RoadTest: Raspberry Pi 2: We're Giving Away 50 Units!!!
Author: mr_lindowsmac
Creation date:
Evaluation Type: Independent Products
Did you receive all parts the manufacturer stated would be included in the package?: True
What other parts do you consider comparable to this product?:
What were the biggest problems encountered?:
Detailed Review:
Hello friends,
Better late than never. Some weeks ago I tested a little Raspberry Pi 2 as a simple Media Center. Since the recent images of Raspberry.org now includes one called OSMC (Open Source Media Center) I downloaded it from NOOBs image to check it out.
I had some trouble to test it out. I had no Internet for more than a month because I recently moved to a new house, and I had to wait at least one month to contact a local carrier to install phone + internet.
Another problem were some stuff like video cable connectors. Is 2015 and I still don't have a HDTV, the only way to see video from Raspberry Pi 2 is by the new jack connector which is video + audio, which is essentially the output of video cable camcorder devices. That cable is more expensive than HDMI cable because is discontinued or something and difficult to find to me without searching on Amazon. I prefer the typical Composite yellow connector of the earlier model, I have another Raspberry and I don't have any problem to connect it to my older TV. Anyway, I just got an HDMI cable to test it on a LCD HD Monitor at my work during launch. This is what I got.
Then I had to deal with other problems:
I tried to boot the most recent image of Ubuntu Snapy, but apparently the microSD was bad. It was a Samsung 8GB Class 10 MicroSD. Not sure If it was a really a Class 10, because I was unable to boot to any SO and also getting corrupted the boot file. Perhaps it was a cheap imitation, so I had to format another SD card that I have for the another RPi, a class 4 microSD card.
Because Ubuntu recommends to install in a class 10 to avoid write/read bottlenecks, I chose another image, the typical NOOBs image.
Now the problem was the USB cable, was powering low voltage. At beginning I thought that the problem was the power adapter, but actually was the USB cable.
Finally I booted NOOBs and downloaded OSMC.
Sometimes the rainbow square appears, perhaps... I need a better power adapter?, it supplies 2 A!
OSMC worked very well, I tested a PVR IPTV Client to watch some HD channels, it looks wonderful!
I also able to control it via Yatse, an app for Android, very recommended.
I'm very satisfied with the product, but not with my own tests. I'm really get busy these days that is so anoying for me to not provide a decent roadtest post.
I recently bought a Kinect in order to make some experiments, I hope to test it out in RPi2, is there any chance of course.
Also I want to test audio in this RPi2, because in the earlier models the audio was very poor (at least to the 1/4 jack output). I got a Wolfson Pi Audio card but that only works for the B Model. Also I was about to publish a utility to configure it. So, any milestones I'll publish them here.
