Raspberry Pi Question/s

[AskTJ]

Me again. I am spamming this forum with RPI questions but it's here for a reason. 

 

I am planning a build with the Pi as a general "hobby" computer. The parts are below.

 

I am located in Australia, and have a budget of $75 USD.

 

Parts:

 

Board itself: From Amazon. Price: $35 USD shipped. Click spoiler.

Spoiler

It ships from America, and I live in Australia, but shipping is only $5.89, and I also found out that after 2 years, that I have $11 of gift card balance left. Weird, but I will take it!

 

USB 3.0 SATA To USB cable: From eBay. Price: $7 USD shipped. Click spoiler.

 

Spoiler

Using this for a 2.5" 120GB SSD I have lying around. The RPI 3 only has USB 2.0 ports, and I am wondering if getting the USB 3.0 cable will give me any speed difference from a USB 2.0 version, when using it on the RPI's USB 2.0 interface. I will probably buy the USB 3.0 cable though as I can use it for other systems with USB 3.0 ports.

 

USB Power: Samsung Original Charger. Price: Free. Already own it.

Spoiler

Have a genuine Samsung charger and cable delivering 5 volts and 2 amps. I will be fine.

 

If I have missed anything or have feedback on what I should add, please, please, PLEASE comment on the thread. I have a good budget still left and want to make my Pi as portable as I can. I am hoping to have the Pi in a case, with the SATA to USB cable inside, with the 2.5" SSD inside.

 

Again, thanks, and leave suggestions.

[Shreyas1]

get a wireless usb adapter and a case. Or you can get a screen and make it into some sort of touchscreen tablet.

[Tabs]

15 minutes ago, AskTJ said:

Me again. I am spamming this forum with RPI questions but it's here for a reason. 

 

I am planning a build with the Pi as a general "hobby" computer. The parts are below.

 

I am located in Australia, and have a budget of $75 USD.

 

Parts:

 

Board itself: From Amazon. Price: $35 USD shipped. Click spoiler.

  Reveal hidden contents

It ships from America, and I live in Australia, but shipping is only $5.89, and I also found out that after 2 years, that I have $11 of gift card balance left. Weird, but I will take it!

 

USB 3.0 SATA To USB cable: From eBay. Price: $7 USD shipped. Click spoiler.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Using this for a 2.5" 120GB SSD I have lying around. The RPI 3 only has USB 2.0 ports, and I am wondering if getting the USB 3.0 cable will give me any speed difference from a USB 2.0 version, when using it on the RPI's USB 2.0 interface. I will probably buy the USB 3.0 cable though as I can use it for other systems with USB 3.0 ports.

 

USB Power: Samsung Original Charger. Price: Free. Already own it.

  Reveal hidden contents

Have a genuine Samsung charger and cable delivering 5 volts and 2 amps. I will be fine.

 

If I have missed anything or have feedback on what I should add, please, please, PLEASE comment on the thread. I have a good budget still left and want to make my Pi as portable as I can. I am hoping to have the Pi in a case, with the SATA to USB cable inside, with the 2.5" SSD inside.

 

Again, thanks, and leave suggestions.

The USB cable won't provide you any increase over a USB 2.0 cable, and the advanced features the listing supports will be non-functional on the Pi with only a 2.0 interface. 

 

If you absolutely need one of those USB to Sata cables, check if there's a USB 2.0 one available much cheaper (or from a more reliable source) before grabbing that one. Otherwise, it's as good a cable as any for the price. I might pick some up myself

 

As @Shreyas1 said, having wireless connectivity is going to be important for this build - make sure that you have Bluetooth peripherals with standard usb signalling (or usb adapters) to ensure you can interact with the Pi before an OS is loaded. Also make sure the case isn't going to unduly interfere with Bluetooth signals - you'll need to ensure the case is made of thin and light plastic or has a specific opening where the Bluetooth antenna is, otherwise connectivity could be an issue.

[AskTJ]

On 01/06/2018 at 12:40 AM, Tabs said:

As @shreyas1 said, having wireless connectivity is going to be important for this build - make sure that you have Bluetooth peripherals with standard usb signalling (or usb adapters) to ensure you can interact with the Pi before an OS is loaded. Also make sure the case isn't going to unduly interfere with Bluetooth signals - you'll need to ensure the case is made of thin and light plastic or has a specific opening where the Bluetooth antenna is, otherwise connectivity could be an issue.

What if the case I used has USB cutouts, so I can used a wired keyboard and mouse?

 

I also found these 2 WiFi adapters.

 

Number 1. Looks cooler and gives it a retro, classic aesthetic.

 

Number 2. Go with the simple, generic WiFi adapter.

 

They both peak at 150mpbs, which is fine with my internet.

 

I prefer the first one as it gives the retro look and that's something I would like to see with it.

[Tabs]

8 minutes ago, AskTJ said:

What if the case I used has USB cutouts, so I can used a wired keyboard and mouse?

 

I also found these 2 WiFi adapters.

 

Number 1. Looks cooler and gives it a retro, classic aesthetic.

 

Number 2. Go with the simple, generic WiFi adapter.

 

They both peak at 150mpbs, which is fine with my internet.

 

I prefer the first one as it gives the retro look and that's something I would like to see with it.

The Raspberry Pi you're buying already has built-in Wi-Fi (Broadcom bcm43438), so unless you want to use it as a wireless network bridge or perform routing (in which case it has ethernet for that), you'd be better off sticking with the built-in Wi-Fi to keep costs low. It does however peak at 54mbps from what I can tell (802.11-g), so it's whether you need greater than that for whatever it's going to do.

 

The USB cutouts thing makes Bluetooth for input peripherals a complete non-issue, it was mainly meant to account for if you are hiding it away somewhere (keeping it as clutter free as possible). The case won't affect the ability for the device to work with normal USB devices.

 

As for which one of those two Wi-Fi adapters you should use, if you need one, I'd leave that decision entirely up to you. Both devices claim to have Linux support, so they should use fairly generic 802.11 radio chipsets. The first one with the antenna is almost definitely going to perform better, assuming the antenna is actually attached - never a guarantee when buying Chinese no-brand eBay products

[Tabs]

13 minutes ago, Pangea2017 said:

USB 2.0 is even slower. 

 

The pi 3 have bluetooth included.

USB 2.0 is 480mbit/s, which is much faster than 54mbps of 802.11g. 

 

We know it has Bluetooth included, my comment was relating to my earlier post stating that Bluetooth can be easily interfered with depending on the enclosure used for the Pi. Since the OP is planning on using USB attached peripherals instead of Bluetooth ones, it's a non-issue.