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Blog Taking The Raspberry PI 3 Out for a Test Drive
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  • Author Author: jhayden
  • Date Created: 7 Mar 2016 4:35 PM Date Created
  • Views 2131 views
  • Likes 6 likes
  • Comments 8 comments
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Taking The Raspberry PI 3 Out for a Test Drive

jhayden
jhayden
7 Mar 2016

I recently had the opportunity to take the Raspberry Pi 3 Model BRaspberry Pi 3 Model B out for a test drive.   The form factor of the new Raspberry PI is the same with the exception of the LED’s being moved from the right side to the left side of the board (Pi facing up with USB data ports facing you).   If you have a clear case or you don’t mind having your view of the LED’s blocked then most cases that fit the Model B+ or the Pi 2 model B will fit the Pi 3.

 

image

 

I upgraded my micro SD card to a clean install of Raspbian Jessie using SD Formatter 4.0 to erase my old Wheezy install then NOOBS to install Jessie.  If you prefer, the foundation does have a process to upgrade Wheezy to Jessie via the command line; however, it’s not recommended (Procedure: Click Here).  The new Raspbian operating system works on the Model  B+ and PI 3 and boots straight to the desktop out of the box.  You can switch this to boot straight to the command line by using the Raspi-Config program. Raspi-Config can also have Raspbian auto log you in as user “Pi”.  In the pictures, the Raspberry PI 3 is the unit plugged in (I left the model B+ with the Wi-Fi dongle in the pictures to compare against).

 

Case swap: Raspberry PI 3 hooked up and sporting the B+’s clear case.image

 

Compared with the model B+ the PI 3 is substantially quicker.   The boot time for the PI 3 was 27 seconds to command line and 32 seconds to the desktop compared with 37 seconds and 55 seconds for the model B+ (timed using a switched outlet, using a fully updated Raspbian Jessie micro SD card, with auto log in enabled).

 

Raspberry PI 3 up and running with the 7” Raspberry PI touchscreen display. 
image

 

The PI 3’s built in Wi-Fi worked seamlessly in the background and required no input on my part other than programming the ID and password for the local Wi-Fi.  All drivers were already loaded in Raspbian. Download speed is on par with the Wi-Fi dongle used on the B+ (if not a little faster).  The PI also automatically logs into the Wi-Fi after rebooting to the command line or the desktop.

 

The updated browser that comes with Raspbian Jessie (as compared with Wheezy) can surf YouTube and play videos.  Even with the desktop’s overhead, surfing YouTube is substantially better than on the B+, and video playback was flawless once I stopped scrolling around.

 

Raspberry PI 3 Playing a video full screen at 720 resolution using the 7” Display. image

 

I was unable to find a way to play YouTube videos directly from the command line; however, I found a way to play twitch streams straight from the command line using a python package called Livestreamer along with Omxplayer.  The setup information can be found here (Click Here).   The app allows streams to be played in high, medium, low, & mobile quality.   The channel you want to stream must be online and streaming for the app to work. This app may also work with other sites as well and streaming from the command line means less overhead.

 

Opening up a twitch stream directly from the command line  image

 

Raspberry Pi 3 playing a stream directly from the command line using the 7” Display.image

 

The Raspberry Pi 3 was quite fun to work with and is quite fast. Having Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built in means that all 4 USB data ports can be used for projects and not communication dongles.   Pairing a touchscreen and a Bluetooth keyboard to the Raspberry PI 3 Model B may mean that dongles may become a thing of the past (once the Bluetooth connection is programmed).   Additional Information on the Raspberry PI 7 inch Touchscreen Display I used for this blog post can be found here: (Click Here).

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Top Comments

  • spannerspencer
    spannerspencer over 9 years ago +1
    Excellent work on this, Jim!
  • clem57
    clem57 over 9 years ago in reply to Former Member

    Yes, they sell cards until out and rebuild them. 2 weeks ago they are on the edge. Date of download is 2/29/2016 or later.

    Clem

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  • Former Member
    Former Member over 9 years ago

    I only bought the 8MB preloaded card with Noobs about 2 weeks ago, would it really be that out of date? The link you gave me doesn't seem to work but I appreciate your reply. Having checked the download page do you recommend I download Noobs again on my SD card?! this seems to be the right link https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/noobs/

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  • clem57
    clem57 over 9 years ago in reply to Former Member

    Depending when card (NOOBS) was built, you may need to download image from http://raspberrypi.org/download/

    Clem

    "Plz don't shoot the messenger"

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  • Former Member
    Former Member over 9 years ago

    I bought Pi 3 a couple of weeks ago and the 8MB card with preloaded Noobs. Having built a PC many years ago, I thought the Pi was going to be easy....How wrong was I? It never loads, nothing on the monitor and it is so frustrating. I get a red light on the motherboard. I have tried different monitors and connections but I don't seem to get any positive result. Apart from the board being dodgy, what else could the problem be? Should I ask for a replacement?

    Some kind of simple troubleshooting steps for me to take would be much appreciated as well as your time and advice.

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  • spannerspencer
    spannerspencer over 9 years ago

    Excellent work on this, Jim!

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