5 ms·

Pi-Top: Raspberry Pi Laptop Shell

27 points by api 11y ago

elliotlarson 11y ago
I like this idea a lot. I can't stand the color. Why acid green?
- bmurphy1976 11y ago
  Appeals to kids.
- kv85s 11y ago
  They also have gray.
  - elliotlarson 11y ago
    Ah, you're right! I wish they would have made this clearer.
- Outdoorsman 11y ago
  I followed the "order now" link: >>$134.99 with Raspberry pi...$99.99 without Raspberry pi...Choose from our green or grey colour options. You are pre-ordering one of the first batch of pi-topCEED, delivery will be in April 2016.<< I've wondered when someone would put something like this on the market...
Casseres 11y ago
It just seems expensive to me. I know R&D costs money and it comes with an educational operating system, but the website doesn't really sell me on why it's worth $300 as opposed to $200 (a price point at which I would buy two for my niece and nephew). For $300 I can buy an inexpensive laptop with a lot more computing power, find a free educational Linux distro, and teach my niece and nephew how to install it. Is plugging a few components together in the pi-top worth $100?
- elliotlarson 11y ago
  Yeah, I agree with this. I can buy an external monitor, mouse and keyboard for something in the ballpark of a $120. This is much nicer. It's more compact and portable. But, close to $300 seems a bit extreme.
- Outdoorsman 11y ago
  From the website for the pi-TopCEED: >$134.99 with Raspberry pi...$99.99 without Raspberry pi.<<
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - Casseres 11y ago
    I'm referring to the laptop version. I guess the battery, hinges, keyboard, and trackpad fetch a premium. I don't think the CEED is as appealing as the laptop version (which is probably why it is priced competitively). Yes, the CEED would still make a great educational tool, but if the child doesn't use it; it's worthless. My niece and nephew aren't that young any more, so I have a feeling that the only way they would use it, is if the pi-tops were in laptop-form.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
eddyg 11y ago
Related, from a couple days ago, the "NexDock": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11117880 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11117880
blhack 11y ago
$300 seems outrageously expensive for something like this. $300 is enough for a chromebook, an arduino (or a raspberry pi!), and a boatload of motors and servos and things that they're going to enjoy learning to program with. This thing doesn't even look like it exposes the GPIO pins. So, really, it's a $300 for a pretty low end arm linux machine. Pi-top people: if you're reading this, I'm sorry if that sounds overly harsh. The thing you've created is a really nice looking, and is definitely something I would love to buy a stack of an put in my hackerspace, but at that price point, I can't justify it. It isn't that I don't like what you've done, it's that I do like what you've done, I just think it is overpriced.
- mark_l_watson 11y ago
  I agree with you, great idea but too expensive. I was hoping for something really inexpensive that a student (or hobbyist) could pop in a Raspberry Pi, and a laptop, take the Pi out for experimenting, etc. I am travelling with a small $190 HP Stream (running Linux) and for this low price I have a full on computer. I am working on my new Haskell book right now and I don't miss my more powerful Linux laptop or MacBook that I left at home. The Raspberry Pi is a powerful enough device to get work done on, and a $100 laptop case for it would be a great product.
- devopsproject 11y ago
  $300 is enough for an actual computer.
  - analog31 11y ago
    Indeed, it's enough for a cheap notebook plus a Raspberry Pi, connected together via a remote desktop connection.
robohamburger 11y ago
I wonder if this uses GPIO display. I learned the hard way you don't get any sort of graphics acceleration on the pi unless you go through the actual hdmi port.
69mlgsniperdad 11y ago
I can think of at least 69 computers I would rather spend $300 on before a raspberry pi(top)
undersuit 11y ago
I have one of these. It's gray, the GPIO is used for LCD backlight control and battery monitoring, some of the GPIO is exposed on the logic board for other uses, the display connects via the HDMI port, the keyboard and mouse via USB, the GPIO scripts are written in python and moveable to your own OS install, the keyboard is mushy mushy mushy, but I like the trackpad, and I don't use the provided pi-top OS as I encountered a number of issues even logging in on the release version. It's a decent piece of hobby hardware and I should be able to swap in something like a Odroid-C1+ in the future.

27 points by api 11y ago

elliotlarson 11y ago

I like this idea a lot. I can't stand the color. Why acid green?

bmurphy1976 11y ago
Appeals to kids.
kv85s 11y ago
They also have gray.
- elliotlarson 11y ago
  Ah, you're right! I wish they would have made this clearer.
Outdoorsman 11y ago
I followed the "order now" link: >>$134.99 with Raspberry pi...$99.99 without Raspberry pi...Choose from our green or grey colour options. You are pre-ordering one of the first batch of pi-topCEED, delivery will be in April 2016.<< I've wondered when someone would put something like this on the market...

Casseres 11y ago

It just seems expensive to me. I know R&D costs money and it comes with an educational operating system, but the website doesn't really sell me on why it's worth $300 as opposed to $200 (a price point at which I would buy two for my niece and nephew). For $300 I can buy an inexpensive laptop with a lot more computing power, find a free educational Linux distro, and teach my niece and nephew how to install it. Is plugging a few components together in the pi-top worth $100?

elliotlarson 11y ago
Yeah, I agree with this. I can buy an external monitor, mouse and keyboard for something in the ballpark of a $120. This is much nicer. It's more compact and portable. But, close to $300 seems a bit extreme.
Outdoorsman 11y ago
From the website for the pi-TopCEED: >$134.99 with Raspberry pi...$99.99 without Raspberry pi.<<
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- Casseres 11y ago
  I'm referring to the laptop version. I guess the battery, hinges, keyboard, and trackpad fetch a premium. I don't think the CEED is as appealing as the laptop version (which is probably why it is priced competitively). Yes, the CEED would still make a great educational tool, but if the child doesn't use it; it's worthless. My niece and nephew aren't that young any more, so I have a feeling that the only way they would use it, is if the pi-tops were in laptop-form.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

eddyg 11y ago

Related, from a couple days ago, the "NexDock": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11117880 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11117880

blhack 11y ago

$300 seems outrageously expensive for something like this. $300 is enough for a chromebook, an arduino (or a raspberry pi!), and a boatload of motors and servos and things that they're going to enjoy learning to program with. This thing doesn't even look like it exposes the GPIO pins. So, really, it's a $300 for a pretty low end arm linux machine. Pi-top people: if you're reading this, I'm sorry if that sounds overly harsh. The thing you've created is a really nice looking, and is definitely something I would love to buy a stack of an put in my hackerspace, but at that price point, I can't justify it. It isn't that I don't like what you've done, it's that I do like what you've done, I just think it is overpriced.

mark_l_watson 11y ago
I agree with you, great idea but too expensive. I was hoping for something really inexpensive that a student (or hobbyist) could pop in a Raspberry Pi, and a laptop, take the Pi out for experimenting, etc. I am travelling with a small $190 HP Stream (running Linux) and for this low price I have a full on computer. I am working on my new Haskell book right now and I don't miss my more powerful Linux laptop or MacBook that I left at home. The Raspberry Pi is a powerful enough device to get work done on, and a $100 laptop case for it would be a great product.
devopsproject 11y ago
$300 is enough for an actual computer.
- analog31 11y ago
  Indeed, it's enough for a cheap notebook plus a Raspberry Pi, connected together via a remote desktop connection.

robohamburger 11y ago

I wonder if this uses GPIO display. I learned the hard way you don't get any sort of graphics acceleration on the pi unless you go through the actual hdmi port.

69mlgsniperdad 11y ago

I can think of at least 69 computers I would rather spend $300 on before a raspberry pi(top)

undersuit 11y ago

I have one of these. It's gray, the GPIO is used for LCD backlight control and battery monitoring, some of the GPIO is exposed on the logic board for other uses, the display connects via the HDMI port, the keyboard and mouse via USB, the GPIO scripts are written in python and moveable to your own OS install, the keyboard is mushy mushy mushy, but I like the trackpad, and I don't use the provided pi-top OS as I encountered a number of issues even logging in on the release version. It's a decent piece of hobby hardware and I should be able to swap in something like a Odroid-C1+ in the future.