back to article Jam today: Raspberry Pi Ram doubled

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has upgraded its credit card-sized computer: it now sports 512MB of memory rather than 256MB, but still costs $35 (£22). Foundation founder Eben Upton promised that anyone who has an outstanding order will receive the upgraded board. “Units should start arriving in customers’ hands today, and we …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hmmm

    The lead times for delivery are quite long. Wouldn't be in a hurry to cancel and reorder, if I hadn't got mine through yet. TBH for £22 you can't really complain ...

    1. g e
      Go

      Re: Hmmm

      I saw a tweet from cpc farnell a while back saying they had them in stock and ready for dispatch. cancelled my outstanding RS order and Farnell got one to me the next morning.

      You just have to check with CPC to see if they have stock, can't remember their @twitter (something like @cpc-farnell) but should be easy to find I guess. They do read their @messages.

    2. bluesxman
      WTF?

      Re: Hmmm

      The product is cheap therefore you don't deserve good service from the reseller? Now that's some good logic!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Hmmm

        "The product is cheap therefore you don't deserve good service from the reseller? Now that's some good logic!"

        Please post where anyone in the thread said that. They didn't. I didn't.

        There was a supply issue previously, with a 6 week wait time, due to demand. If you're approaching the start of that queue, going to the back of it again isn't a great option. If they've resolved that issue, and you can cancel and reorder with the bigger memory, and receive it in a similar time, my info is out of date, and yes, do that.

        No'one except you has questioned the retailer's service, and I'm unsure why you have.

        1. bluesxman
          FAIL

          Re: Hmmm

          Read your own post much?

          "TBH for £22 you can't really complain ..."

          Anecdotal evidence indicates that other suppliers are providing the goods in a timely fashion, while RS continues to flounder.

          For £22 you are entitled to complain about shoddy service.

          Hell, for £1 you are entitled to complain.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Hmmm

            You've misunderstood my original point. I meant to suggest if you get one of the original RaspPi boards, rather than one with 512meg, you're still getting a great product. I didn't mention RS at all. I did say there were delivery lead time issues, which I believed applied to all (both) suppliers. If that's not the case, that's news to me, but you've still misunderstood the point i was making. Which I maintain was pretty clear.

            So yes, I read my own posts, but you apparently don't.

    3. Stuart 22
      Megaphone

      Re: Hmmm

      Ordered my 512mb RPi @ 9.50 this morning. Despatch note received @ 11.43 for delivery tomorrow. On past form I expect Farnell to fufil on time.

      I dunno who is the dumber - RS who obviously can't get their act together - or the whingers who complain about RS when they ignore advice to switch their order from other suppliers (not only Farnell) for next day delivery. Yes there was a period of 3 days last week when you could not get an RPi overnight. Now we know why ;-)

      1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

        Re: Hmmm

        Their web site is "rswww.com" that pretty much sums up their level of competence

  2. Neil Hawkins

    Bum...

    I just received mine on Friday!

  3. Roger Greenwood
    Unhappy

    "still awaiting kit from RS Components"

    After 3 months and counting, it better be the latest version when it arrives.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Happy

      Re: "still awaiting kit from RS Components"

      I ordered mine from RS in about April and by late September it still hadn't arrived. Cancelled it and placed an order with CPC on a Friday and the Pi was with me on the Monday.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "still awaiting kit from RS Components"

      They have a thread on the Raspberry Pi forums, you never know they may actually update it...

      http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=19670

  4. JakeyC

    Incremental upgrades

    Where do they draw the line with these little 'upgrades'?

    "I know, it'd be good if there was some sort of graphics chip included"

    "Yeah, and a solid drive to permanently store data"

    "Oooh, and how about we add a keyboard so you can type stuff on it?"

    "We'll need to add a pointing device as well, like a mouse"

    "Definitely - and a screen so you can see what you're doing!"

    "What about sound, let's add a couple of speakers"

    "OK, good idea. We can put it all in a case so it can sit neatly on someone's desk."

    Well done, you just invented the PC!

    1. Rob Beard

      Re: Incremental upgrades

      The thing is, they have kept the price the same as it was before. I'm guessing the memory prices have come down enough that they can do this, or they're ordering enough volume to do this.

      To me it's a bit like when the Speccy got an incremental upgrade going from 16K ram to 48K, apart from the fact in this case it's not really possible to upgrade the memory on existing Pis (well I'm guessing it's not unless you have some pretty specialist equipment at your disposal).

      I don't think they'd go as far as adding solid stage storage, a display etc. If you want that, buy a tablet or PC.

      Rob

    2. JakeyC

      Re: Incremental upgrades

      Oh well it was meant to be a joke but not to worry!

      1. jason 7
        Facepalm

        Re: Incremental upgrades

        Do you ever get the feeling on tech forums that when you make a joke you seem to be in the middle of a Aspergers convention?

        1. Graham Dawson Silver badge
          Thumb Down

          Re: Incremental upgrades

          No, Jason, not really. You see, aspies have a very well developed sense of humour and are not the humourless robots you seem to believe they are, but are in fact human beings just like everyone else.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Incremental upgrades

            Why do people who post 'jokes' on the forum and get severely downvoted always assume it is because people didn't realise they were joking?

            As opposed to people voting/commenting based on the inanity of their sense of humor, for example?

        2. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

          Re: Incremental upgrades

          Shouldn't that be Asperger's convention ?

    3. Pete 2 Silver badge

      Re: Incremental upgrades

      Don't know about incremental upgrades, but you'd kinda hope that someone was working on the Mk2 by now. The RPi foundation has had a load of beta testers for the original board for 6 months or so. The crocs in that design are well known by now and given all the hype the produce is capable of generating a newer version would be a great way to keep it all bubbling.

    4. James 100
      FAIL

      Re: Incremental upgrades

      There *IS* a graphics chip included (how did you think it did the 1080i video decoding, magic?!) - and a keyboard, mouse and monitor, you are expected to buy and connect yourself. Or, indeed, buy a package of all those items along with the RPi from various retailers...

  5. Tim Walker
    Linux

    Better late than never ;-)

    I received one of the early batch of Pi's back in May (having got my order in seconds before RS' server tanked on the opening morning).

    It's actually a pretty good performer - especially since I switched to the "hard float" version of Arch Linux recently - but the one hardware feature* that I think has always hobbled the Pi since I received it, has been the "low" memory" (256MB). There are ways to mitigate this - e.g. I run "lightweight" Linux apps, including the Fluxbox window manager - but you find the RAM filling up pretty quickly - Web browsing can be slow, and I have to enable a temporary swap file if I want to build an Arch software package (e.g. from the AUR).

    I wasn't planning to go for a second Pi, but I feel I'll really have to give it some thought - 512MB could make a real difference to the machine, especially for desktop and multimedia use. Won't carp about "why not 512MB at launch?" - it's pretty clear they couldn't do this earlier, and I'm just grateful to the RPi Foundation for offering the upgrade.

    * I emphasise "hardware" there - the biggest software tweak they could introduce, would be an accelerated X server which could take advantage of the Pi's 2D and 3D graphics hardware. That could take the machine to a whole new level...

    1. James Hughes 1

      Re: Better late than never ;-)

      Accelerated X is underway - engineering time is being spent on it right now. I've guess by Xmas, but that is indeed a guess.

      1. Tim Walker

        Accelerated X server

        Thanks for that info - I keep a weather-eye on the RPi forum, and there's been at least one thread there for some time (maybe more by now) which looks like programmers discussing progress on an accelerated X server, so it seems that people are working on it.

        Whilst I don't have a "mission-critical" application which demands hardware-accelerated X11 graphics on the Pi, it'll be a "really-very-nice-to-have" when the feature comes - the icing on the proverbial cake, as it were...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Better late than never ;-)

      Oh for a second core and built in wifi then it would be ideal.

      1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

        Re: Better late than never ;-)

        How would a second core help uptake in the education market they were built for?

        They explained many times about the difficulty of getting a wifi approved in every country in the world - that's why even you big name laptop actualy has the wifi as a little plugin mini-pci card

  6. Snow Hill Island
    Thumb Up

    Pi and chips

    Oh well, the price for getting a piece of the pi early means that you get a different filling with your pi and chips.

    :-)

    Thumbs up for the previous revision (putting mounting holes in the PCB...) Now I have even less reasons for not buying a second pi.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Lucky me...

    Phew was going to order one on Friday, got sidetracked.. Loaded up Farnell website this morning and notice the 512mb pi's have a different stock code to the 256mb ones. So ordered one of them instead..

  8. Alex-L
    Facepalm

    It's all a lie...

    They haven't actually been invented yet. That's why there is a shipping delay.

    Placed my order on 29th June. As yet. I've had one email to say it has been delayed. Other than that, not a squeak.

    1. MGman

      Re: It's all a lie...

      My one ordered on the 27th June from RS turned up last week. So there is still hope for you!

      I assume mine is a 256Mb one though. :(

    2. Anonymous Coward 15

      The Pi

      is a lie?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: The Pi

        I can only assume your down-voter has never played Portal...

        1. Anonymous Coward 15

          Re: The Pi

          Or they do play Portal and they're sick of the meme being repeated.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I assume the SDRAM is built into the SOC and therefore can't be upgraded (if you're handy with a soldering iron).

    1. Simon Harris

      I believe the RAM is a separate device, but it is mounted underneath the SOC - you'd have to unsolder the SOC to get to the RAM!

      1. Anonymous C0ward

        No, the RAM is on top of the SoC.

        1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

          You can always update it here: http://www.downloadmoreram.com/

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Couldn't care less

    Initially ordered from RS and waited for ages, eventually cancelled. But to be absolutely honest, it gave me time to think. I already have a PC running Linux which has a faster processor, more memory, SSD storage, hdmi output, keyboard, monitor etc. etc. etc.

    Once I realised I was going along with the hype to join the Pi fanbois I came to my senses. I don't actually need, or for that matter want one of these.

    Who cares of Farnell can supply one with more RAM overnight?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Couldn't care less

      Is your PC smaller than a Pi, consume fuck all power and not need a fan? If not, your PC isn't as good.

    2. Graham Dawson Silver badge

      Re: Couldn't care less

      They make absolutely marvellous media things. I have one stuck to the back of the TV running raspbmc, and another running MPD. They don't need to be turned off and they consume virtually no power, especially compared to the PC I previously had running for both reasons.

      And that's not even a particularly creative use for them. I've got plans for all sorts of nifty things to do with them.

      1. doveman

        Re: Couldn't care less

        I thought of using one as a media machine but as I currently use my PC for that and it has a TV tuner, I'd need that on to watch/record TV and indeed to make the media files on the HDD available to the Pi.

        I have looked at getting a NAS to store the media files but they seem to be so darn expensive and then of course I'd also need to buy another HDD to go in it.

        The other thing I'd love to do with them is use them as terminals to Remote Desktop into a Windows box, replacing two old, noisy and no doubt power-hungry PII boxes which are currently filling that role. Unfortunately, they're both running VGA LCD monitors so until those die and they're replaced with DVI/HDMI ones (the owners can't afford to just buy a new monitor when what they already have does the job) that plan is on hold. That might work better once the accelerated X11 driver is ready anyway.

  11. Dapprman

    Is there a way of telling which version you have ?

    I don't mean memory wise, but all the other tweaks and upgrades they've done. Mine finally arrived last Thursday (was in no hurry so never noticed I could have cancelled my my RS Components order and got near next day from Farnell), but I've no initial clues as to whether it is 9or was last Thursday) the latest and greatest version, or if it was just old stock and RS Components were being slow.

    1. Refugee from Windows
      Thumb Up

      Re: Is there a way of telling which version you have ?

      Kinda easy - if has two mounting holes and "Made in the UK" near the power connector it's a new one.

    2. Adrian Taylor
      Boffin

      Re: Is there a way of telling which version you have ?

      cat /proc/cpuinfo

      should give you the revision number

      Model B Revision 1.0 2

      Model B Revision 1.0 + ECN0001 (no fuses, D14 removed) 3

      Model B Revision 2.0 4, 5, 6

      Model B Revision 2.0 (512 MB) 13, 14, 15

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Maplin's 4000 customers all got theirs on time... :)

  13. Andus McCoatover
    Windows

    YEEE-fuc*king-HAAA!

    Half a gig? I'm soooo glad I ordered mine from RS instead of Farnell. Twice the computer for the same cost? Delay definitely worth it, considering what I have in mind for it (and the other 63 I've in mind*) Phoah, I think I died and went to heaven! Only thing I'm now dreading is a letter in the post, telling me it's now available for collection from the Post Office (Posti)...If I got a few more weeks' delay, God only knows what I'll receive! XBox? Christ, noooooo!!!!

    *http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/12/raspberry_pi_supercomputer/

  14. This post has been deleted by its author

  15. b166er

    I ordered mine from CPC on the back of the news that they're assembled in the UK.

    I got one that wasn't :/

    Wish I'd waited a little longer now for this memory upgrade.

    Still, it's got my 12 year old using BASH and Python and it's only £22 for another one!

  16. Justin Pasher
    Trollface

    RAM increase for the same price?

    Hmmm. I wonder if another fruit-based device manufacturer would argue that you just *cannot do that*.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    But..

    Will it play Crysis yet?

    AC/DC

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    One Week Delivery Time

    Just my experience...

    Placed my order with Farnell on Oct 8th, quoted a delivery date at the end of Oct. It arrived this morning (Oct 15th) by Royal Mail, complete with 512M.

  19. Paul 77
    Go

    Hmmm, well after months mine was despatched from RS on the 9th... Not seen it yet as I'm at sea, but I'm now hoping it will be a new one...

  20. Thomas Kenyon

    Don't hold your breath, mine finally came around the same time.

    CPC have the new model in stock and the price includes shipping (makes it £1 cheaper than RS last I checked).

    They also do a QTY discount.

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