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I want to setup something like this for my daughter's primary grade school meetings using Zoom. Any suggestions? Are the Pis or this device up to par now for su

I want to setup something like this for my daughter's primary grade school meetings using Zoom. Any suggestions? Are the Pis or this device up to par now for such use case? I totally do not like Chromebooks, and standard laptops are an overkill.

FrojoS 6y ago
Given that you also need a screen, keyboard, mouse camera and mic, I don't know if it is better than a laptop for your application.
- CydeWeys 6y ago
  Yup, just buy a cheap Chromebook (maybe used) and save many hours of labor/setup and quite possibly even some money.
talkingtab 6y ago
If you are looking for something that you can use so your daughter can run a browser and then zoom into a class session then I would suggest a Raspberry PI 4GB or 8GB. I have a 4GB Nano. Comparing the Pi 4GB and Nano 2GB. The 4GB of the Pi is an important factor vs the 2GB. Personally I would recommend the 8GB Pi. There are many more Pi's out there so the development community and support is stronger than Nano. The Nano has support, just not in the same area. I have had problems with the Nano where memory gets chewed up in some way and I just reboot it after a while. The Nano does have the advantage of an Nvidia GPU, but it appears that is of no benefit to you. Although the Nano does not have built-in wifi I don't think that is a substantial issue, but it does mean you need to get a wifi dongle. Of more concern is the need for a fan on the Nano. I have found that it gets hot fairly easily when pushed. Bottom line is that in my opinion the small amount of memory is a substantial to avoid the Nano 2GB, the 4GB Pi is good and for about $30 more the 8GB Pi is a definite step up.
mciancia 6y ago
Why though? If your goal is just to run zoom, you are better of with buying some used usff pc, having ability to install x86 OS and having more cpu power in similar, if not lower price point. Of course, if you just want to buy a jetson and just looking for some reason to, that's totally fine too :-D
bserge 6y ago
Go with the overkill, used mobile workstations are cheaper than new Chromebooks. Just imo
- qchris 6y ago
  I tend to lean in this direction as well. A 4GB RPi4 would work, but the Pi itself costs $55, plus a dedicated USB power supply, uSD card, the HDMI adapter I usually need, webcam, possible case/cooling fan (Pi4's can get hot), plus a spare keyboard, mouse, and monitor. The total package ends up significantly more expensive than the "list price" of an RPi itself, and it ends up not making much more sense than buying a used x230 or something off of eBay for <$200.
billyzs 6y ago
afaik there's no native Zoom client for ARM [0]. You'll be stuck with the web version of it, which according to some functions poorly no matter where you run it [0] https://devforum.zoom.us/t/have-you-considered-building-zoom-for-the-raspberry-pi-4-linux-system/14257 https://devforum.zoom.us/t/have-you-considered-building-zoom...

FrojoS 6y ago

Given that you also need a screen, keyboard, mouse camera and mic, I don't know if it is better than a laptop for your application.

CydeWeys 6y ago
Yup, just buy a cheap Chromebook (maybe used) and save many hours of labor/setup and quite possibly even some money.

talkingtab 6y ago

If you are looking for something that you can use so your daughter can run a browser and then zoom into a class session then I would suggest a Raspberry PI 4GB or 8GB. I have a 4GB Nano. Comparing the Pi 4GB and Nano 2GB. The 4GB of the Pi is an important factor vs the 2GB. Personally I would recommend the 8GB Pi. There are many more Pi's out there so the development community and support is stronger than Nano. The Nano has support, just not in the same area. I have had problems with the Nano where memory gets chewed up in some way and I just reboot it after a while. The Nano does have the advantage of an Nvidia GPU, but it appears that is of no benefit to you. Although the Nano does not have built-in wifi I don't think that is a substantial issue, but it does mean you need to get a wifi dongle. Of more concern is the need for a fan on the Nano. I have found that it gets hot fairly easily when pushed. Bottom line is that in my opinion the small amount of memory is a substantial to avoid the Nano 2GB, the 4GB Pi is good and for about $30 more the 8GB Pi is a definite step up.

mciancia 6y ago

Why though? If your goal is just to run zoom, you are better of with buying some used usff pc, having ability to install x86 OS and having more cpu power in similar, if not lower price point. Of course, if you just want to buy a jetson and just looking for some reason to, that's totally fine too :-D

bserge 6y ago

Go with the overkill, used mobile workstations are cheaper than new Chromebooks. Just imo

qchris 6y ago
I tend to lean in this direction as well. A 4GB RPi4 would work, but the Pi itself costs $55, plus a dedicated USB power supply, uSD card, the HDMI adapter I usually need, webcam, possible case/cooling fan (Pi4's can get hot), plus a spare keyboard, mouse, and monitor. The total package ends up significantly more expensive than the "list price" of an RPi itself, and it ends up not making much more sense than buying a used x230 or something off of eBay for <$200.

billyzs 6y ago

afaik there's no native Zoom client for ARM [0]. You'll be stuck with the web version of it, which according to some functions poorly no matter where you run it [0] https://devforum.zoom.us/t/have-you-considered-building-zoom-for-the-raspberry-pi-4-linux-system/14257 https://devforum.zoom.us/t/have-you-considered-building-zoom...