loves the stable form factor and OS support which means RPi filled a market nee without looking for it. Lots of integrated sensors/control panels are suspiciously close to RPi dimensions. Unfortunately, the quality of a lot of the code running on the devices looks like something hobbyists would throw out!
The manufacturing process of this type of board typically includes a screen printer for the solder paste, a pick and place machine that puts the parts on the board and a soldering machine that can have up to ten heat zones in it. There may be further assembly for larger non-surface mount parts and an inspection unit using a 'bed of nails' tester. Home assembly is possible but its really not quite in the same league as building a simple radio set.
You could consider a PiNano or similar as a modern 'component'.
Easy enough to pile your garbage into hole and cover it with dirt and say "I'm Done!"
Selling people what they don't need just leads to them buying more of what they do not need. Meet the Needs: Mr. Need wants to have fun and feel like he is somehow providing for his family of Needs. Mrs. Need wants to make sure the Needs do not starve or sleep in the rain. Her daughter Needs to fit in by wearing the wrong clothes for the right reasons. Need Jr. want's ice cream for desert.
Everyone Needs an SBC that does more one thing at time without paying more for it. Call Everyone Needs a single unit of data and a niche market if you will but I believe those are terms used by people that have no idea how to make money and things last.
It is this lack of imagination that perpetuates generational failures.
Hello Richard,
Thank you for your insightful coverage of Raspberry Pi 5! I wanted to share an exciting development with you and your audience. We've recently launched a Kickstarter campaign for Arducam Pivistation 5 - an innovative all-in-one camera kit powered by RPi5. It's designed to simplify embedded vision projects and accelerate time-to-market for enthusiasts and professionals alike. You can find more information about our campaign here: https://kck.st/4a4ADEp
Best regards,
Ajax
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2025
