@FaheemMitha Yeah, it is pretty quiet. And yes, chat would be a good place to ask that, as shopping requests are considered off-topic as questions.

As for purchasing the Raspberry Pi in India I'm guessing RS Components or Farnell would be your best guess, though most online sites will ship world-wide.

@RPiAwesomeness Ok, thanks for replying. I might go with element14. Which is Farnells local partner. I'm currently pulling my hair over what peripherals to buy.

@FaheemMitha No problem! Glad to help :D

@RPiAwesomeness I see that element14 has a combo with a micro-SD card. I don't see why not just a regular SD card.

Are you buying Model B or B+?

Because I would suggest B+

I tried calling their office in Bangalore, and predictably got someone quite useless. I'm considering calling the UK. Maybe I can get someone who I actually have a conversation wtih.

It's same price for a better product. More USB, more GPIO, and better power control.

@RPiAwesomeness Yes, of course. Is B revision 2 the same as B+?

@FaheemMitha B+ is based off the current Rev 2 Model B

Same SoC (CPU/GPU/RAM)

@RPiAwesomeness SoC?

Not entirely.

System On Chip

@RPiAwesomeness Ok

Everything in one

@RPiAwesomeness Ok. Comments about micro-SD card? I was looking at this bundle.

The B+ uses a MicroSD card while the current model B and Model A use a regular SD card, so I would suggest getting the micro-sd card bundle.

You can get adapters to take micro-sd to full sd.

@RPiAwesomeness Oh, I see. I thought there were all regular SD.

Which bundle is that? Could you post a link?

No, B+ is MicroSD

@RPiAwesomeness Sure

crazypi.com/raspberry-pi-products/Raspberry-Pi-Starter-Kits/…

However, the element14 does look more professional

in.element14.com/jsp/bespoke/bespoke7.jsp?bespokepage=e14/…

I had a discussion with @goldilocks yesterday about the BBB vs the Pi. We agreed the Pi is probably better as a media player.

Ah :)

Ironically, this was on the U&L chat. We should probably have had it here. :-)

lol, doesn't matter all that much :D

Definitely would go with this: in.element14.com/raspberry-pi/raspberry-modb-8gb-usd/…

The element14 combo is here

in.element14.com/raspberry-pi/raspberry-modb-8gb-usd/…

Pi + MicroSD card.

Exactly.

It comes with NOOBS pre-installed, which is good for beginners.

@RPiAwesomeness Ok. I'll probably go with Raspbian or whatever Debian variant is available, seeing as I am a Debian user.

I don't know what NOOBs is. Can I easily reinstall?

Yes, go with Raspbian. It's the standard for Raspberry Pi.

@RPiAwesomeness Ok. Would you recommend going with the element14 combo? And apart from a case, what else should I get for playing video hooked up to a TV? Or should I just buy the other stuff locally? I live in Bombay.

I guess I should get a USB power supply thingy.

NOOBs stands for New Out Of the Box Software. It comes with 2-3 of the most common OSes and allows you to multi-boot and switch between them all whenever you want to.

@RPiAwesomeness Oh. Does it include Raspbian?

Yes.

It's really easy to use and quite useful. I've yet to use it, but that's just because I started using the Pi before NOOBS became really useful or even existed.

As for the way to get video connected, do you have HDMI?

@RPiAwesomeness Yes, I'll hook it up to my tv. which does have hdmi.

Can I hook it up to a regular computer too?

Okay, just buy an HDMI cable. No need to purchase it online and pay the shipping unless you need to increase the total cost to get free shipping.

You would need an HDMI to VGA adapter, unless your monitor has HDMI.

@RPiAwesomeness Ok. Buy it locally then?

Yes.

@RPiAwesomeness But I guess I could also run it via ssh.

An enclosure is probably worth buying too. So Pi + micro-SD card + enclosure. Is that enough?

Yes, that is another feature, so long as you can connect it to your router via Ethernet or have a WiFi adapter. I quite like that and that's mainly how I run my Pi.

Yes, an enclosure is definitely a good thing, as you don't want to accidentally short-circuit your Pi.

@RPiAwesomeness That should be no problem.

@RPiAwesomeness I saw a nice looking carbon fiber one for around Rs 1500

The PI itself is around 3000.

Maybe overkill, I dunno.

Cases are really up to you. It's not like a power supply or SD card that has higher-lower quality that affects the Pi except maybe ventilation.

adafruit.com/products/501 is a good PSU.

It's what I use.

You said you are planning on using this as an XBMC machine...right?

@RPiAwesomeness Right. Or video player, anyway. There may be no real choice besides XBMC.

RaspBMC is one

But that can be decided later.

@RPiAwesomeness I'm confused. The Pi requires an add-on PSU?

@FaheemMitha The USB plug/cord

sorry if that was confusing.

@RPiAwesomeness Oh, right. Should I get a USB hub, or is that unnecessary?

Do you agree the Pi is better than the BBB for video?

Depends on what you plan to connect/what you plan to do with the Pi? Streaming or video from HDD/USB.

A USB hub is definitely a good thing to have, though, so if you have the cash, I would suggest getting it.

@RPiAwesomeness The latter. I have an external USB drive - WD Passport.

@RPiAwesomeness The Pi has 4 USB ports. Does a hub give any advantage there?

Then definitely get an externally powered hub.

@FaheemMitha Power that you can supply. HDDs take quite a bit of power, which the Pi may not be able to supply via USB.

@RPiAwesomeness Sure

@RPiAwesomeness Hmm, right.

Though a USB port power supply would suffice for that, right?

?

What do you mean by that? For the Pi or for the hub?

@RPiAwesomeness I thought a USB port power supply (like you linked to) and a hub have similar functions.

In that you can hook up the PI to either of them to draw power. I guess the hub has additional USB slots?

You need a USB power supply to provide power to the Pi. You can power the Pi via a hub, but that provides a bunch more wires and bulk to the Pi's setup that you won't need all of the time. I would suggest getting the power supply and the hub.

@RPiAwesomeness Oh, Ok.

You mean, hook the hub to the power supply?

No, I mean power the Pi via the power supply and buy a powered USB hub.

Separate things

@RPiAwesomeness Ok. So, I don't use both the hub and the power supply at the same time, then?

No, you would use the power supply to power the Pi and then connect USB devices through the hub. I only use my USB ports on the Pi for connecting the USB hub to the Pi and then connect all of the USB devices (WiFi, Keyboard, Mouse) into the hub.

You also need to make sure the hub is powered, because otherwise it'll just pull power from the Pi and then you might as well not even have a hub.

@RPiAwesomeness Ok. why not use just the power supply with the Pi and use the Pi USB slots?

Does the hub have builtin wires or something?

@RPiAwesomeness Right, powered hub.

Because HDDs tend to take more power than the Pi can supply.

Even with the new power circuit

@RPiAwesomeness Oh, I see. Hmm, that's good to know.

Thanks, that's very helpful.

So, Pi + micro-SD card + enclosure + USB power supply + powered hub?

Still unclear why the power supply is needed.

If you aren't planning to use an HDD, you don't really need a hub, as the Model B+'s power circuit has increased useable power by ~.5-1A which can be used via the USB.

@FaheemMitha Yes.

As for why the power supply is needed, that's how you would power the Pi.

@RPiAwesomeness Well, I'll be using the WD passport with it. That's the plan, anyway.

Then you do need the hub.

@RPiAwesomeness Right, but the hub is powered. The Pi can't get power through that?

Yes, it can, but if you ever want to use the Pi for something other than media box, you'll want to be able to disconnect the hub and be more independent, with the B+ having 4 usb ports.

@RPiAwesomeness Ah, so the hub would be extra baggage to carry around?

Yes, if you aren't connecting anything that needs a lot of power. Just sec, i gotta plug my laptop in.

and back

@RPiAwesomeness do you reckon the USB power supply + powered hub would be reasonable things to buy locally? They sound pretty generic. Or should I get it from elt14?

@RPiAwesomeness Ok

And as for a micro-wireless keyboard or a remote, are they also things that it is reasonable to buy locally?

You probably could get them locally, just make sure they are from a reputable seller and the specs match. Making sure the power supply is high quality is very crucial, otherwise you risk crashing your Pi and not getting enough power.

@RPiAwesomeness Ok. I guess getting it from element14 might be reasonable. Only thing is that I couldn't get any warranty coverage, but that is probably not that useful, anyway, in India.

The keyboard and remote could also be bought local, yes. They aren't as crucial as the PSU and hub, but still make sure they are good quality.

@RPiAwesomeness Sure.

Another advantage of elt14 is that they will presumably include things that work well with the Pi.

Yes

@ManishEarth hi

@OliverSalzburg hi

This isn't the most active channel, is it?

It was more active a while ago, but several previously active users haven't been active for a while, so no, it isn't :(

Any more questions?

@RPiAwesomeness Hmm, yes.

@RPiAwesomeness No, that was really pretty helpful. Thanks a lot.

How is the site itself doing?

Still in beta?

Yup, still in Beta, but it's doing okay for a site that mainly caters to beginners.

We've got a much more active user base on the site than in chat, I have to say

@RPiAwesomeness It mainly caters to beginners? That's unusual.

But I guess, given the subject matter, not surprising.

Yes, it is, but it's been working okay.

Yes, it makes sense

@RPiAwesomeness That's good. Great, thanks again for your help. If I have further questions, I may post here again. Will you see them/it if I do?

Here, or on the actual site?

@RPiAwesomeness Either or both. Not sure. More likely chat before I get the actual pi. Since shopping type question are OT on SE sites.

If you need help in chat, just ping me, like you've been doing: @RPiAwesomeness

Curious name for the chat - The Bakery. I got you confused with the cookery site. :-)

I'll get a notification and most likely see it relatively quick.

@RPiAwesomeness I'll do that. Thanks again.

If you think about it, it makes sense ... Raspberry Pi - Raspberry Pie...

@RPiAwesomeness I thought people didn't get notifications unless they were already in chat.

@RPiAwesomeness I guess. But it sounds more cookery-like than the actual cooking chat.

Nope. If you ping me, even if I'm not currently in the chat room, I'll get it.

lol

It'll just show up in my inbox on SE

Well, it's called the Frying Pan, so maybe not.

I'm gonna leave and get a screenshot. Ping me shortly after I leave, k?

@RPiAwesomeness Ok, good to know. I'm more on the U&L chat, but I occasionally visit other sites.

@RPiAwesomeness Ok, will do. How long should I wait?

oops. I never actually left :P

Never mind. I can't leave for whatever reason. It doesn't matter all that much :P

@RPiAwesomeness Ok.