Tutorial on How to Create a Media Centre With as Little as £25

We’ve looked at how you can use almost any gadget to make your TV into a smart TV, but today we’re looking at how you can use the very cheapest one to get top notch online video playing right back on the big screen in your living room: the humble £25 Raspberry Pi. And it couldn’t be easier – read on to find out how it’s done.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been running a series of gadget tutorials, showing you how to pull off useful tech tricks like adding voice control to your car, or hooking up your game controller to your smartphone. Now, we’re bringing you smart TV skills on the smallest budget possible. Here’s how it’s done.

Get a Raspberry Pi

First thing’s first, you’ll need one of these clever little computers made in the UK. You can order them from here – it’s the £25.92 Model B version you want, as the cheaper Model A lacks an internet connection. If you’re feeling flush, you can even order a case for it – some of the £5.99 numbers over at ModMyPi are excellent. When you’re done, it’s time to get to work.

Prep the Pi and the software

To make the Raspberry Pi into a media centre, we’re going to use XBMC, the free, superb suite for almost every device under the sun – including the Pi. Head over to the Raspbmc website, and you can download a special version built specifically for it. When it’s done, plug in an 8GB or higher SD card to your Mac or PC, and run the installer – it’ll do the rest.

Now, it’s time to set up your Pi. Before turning it on, plug it into your router with an Ethernet cable, and when it’s ready put the SD card in. Then give the Pi power by plugging in a micro USB charger (like you use for your phone). It’ll start installing Raspbmc, so just leave it to do its thing.

Finetune everything

Now you’re ready to start tweaking XBMC to your heart’s content – which is what XBMC is all about, really. When it’s booted up, just plug in a USB keyboard and mouse (One of these remotes, such as the Xbox DVD remote, will also work nicely) and dive in. If you don’t like the skin, you can change it. Regardless, you should hit up Settings>>System>>Video Output and switch to 720p resolution so everything plays nice (though your TV is probably full HD, the Raspberry Pi can only muster 720p visuals, which is still pretty sharp).

Open up your media

Now it’s time to start playing. If you like, you can plonk videos, pictures and music files onto a USB stick and start playing them on your TV, or you can stream them from your computer. Just go to Videos, Picture or Music, then File>>Add File and pick a connected computer with a shared folder to get them from. XBMC does its best to pull down cover art and meta-data for everything, so it’ll look like one well-stocked, easy to use library.

Take it further

The beauty of XBMC is in its add-ons. Hit the list and you can find plug-ins to connect up all sorts of internet video repositories, like YouTube and Vimeo. They’re not in the main list, but dig a little deeper, and you can even add all the major UK catch-up services to your Raspberry Pi – just follow the steps here and you’ll soon be in on-demand heaven.

Unfortunately, the one thing you won’t be able to add so easily is Netflix due to DRM restrictions on Linux (The software the Raspberry Pi runs – the cheapest and best Netflix option remains the £49.99 Roku LT). But hey, you’ve just saved anything from £25 to several hundred, and added internet video to your TV. Not bad, eh?

Got any other tips for making a super cheap media centre? Share them in the comments below! [Source]

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Are Raspberry Pi's Cost, Really Worth it? We're Starting to Wonder...

As the Raspberry Pi craze sweeps the internet, you might have found yourself wanting to purchase the little computer to see what projects you can use it for. You may have thought to yourself that even if you can’t think of a nifty project, who cares, because the higher-end Model B is only $35. However, is it really that cheap when all is said and done?

I recently ordered my first Raspberry Pi. I could never figure out what to do with it, but have wanted one simply because it’s a cheap, intriguing little computer. While waiting for the delivery over the past few days, I began browsing through project ideas, which in turn led me to RasPi accessories. I bought a case — a Pibow — which I’ve always wanted more than the Raspberry Pi itself, and Pi requires a microUSB power cable, so I bought that as well. Now, my $35 Pi purchase is already 0ver $65, including shipping costs. That’s still affordable, but it got me thinking: If you wanted to build a proper computer from scratch using a Raspberry Pi, exactly how much would it cost in the end? For what is touted as the $25 (or $35) computer, the answer might surprise you.

The goal here is not to rely on parts you may have lying around the house. You might have all sorts of gear in the attic, but not everyone does. And a school or business that is buying multiple RasPis almost certainly doesn’t have enough displays, keyboards, power supplies, and WiFi dongles lying around.

Here’s what’s necessary:

•   Raspberry Pi, Model B: $35. For tinkerers there is no reason to buy one of the $25 units when the $35 model is available.

•   Pibow case: $20. The most popular case for the Pi.

•   MicroUSB 5V power cable, at least 700mA: $5. You can find these pretty easily from Newegg or Amazon.

•   USB keyboard and mouse: $15

•   HDMI monitor: $120. Like when building any computer, the price skyrockets when you realize you need a monitor. You’ll likely want to take advantage of the RasPi’s HDMI port, and want a widescreen monitor. You can hunt around for a cheaper deal, but $120 is about average for a smallish LCD with HDMI.

•   HDMI cable: $3. If you don’t care about brand, you can snag a gold-tipped HDMI cable for pretty cheap nowadays.

•   SD card: $7. The Pi uses an SD card as its only storage device. You can get away with a 4GB card, so no need to spend too much.

•   Ethernet cord: $6.

Speakers: $12. This will get you some cheap Logitech speakers.

So, with everything you need to get a Raspberry Pi up and running, it’ll cost you $91 without an HDMI-capable monitor. With an HDMI monitor at an average price, it’ll cost you $211. With speakers, you’ll have to invest at least $223 for a rather modest computer system.

If you want to add some unnecessary, but ultimately useful pieces there are other components to consider. With a larger SD card, say a 32GB unit, you’ll have to spend another $20. Want WiFi? A USB dongle will cost around $12, but then you’ll be blocking one of the two precious USB ports, so you’ll need to add on the price of a USB hub and perhaps a stronger power supply. At that point, we’re already over $250 for a 700MHz computer with 512MB of RAM. With shipping costs, you’re potentially ramping the total up to around $300. I live in the US, and the Pi and Pibow alone added up to a little over $20 shipping.

For comparison, a brand new Samsung Chromebook will cost you $325, whereas an older one will cost you $249. Acer’s C7 Chromebook sells for just $199. At around $400, you can start looking into some decently powerful, name-brand laptops, such as a Lenovo G580 with a 2.4GHz Core i3 chip, 4GB RAM, and 500GB of storage.

If you happen to have most of the components lying around, including a monitor with HDMI, the Raspberry Pi will only cost you the $25 or $35 depending on the model, and a $10 case or so. Of course, you can bargain hunt and try your very best to stay below $100, but the monitor will still prove a tricky situation, with the cheapest we’ve seen (without too much hunting, to be fair) being this $89 Asus on Amazon.

So, while a very tiny $35 computer is a great deal, the price can quickly approach that of much more powerful machines. Granted, the Pi is intended as more of a project board than as a standard computer, but in most cases, the project is going to require extra parts, and those cost money. [ExtremeTech]

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