The New Raspberry Pi 500+ Has a Constructed-in Mechanical Keyboard
The Raspberry Pi 500 was the primary Pi pc with an built-in keyboard, and now there’s an upgraded mannequin to get enthusiastic about. The brand new Raspberry Pi 500+ has arrived with a higher-quality mechanical keyboard, higher inside {hardware}, and all-important RGB lights.
The primary Raspberry Pi 500 was a easy Pi board constructed right into a keyboard, extra just like the design of the outdated Commodore 64 or BBC Micro. You continue to needed to join a separate show, mouse, and energy provide, however the pc itself (a Raspberry Pi 5) and keyboard had been built-in into one smooth package deal.
The brand new $200 Raspberry Pi 500+ relies on the Raspberry Pi 5, with a 2.4 GHz quad-core Arm Cortex A76 CPU, 16GB RAM, twin 4K show output help with the micro HDMI ports, Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), Bluetooth 5.0, and Gigabit Ethernet. There are three USB ports in whole: two USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0.
The pc has a 256GB SSD contained in the M.2 NVMe slot, with Raspberry Pi OS pre-installed. You may nonetheless use the microSD card slot and USB ports for boot drives if wanted, however the built-in quick storage is appreciated.
The primary improve right here is the keyboard, which is now makes use of Gateron KS–33 Blue switches with a {custom} RAL 7001 Silver Gray stem, as an alternative of the easy membrane keyboard present in earlier fashions. It ought to present a extra satisfying sound and really feel whereas typing, with detachable keycaps and individually-addressable RGB lights.
The weblog put up defined, “Every custom-designed low-profile keycap is spray painted after which laser etched to permit the backlight to shine via the legend. For these of you preferring taller (or simply completely different) keys, Raspberry Pi 500+ is appropriate with most aftermarket keycap units. We offer a key puller to simplify the method of eradicating the usual keys.”
The built-in SSD, higher keyboard, and 16GB RAM makes this a succesful ARM Linux PC, however there are nonetheless a number of unusual compromises. The 2 micro HDMI ports for video output would require most individuals to purchase new cables or adapters. That’s a holdover from the common Raspberry Pi 5, however there’s positively room on this bigger pc for full-size HDMI ports. The dearth of any USB Kind-C ports can also be a bit irritating, although an adapter ought to work for fundamental equipment.
You may buy the Raspberry Pi 5 for $200 from the record of approved retailers, which in the US contains CanaKit, Vilros, PiShop.us, and Micro Center. There’s additionally a $220 Desktop Equipment, which provides a Raspberry Pi-branded mouse and energy provide, a micro HDMI to HDMI adapter, and the Raspberry Pi Newbie’s Information, fifth Version.
Supply: Raspberry Pi
