Raspberry Pi - Getting Started

In this modern age when computers are sleek, Raspberry Pi seems alien with tiny codes printed all over its circuit board. That’s a big part of Raspberry Pi’s appeal. Let us have a look at what we can do with this appealing circuit board.

Uses

Like a desktop computer, you can do almost anything with the Raspberry Pi. You can start and manage programs with its graphical windows desktop. It also has the shell for accepting text commands.

We can use the Raspberry Pi computer for the following −

  • Playing games
  • Browsing the internet
  • Word processing
  • Spreadsheets
  • Editing photos
  • Paying bills online
  • Managing your accounts.

The best use of Raspberry Pi is to learn how a computer works. You can also learn how to make electronic projects or programs with it.

It comes with two programming languages, Scratch and Python. Through GPIO (general-purpose input output) pins, Raspberry Pi can be connected to other circuits, so that you can control the other devices of your choice.

Retailers and Distributors

Some of the global retailers from whom you can buy your Raspberry Pi computers are as follows. You can also refer to their respective websites for details about the Raspberry Pi computers.

You can also get it from the following Raspberry Pi’s distributors −

Requirements

To use your Raspberry Pi board, you need to buy a few other bits and pieces. Following is the checklist of what else we might need −

Monitor

The Raspberry Pi uses a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) connection for video feed, and you can connect your monitor directly with this interface connection, if your monitor has an HDMI socket.

Television

In the similar way, if you have High Definition Television (HD TV), you can also connect it to your Raspberry Pi using an HDMI socket. It will give you a crisper picture.

USB hub

Depending on the model, Raspberry Pi has 1, 2, or 4 Universal Serial Bus (USB) sockets. You should consider using powered USB to connect other devices to your Raspberry Pi at the same time.

Keyboard and Mouse

Raspberry Pi only supports the USB keyboards and mouse. If you are using keyboards and mouse with PS/2 connectors, you need to replace them with Raspberry Pi.

SD or MicroSD card

As we know that the Raspberry Pi does not have a hard drive, so we need to use SD cards or MicroSD cards (depending on the model) for storage.

USB Wi-Fi adapter

If you are going to use model A and A+ then, you need to buy a USB Wi-Fi adapter for connecting to the internet. This should be done because these Raspberry models do not have an Ethernet socket.

External hard drive

If you want to share your collection of music and movies, you need to use an external hard drive with your Raspberry Pi model. You can connect the same by using a powered USB cable.

Raspberry Pi Camera Module

The Raspberry Pi camera module originated at Raspberry Pi foundation. It is an 8MP (megapixel) fixed focus camera that can be used to shoot high-definition video and take still photos. For wildlife photography at night, it provides another version without an infrared filter.

Speakers

The Raspberry Pi has a standard audio out socket. This socket is compatible with headphones and speakers that use a 3.5mm audio jack. We can plug headphones directly to it.

Power supply

For power supply, it uses a Micro USB connector. Hence theoretically, it is compatible with a mobile phone and tablet charger.

Cables

Following are some of the cables, which you need for the connections to the Raspberry Pi computer −

  • HDMI cable
  • HDMI-to-DVI adapter, if you are using a Digital Visual Interface (DVI) monitor.
  • RCA cable, if you want to connect to an older television.
  • Audio cable
  • Ethernet cable

Compatible and Incompatible Devices

To minimise the cost, the Raspberry Pi models are designed to be used with whatever accessories we have. But, as we know that in practice, not all the devices can be compatible.

You need to check for compatible and incompatible devices as incompatible USB, keyboards and mouse can cause problems.

You can find the list of compatible and incompatible devices at https://elinux.org/RPi_VerifiedPeripherals.

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