Argon One M.2 Raspberry Pi 4 Case

[@piconano]

My first computer was an IBM PC I put together out of parts I was supposed to send back to IBM, working as an IBM field technician back in 1984. The motherboard alone cost $1500 to buy as a part, so I did component level repairs on things I needed, until I built a system. Something one can't do today. One look at today's motherboard, and one will faint at the thought of repairing it! Now, one can buy a RPi 4 for under $100 that is 400+ times faster (1600 times with 4 cores), and has 500,000+ times the RAM of an original IBM PC! How far and fast we have come! Amazing times.

[@ExplainingComputers]

:)

[@waltercomunello121]

"one will faint at the thought of repairing it!" oh I agree so much. especially if there are no public schematics.

[@ElmerFuddGun]

@@waltercomunello121 - Or if the manufacture refuses to sell OEM specific components trying to force you to just buy a new computer. _ie. _*_Apple_*

[@frankenberry9670]

My first PC was an Apple II+ clone. A friend of mine had access to a wave solder machine so we bought the board and parts, got it soldered and went on from there. When I retired the machine it had a Rana 4 drive controller with a total of 512KB of possible floppy disk storage, if you notched the floppys and flipped some of them over by hand. At one point I nearly bought a hard disk for the thing for $2,000 because who would want more than an astounding 5 megabytes of high speed storage? You tell that to kids today and they just don't believe you ;-). The current machines are way more powerful, astoundingly fast, fantastically more convenient and no where near as bug eyed, "think what I can do with this thing" exciting. Yin meet Yang.

[@Sharp931]

Then everything computer related (hw&sw) cost a fortune.

[@butters_147]

This is the perfect box to replace my 12 year old Linux box. I love the adaptor for the full size HDMI ports. The M.2 drive just puts the icing on the cake. Thanks as always Chris. You're a gentleman and I could listen to your videos all day.

[@MrTasic]

It's nice to see vendor taking into consideration criticism as they put regular HDMI sockets in contrast with the previous version of the product

[@ExplainingComputers]

Yes, agreed.

[@jayknight850]

The Argon 1 M.2 has made the perfect case for OpenCPN on my sailboat. Robust, integrated, compact, and should help the Pi survive in the marine environment. Great review, as always!

[@darlakim5120]

Excellent review as usual...I very much enjoy your series. Three additional thoughts: 1. Running the RPi without the GPIO cover significantly improves cooling...that might be an interesting metric to add to your table. 2. The Argon One's power port frees up the RPi's original USC-C port !!! Unbeknownst to many, this port is also capable of passing data as well as power delivery ( the Argon One's USB-C is only capable of power delivery). I modified my case to connect an Apple iPadPro OEM cable USB-C cable to this connector, and can directly power and connect to the RPi via SSH or XRDP from my iPadPro while on the road. I have full access to my programming environments (command-line, Python, Jupyter Hub, etc.) as well as RPi desktop accessible from the iPadPro ( I don't own / need a tradition laptop anymore ;-) ). 3. Argon sells just the M.2 bottom-half of the case to upgrade the original Argone One for about $25 USD. -Thanks! -d

[@SchoolforHackers]

Thank you! Point 2 is especially big: I was disappointed to get down to just one usb 3 port.

[@deviationblue]

Yay, my favourite computing channel did a video on my pi case! I bought the Argon One M.2 in November and it has served me very well.

[@gronderfulBreaks]

You know u made it.

[@MartinBgelund]

I'm quite happy with my Argon One (non-M.2) case. It gets quite warm during operation, meaning it does a good job at pulling the heat off of the Pi's IC's.

[@ElmerFuddGun]

The glittery silver grey paint finish reminds me of the early *_TRS-80_* computers!

[@stephenhookings1985]

Man I wanted one of those so bad but they were hard to come by in UK. Settled for Atari and never looked back. But TRS (and some Sharp clone?) Looked the business.

[@billfusionenterprise]

time to make a retro station?

[@ElmerFuddGun]

@@stephenhookings1985 - I liked it and learned to program on one. BASIC and Assembler. TRS-80s were used well past their prime on TV shows. Remember the Seinfeld episode with the car rental company that didn't know how to hold a reservation?

[@FritzPinguin]

My first computer was a TRS-80 Model I, Level II Basic, 4 kB of RAM. Those were the days, my friend ...

[@billfusionenterprise]

@@FritzPinguin mine was the c64

[@eddiehughes2136]

I bought several of these cases for a project after watching your review, Chris. I added a heatsink with thermal adhesive pad to the top of the case for each one, and it dropped the temperatures down a few degrees cooler than your test results. It doesn't look as nice, but it is performing very well on 8GB Raspberry Pi 4's with Ubuntu and with Raspberry Pi OS (32-bit, Buster).

[@lawrenceallwright7041]

1:25 "Oh, there's an instruction leaflet in here, that's always good to have." (Tosses it aside like a true pro.)

[@g00gleminus96]

The oldest axiom in personal computers is: "If all else fails, read the manual."

[@Texas1FlyBoy]

@@g00gleminus96 RTFM - Read The Fine Manual (substitute favorite expletive for Fine, if desired). :)

[@alextrotta796]

I actually bought one of these (with the M.2 upgrade) about a month or so ago to house my new Pi-based NAS. I really love it, it's quite solid in its construction!

[@AskaLangly]

I got two. One for my Retropie build and one for my dedicated Minecraft server. Both got 250GB Samsung 860s. Love this kit. Thank you for showing it off for the rest of the world to see.

[@ikeyasector]

This is why I love your videos. You introduce not only new SBCs, but really good multi-function cases and accessories for them. Most of the time I'm writing things down for consideration of maybe buying something you showcased in the near future. I love this stuff. :)

[@TheSulross]

really like how they devised a daughterboard to bring out the micro HDMI to conventional connector sizes - and the SSD USB connector was interesting as makes it simple to quickly take the SSD out of the picture for special project use cases of the Pi

[@arthurdent8091]

Hi Chris, a belated Towel Day greetings to you. I just bought a Baofeng Tri-band radio for about $35 here and it seems to be performing quite well soo far. I also took this opportunity to get out my Ailunce HD-1 and begin to program it. I bought it shortly before getting sick so now I decided is the time. I also had a very nice surprise and discovered that if I downloaded a certain driver the memory locations DOUBLE without the need to send into a shop. And to top it all off I downloaded several codeplugs that hope to have installed before the summer is over. All I can say is THANK YOU Ailunce!! You never mentioned, that I recall, if you said you were a Ham or not. I find that it is good to have several ways to make contact with the rest of the world in an emergency. Just a brief story to illustrate my point, some years ago when mobile phones were new a local fire chief held aloft his shiny new mobile and pronounce to all of the surrounding Hams, that he felt that hams had become redundant. Naturally, the hams had two unvoiced opinions, one - "I've heard that before" and "We will see." One of the chief hams knew the area and sly challenged him to make a contact right now. The fireman fired it up and got NO bars, not even static. The chief ham knew that they were standing in an rf "Black Hole". He then proceeded to make an effortless contact to another ham, who was standing by some miles away in crystal clear audio. "Civilians" have no concept of such things while Hams do. The ham left him with two parting thoughts, 1- That Amateur radios death has been predicted many times before, and 2- Good luck with his new toy. and walked away trying to stifle a laughing fit with some of the other hams present. I'm a bit wordy but I didn't have the time to make it any shorter. 73

[@Firespirit707]

I use this case for 3 month and this is the best case I ever had for my NAS. I'm thinking about buy another one for building a gaming console.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Great feedback, thanks for sharing here.

[@KryptoKiddi]

I think the biggest selling point is the design! I love the look of it and the easy access/assembly!

[@harrkev]

Except that they block access to the sd slot. BIG mistake. If you need to reinstall the OS, it would be nice if you didn't need a screwdriver. I got around this with a USB 3 to micro-SD adapter, but that is clunky.

[@paladingeorge6098]

I still love what you did for your "Ultimate raspberry Pi" video but this one is going to be my ultimate raspberry pi!

[@sbc_tinkerer]

Full size HDMI… SOLD!!! Also love how you always add screws diagonally for torsion control.

[@StephanLeclercq]

Unless you already BOUGHT mini-hdmi cables :-)

[@johnm2012]

@@StephanLeclercq micro

[@scality4309]

Did you ever change a tire?

[@sbc_tinkerer]

@@scality4309 Never. but I have changed the whole wheel.

[@rickieodem488]

I built one of these using Pi4 4GB, WD 250GB SSD, and put in a 256GB MicroSD because I had a spare. Bought the $10 remote control too. The best things about the case are that all the connectors go in the back, full-size HDMI, and neatness of the overall case. It sits in my office as a media hub and DVR, using a $12 cheapo HDMI/USB video capture dongle that actually gives great performance for my purposes.

[@cyberhard]

Can the remote power the rpi on?

[@stressedbunny]

Argon One have released a M.2 Expansion board for the original Argon One, £18

[@C0MPUTERPHILE]

They're also selling the non-M.2 version with fullsize HDMI ports now

[@JustinEmlay]

Love this case and the M.2 drive is screaming fast! The best thing is, even with Pi Hole running 24/7 the fan never comes on. And it's also very nice having the unit turn on automatically after a power outage. I always forgot about it and would scratch my head when the internet didn't come back after a reasonable amount of time.

[@cleanycloth]

Considering everything this case has, the price is actually pretty amazing!

[@msthalamus2172]

You had me at "All the connectors are on the back"! Trying to arrange several Pis in anything other than a stack is normally a messy endeavor! :)

[@Flymochairman1]

I am a railway muddler. It's way past time I got a Pi or two. Great video as ever; concise, to the point and clear. Cheers Chris! Keep Well, sir.

[@NewAgeDIY]

Thanks Chris, you made your case for this case! I love the design it’s a easy build for anyone. 👍🏼

[@OwtDaftUK]

I love the Pi computer idea. Computers can be very expensive and so any computer made to be cheap gets a thumb up for me.

[@billfusionenterprise]

you could get a used one, got 2 laptops for 20 each and 2 towers for 10 each

[@ninline2000]

@@billfusionenterprise I got a nice Core2Duo tower that was sitting by the road. I was just going to strip it but I decided to see if it would boot. I fired it up and it booted into Win 7. The guy still had all his stuff on it, emails and pix and all. Idiot. I wiped it and installed Linux on it and it ran pretty good. It was about the same speed as a Pi 4 overclocked. When I saw that, I stripped it for parts and chunked it out by the road for the garbage people to pick up.

[@billfusionenterprise]

@@ninline2000 i5 in one laptop and in one tower. plus there are more thing you could do with a tower. And look at retro community who loved 486 and less powerful

[@billfusionenterprise]

@@DejanTesic depends, got better deals local

[@ninline2000]

I've got an i7 tower with an Nvidia 750 TI card in it. For 90% of what I do, the Pi4 is what I use. When I need more power I boot that up. I hardly ever need it anymore so I save electricity.

[@mlgreenspan1760]

This is just about the Ultimate case for the RPI 4 - my only (almost too minor) comment is to take the door off the top that covers the GPIO PINS OUT I noticed a 2-3 degree drop in temp from doing this, as I think it helps increases airflow. Bought a RPI 4 about 2 months ago and love it - used this case to go from the 32 GB micro SD card to a 128GB SSD. This case might seem expensive but it's worth it and it looks sharp. Great video!

[@ElmerFuddGun]

That loop back USB to USB is such a kludge to get a USB HD/SSD connected. - 8:56 It has to be exactly that spacing and the Pi is the only use for one.

[@stephenhookings1985]

I had the shave the top of it off to allow USB cable to fit into slot above it. Else it was putting too much strain on the socket. Bad design.

[@ElmerFuddGun]

@@stephenhookings1985 - Oh, wow. Ya, it does look pretty high. I'm a bit surprised because the rest of the case seems well designed and fitted.

[@VulpisFoxfire]

Well, considering that the mount for the m.2 drive is fundamentally the same as an external drive adapter...upside is that you're able to mount the m.2 drive, downside is that you're accessing it at USB 3 speeds, and taking up one of the USB 3 ports in the process.

[@Arachnoid_of_the_underverse]

Its a similar functional design to the one supplied with the CD drive on my Lenovo m93 micro PC.

[@Urugami45]

That's what I thought too; What a jinky way to connect the SSD. But I'm sure they're just working with what they've been given. Maybe a 'C' Pi4 variant will have native capability to connect to an SSD?

[@kevflanagan2500]

Still loving your videos. No fakeness. Always professional. Thanks Chris.

[@paullandry6573]

Good to see Stanley the Knife again. And, as always another excellent video.

[@loginregional]

@@markpavlowski7223 Mackie Messer wound up making millions... Und der Haifisch! der hat Zahne...

[@KameraShy]

@@markpavlowski7223 Mack is my knife, busy doing dastardly deeds.

[@theguardian8317]

I wonder if when Stanley was a baby he liked eating Gerber

[@Sonaga]

I use this case for several months now and I'm very pleased with it. Though I must point out that if you have a complete new Rasperry Pi4, you have to make a Firmware update first, before you can boot from a SSD.

[@chrisg6597]

One thing that is really useful to have with one of these cases is a USB3 A plug to A plug cable. This allows a PC to be connected directly to the bottom USB3 connector (SSD) on the Argon One. This allows setting up the SSD in situ.

[@stephenhookings1985]

And better to use than the supplied dongle - that seems to contribute to WiFi interference.

[@SlowMenThinking]

Very cool case. My ultimate Pi project. is a 8Gb with the armored heatsink fan case very much like yours with fans, A SSD that has the same foot print as the raspberry pi and a flat usb a to c cable that zigzags from the front to the back through the case, a little bit of heat insulation padding between heatsink case and SSD and two cable ties that make a good rubber feet substitute... Running the beta of 64 bit raspbian as a little media server/streamer/NAS I would seriously consider the case If I was building again...

[@Ollital]

The assembly of this case is so easy that I could do it single handed on my own in a few minutes. I love it.

[@Tuulos]

Argon actually sells a conversion kit separately so if you have the older Argon One case you can simply convert it to M.2 case using it.

[@njbair]

I recently bought this kit for my v1 case. It worked just fine but I still don't have those nice full-size HDMI ports. I'm using it for my headless proxy server and I bought a v2 with full-size ports to use for retropie.

[@ernestgalvan9037]

@@njbair .. yes, nice kit to let you update a V1 to SATA, but as you say, missing full-size HDMI, and the IR receiver and Fan Jumper. I purchased it to upgrade one of my V1 cases to give to my sister.. a wireless Logitech mouse/keyboard, a 32” 1080HD TV that a friend gave her, and she’s happy with it… simple web-surfing, email and light typing…perfect.

[@Sidecutter]

Looks like they could add a couple very nice features pretty easily. Extend the SD card slot out slightly and give you a slot to use it on the case, and flip the M2 socket onto the bottom of the board, with a hatch in the case bottom for easy access. If they could find a way to jumper the USB3 connection internally as well so you don't use up a port for the connection, this would be about the best case out there.

[@moaliyt]

Extensive and to the point reviews. No unnecessary, feigned excitement or theatricals as Linus who had binged on sugar candy. Subscribed!

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks -- and welcome aboard!

[@HKey_Root]

Most interesting as ever. I'm so pleased you didn't video the tearing apart of the 'Ultimate Raspberry Pi 4 Rig'. I couldn't have coped. A sad day.

[@ExplainingComputers]

The ultimate rig has gone back together . . . I still like it as my 8GB Pi setup. :)

[@bobwong8268]

@@ExplainingComputers 👍👍👍👍👍Yey!

[@VideosfromNH]

I think this is the first time I bought something just before your video came out on the same item. I'm very surprised at the bad reviews left in the comments. My impressions are down below. I bought the Pi4 and Argon case to run JMRI on my model railroad. I bought the Argon One M.2 for the SSD and full size HDMI interfaces. I set up the Pi with SD card and SSD connected. Booted from SD card, did all upgrades, then used SD card copier. Took out the SD card and booted from SSD. Works great on two monitors. WiFi: I use the Pi in the basement, the router is on the first floor. Looks to be working properly. Occasionally, when browsing the web, the Pi looks to take a bit of time but I don't know if it's the WiFi signal, or the speed of the Pi. Temperature: I used the thermal pads. I set up the scripts to run the fan at default 50, 55, 60 degrees C at 10, 55, 100%. The Pi is in the basement which is cool 50's degrees F. So far for what I'm currently using it for, the Pi has not gone above 42 degrees C. If I put my hand on the case, it feels very warm. Makes a nice hand warmer. I have not stressed out the Pi in this case, but am glad to see what Chris used to do so. I will be doing this as well as a sanity check for me to know that the Pi is running as it should. I will also rerun the config script to run the fan continuously and see how it runs or how loud it runs.

[@grigoris.7732]

You, sir, are the source of my computer literacy, and I can't thank you enough.

[@deechvogt1589]

Yep have the original Argon 1 case. Still need to upgrade to this model with the full size HDMI. Thanks for another video and as always, cheers and stay well.

[@sid_gm1949]

Argon one seems impressive, however "cooling tower" looks cool .

[@ExplainingComputers]

Yes, I would totally agree!

[@lastinline1958]

I used one for a while. Highly effective, but I wanted to streamline my system.

[@pyramis47]

To be honest, cooling towers look too flashy and are pretty bulky and overkill for something like the Pi, I'd rather have a gray box on my desk

[@ernestgalvan9037]

Absolutely look cool… and as the cooling temperature tests showed, they are great at cooling the Pi.. Lowest temp 29C vs 38C Highest temp 35C vs 49C But, the smaller, fully enclosed Argon, with all wires/cables in the back, and IR receiver is SO nice.

[@MC_DesmondSparrs]

Im using the first version of this case for my Pi 4b since my shitty Pimoroni fan stopped working then it just broke. Best case ever! I can run it over locked at 2000mhz all day long and the fan doesn't need to actually go on, altho it becomes much cooler, but that fan is so noisy. I havent used my Pi 4 in a long time tho. Wow this new case has full sized HDMI-ports!I almost wanna get this one just cause of that because micro-hdmi gets worn out and crap out very fast for me. I hate them. I would need a new Pi 4 tho to use this new Argon one case because I broke one of my USB3-ports on mine

[@RyanGonTV]

This makes Sunday’s even better…

[@ExplainingComputers]

:)

[@amx3000]

Always!

[@MansakeLabsOfficial]

Who is Sunday?

[@MansakeLabsOfficial]

@@tb9359 I was making fun of the apostrophe you put on "Sundays".

[@lastinline1958]

Thanks C. Been using this case for a while now. Can't say enough about how great it is. My Rpi 4 4GB in this case running Twister is my main system, now. My only knock against it is that I needed an external wifi to get any reception with it. I use ethernet, now with no issues.

[@GreenRecon]

From steampunk to cyberpunk - another excellent video.

[@smartassist9700]

Argon has stepped up bigger on cases! Awesome!

[@johnmartin1555]

Crazy concept for a video. I just moved to Florida and bought an old uninsulated house. Florida is warm and humid in the summer. And I would like to protect cameras and stuff from humidity. I have one room that has a small window air conditioner. I would like to build a unit that would control the airconditioner and a fan to pull exterior air into the room. So what is needed is a device to control an electrical plug that also analyzes indoor/outdoor/ambient temp and humidity. Logic is straightforward but I have no knowledge of current technology to control power to an electrical outlet. The device I am pondering is a solenoid/relay. Also a screen that shows measurements and targets. A way to adjust targets easily.

[@skoolspirit1476]

People use these types of devices to accomplish things similar to what you describe and many have documented it on KZbin. Greenhouse control, watering plants, etc. I use a Pi Zero, a relay, and open source software to control my underground sprinklers for instance; and (possibly) in future, greenhouse automation. I would suggest you may like to look at ChilliChumps Beginners Guide to Automation - kzbin.info/aero/PLuQ_ySnkV1elVl8hCvmYyEzjs_vxEIsxu for some of what you describe, as the scope may be more than Chris wishes to tackle as a project.

[@fredflintstone8048]

Nice case. I 'rolled my own' mounting a pi 4 and 2.5" form factor SSD inside a case for Home assistant. I also had the idea to use solid aluminum stock (1/2" X 1/2", two of them) to come in contact with the CPU and ram chip and carry that heat out to the all aluminum case. I'm not using any fan. Only the mass of the bar stock and the exterior of the case to carry away the heat. I'm also using a bulkhead type ethernet connector that has punch down connects and a very short cat 6 to get my ethernet connection out. The only penetrations in the case are the ethernet connector, 5vdc power supply to the pi board, and I cut a slot just for convenience for the sd card just in case I need to use one and as such won't have to open the case to access it. There are two board slide rails inside the case and I have internal copper clad board that I used to mount everything. the only screws that are outside the case are the stock end plate mounting screws, and two bevel head screws I use to mount the 1/2" x 1/2" barstock solidly to the case for good heat transfer. The case that I chose: www.amazon.com/dp/B07KYDVH4T?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details The SSD cable that I chose that fits in the box nicely and is fully compatible with the pi (Linux compatible): www.amazon.com/dp/B07Y825SB8?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details Ethernet connector: www.amazon.com/dp/B07JZFWB1X?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details All together I have about $30 dollars invested in hardware for a case and a few hours labor, although I have the time and enjoy these kinds of project, but really for the time and labor involved in rolling your own solution I think that the Argon case is well worth the money. It's an eloquent solution.

[@mushfiqurrahman7416]

Your Videos look like 20 years old. That's why I like them.

[@minigpracing3068]

This is pretty neat, I might need to get one for an application I have. I wish there were more cases that brought all of the connections out the back.

[@SuperHaunts]

A *most excellent* find ... thanks for introducing this to the world!

[@billfusionenterprise]

there was an earier design but this added the m.2

[@billfusionenterprise]

@AstroCat a company that cares? that is strange

[@rogerkoh1979]

It is a nice Case . Have been using it for three months.Temperature is well control.

[@epsileth]

Bought the original case when pi 4 came out, glad the lower m.2 part is sold separately. 😁

[@jfan4reva]

You're still stuck with the mini-HDMI connectors, but, yeah, I was glad to see that I could add M.2 after buying an Argon One before the M.2 came out.

[@TheOleHermit]

@@jfan4reva Oh well. Yeah, mini-HDMI sucks, so I suggest avoiding connecting/disconnecting the mini-HDMI ports and use the inline connectors on the adapter cables. ;-)

[@BradClarke]

@@jfan4reva they've released a V2 of the original case with full size HDMI connectors.

[@plutoniumshore]

Ive got one of those older argon cases...but I absolutely love it.

[@C0MPUTERPHILE]

They sell the M.2 board as a standalone upgrade (and they also sell the non-M.2 version with some upgrades, like fullsize HDMI)

[@tonymurphy30]

A round of applause for Stanley the knife please....

[@fmlazar]

Word is that EC is going to be bumped and Stanley's getting his own dare I say.... cutting edge... podcast.

[@klauskugelmann7719]

Stanley deserves it. Just remember, his cousin Mack is famous in show business since 93 years now!

[@billfusionenterprise]

Finally someone has mad a case that both fixes stupid design flaws (micro HDMI and cooling) and makes the Pi useful

[@BradClarke]

There currently is one issue with the m.2 case related to 2.4 gHz wi-fi signals. You can force it to use a 5 gHz connection by specifying the bssid of the nearest access point in the wifi configuration.

[@chriholt]

Wow Chris, that is a VERY impressive case. If I were ever to use a Raspberry Pi as a daily driver, that's the case I would get. Thanks for the (as always) great review.

[@Andrei424M]

If there is one thing I love doing on Raspberry is installing a minimal Raspbian and then adding software manually and custom GUI. And Performance is assured. Just an idea. The case is really nice, though.

[@TheOleHermit]

Yes, I'm booting from a USB3/uSD adapter, running any distro I like. I download all my github apps and data onto the SSD, then install them off line from my local repositories onto the vanilla distro that was flashed onto the uSD (assuming it is USB bootable).

[@jfan4reva]

One reason I bought the Argon One M.2 case was to build a Pi NAS. I was going to do the usual "rats nest" Pi set up with cables running all over and external an SSD, but before I could, I saw the Argon One M.2. I did the math, and for my application the cost of all the hardware was almost the same, and the M.2 eliminated the cable clutter and compatibility uncertainty, so I went with the Argon One M.2. No hardware problems whatsoever! Configuring the software was the biggest hassle. While this may be the most expensive Raspberry Pi case available, it's also the neatest and best looking. Having the SD card sealed inside the case may be a minor hassle, but having destroyed an SD card because it was sticking out when I removed the stock bottom cover of an original Argon One case (tip: don't bend an SD card), I consider this to be a 'feature'. Booting from an SSD is easy these days, so a small slow SD card is becoming unnecessary. Thanks for the video!

[@TheOleHermit]

Ditto! FYI, I'm using the SSD for storage only and booting/running from the top USB3.0 port using an uSD adapter. It's not quite as fast as the SSD, but much faster than uSD. This way, I can backup, swap, and test different system uSD's whenever, without disturbing my data libraries and local repositories. Just pop in a vanilla OS and locally install the apps. ;-)

[@sagetechnology4913]

Idk why, but I stopped receiving notifications from your channel for maybe a month, glad to be back.

[@ExplainingComputers]

I'm glad you are back too! :)

[@sagetechnology4913]

@@ExplainingComputers :)

[@TheOleHermit]

For some unknown reason, over the past month, YT keeps randomly logging me out, which stops all notifications. Very annoying, indeed.

[@sipofsunkist9016]

i adore the little usb bridge

[@seguramlk]

That second thermal pad triggered my OCD lol. Awesome video again my friend 👍

[@GuitarreroDaniel]

Just got mine and assembled along you. Thank you very much, this is such a good looking case!

[@ExplainingComputers]

Great to hear!

[@martinkuhk]

I hope they can re-route the CSI connector as well. Overclocking the Pi with this case and using an SSD definitely help when doing computer vision projects.

[@debr961]

I got this case a while ago. I love it. Kinda reminds me of Tesla's cybertruck aesthetic wise.

[@alexmcd378]

Just found out they released an adapter to add m.2 to the original Argon one. Nice!

[@mariopojoy]

Yeah, but be careful... It must contain the 2.2 version of the board, that one fixes the WiFi problems of the original version, basically the original one makes a faraday cage for the pi4 wifi antenna, the new one removes a chunk of copper on both sides of the board for that matter. Also I don't know if it fits the very first original argon one case that has micro HDMI ports.

[@alexmcd378]

@@mariopojoy good to know. Thanks!

[@Colin_Ames]

It is definitely a good looking case that goes together nicely. Great video, as always.

[@slimhazard]

It‘s worth mentioning that attaching the ribbon cable for a camera doesn‘t work out as neatly as everything else does for this case. In fact you might think it can‘t done at all, but there‘s an opening for it next to the GPIO connections, underneath the magnetically sealed lid. So you have to slide the ribbon cable through, in a narrow space next to the fan, and attach it to the Pi, all before securing the case, after which you have the ribbon sticking up awkwardly from the otherwise sleek-looking enclosure. As with the SD card holder, you cannot access the camera connector afterward without disassembling the case again, if you want to detach the camera and/or re-attach it. It works out, but it‘s rather clumsy.

[@TheOleHermit]

I agree that this is not the ideal case for GPIO and peripheral connectivity. There are many other cases better suited for those applications. But, IMO, this is the best case for an SBC alternative for a desktop PC, sitting in my living room for internet browsing on my primary TV. Different tools for different purposes. :-)

[@slimhazard]

@@TheOleHermit GPIO access on the Argon case is quite comfortable, about as easy to reach as the Pi without a case, and nicely color-coded. Or put the lid back on when you‘re not using GPIO, and you hardly notice it‘s there.

[@TheOleHermit]

@@slimhazard Yeah, I know, because have 3 of them and love them. Yes, the colored header, labeling, and magnetic cover are sweet to behold. But, I've also actually tried using HATS and experienced GPIO conflicts with the onboard fan and power. So, I wanted to give folks a heads up. I use other less expensive cases, like the versatile "iUniker Raspberry Pi 4 Fan ABS Case with Cooling Fan, Raspberry Pi 4 Heatsink, Simple Removable Top Cover for Pi 4 Model B/ 4B" for my maker projects.

[@IRgEEK]

Thank you for this awesome post. Been looking for a next-level case beyond bare Canakit type shells for my 4s. This post was super helpful mate.

[@TiberiusWallace]

Chris, you're a legend.

[@smartassist9700]

Classy brass. Reminds me of fancy clock on brass base with glass dome.

[@alittlepeaceandkarma]

You must have millions of gadgets all over the place. Smart case.

[@jaksmith6465]

New Neo case looks pretty cool

[@leonkernan]

Coming third wasn’t a bad effort considering it didn’t turn its fan on, while the others were presumably on due to their fan based design. I’ve been running one of these on my home assistant Pi and it hasn’t turned the fan on once yet. Admittedly it’s winter here in Australia, but I’m expecting it to behave quite well over summer too.

[@woolfy02]

I'm not sure if it's well known but you can hook up a USB A to USB A to the m.2 bottom port (The one connected to the m.2 bottom case) If you need to flash the SSD. A lot easier than having to deal with the SD card as well as pulling the case apart. Mine runs so much better with the SSD!

[@ExplainingComputers]

Useful tip. :)

[@setLillie]

I've been wanting to see a video (by you) about this case! :)

[@beauslim]

Good review! If it took NVME drives, I'd grab one of these. I'm reluctant to buy a SATA SSD when NVME SSDs cost only a bit more and are significantly faster if moved to a PC or whatever.

[@ianbertenshaw4350]

The only thing that concerns me is the security of the usb 3.0 adapter - I wouldn’t want to unplug it by mistake while it is running - some form of retaining clip or screw would have been nice 😀 I think a few different case manufacturers will now be scurrying about trying to play catch up with some of the features like the daughter board - that really is a neat solution !

[@joegee2815]

That is fantastic and would make a nice little portable desktop.

[@digitalmediafan]

I presume there's no limit on the storage with an M.2 ?

[@ExplainingComputers]

I imagine is it 2TB.

[@rivertees]

Just what I needed at this time, thanks

[@MrMalchore]

So glad to see you got around to reviewing this amazing RPi case. Love this case. But I have to admit - blocking the microSD port is a pain. Also - it bothered me it includes full size HDMI ports. I bought a microHDMI to HDMI cable for the RPi but can't use it now.

[@mrmotofy]

Switch to an ssd...it's night and day difference. One could cut a slot in it rather easily

[@galatei11]

It's worth mentioning that this is M.2 to USB converter, and I had it for some time now, but found the Rpi4 with argon m.2 case to be very unstable. I run into serious storage handling problems which come after a while of the system running. Same M.2 drive (Samsung) works perfectly in a Mini PC for the last 4 months. I would say it's just not worth it until RPi has full and stable sata support rather than over USB.

[@gusgone4527]

My case of choice for the Pi4

[@Lukes-Tech]

Great review! I’m hoping to get my hands on one of these myself soon as well! It looks like an amazing case!

[@bobwong8268]

Pls do a review of it soon. ;) Would the usb3 a bottle-neck to thr m.2 SATA SSD?

[@insanemainstream3633]

Good Sunday morning to all. I setup a Raspberry Pi 4 DNS server using Pi-hole has been doing a stellar job.

[@RecklessRowly]

I have an Argon One M.2 a couple of Argon 1 M.2 cases. In the first case I put a 120Gig SSD and I have had no problems what so ever. Basically I was very impressed with it. In the Second case I went the Whole hog and installed a 2TB SSD. In this case (pun intended) when using a standard 5V 3amp power supply I get low voltage warnings. I did email the Pi Hut (the supplier) about this problem for a recommended power supply, but got no answer. In the end I used a Geekworm X725 fan plugged into the GPIO (be sure to plug it in the right way) and used a 5V 4amp power supply. The fan being used as an adapter for the power supply into the GPIO. You’d expect to be able to run the Argon One case with a large SSD without having to use an unorthodox way of powering the PI. Perhaps the makers should make and a more powerful charger and supply that with the case. So be warned if your thinking of using a large SSD, you might get low voltage warnings using a standard PI 5V 3amp charger. If anyone is wondering why I bought a 2TB SSD the answer is I have a Raspberry PI farm, and they all network boot off this one PI. I have three OS configs for the farm. So I can power down the farm tun a simple script to select the OS and reboot the farm. That process takes less than 3 minutes to have the farm running a different OS to the previous. All of that uses about 512Gigs of space. So I could have bought a smaller SSD. If anyone knows of a 5V 4amp USB C charger please let me know.

[@colonelfustercluck486]

I'm using the SATA compatible base successfully using a Kingston SA400 120Gb. I have heard others successfully using Western Digital equivalents. As you say, current draw from the SSD and any peripherals quickly adds up until you get an overburdened power supply, leading to low voltage warnings and/or data corruption. (Been there, done that!!!) I solved this by using a good quality USB powered hub, everything outside the case is run from the hub. The Raspberry PSU only powers the Raspberry PCB and M2..... This makes for a reasonable tidy installation also. I have just received the latest toy today, the recently released NVMe base..... for M-Key NVMe SSD's only. Argon told me (after an email enquiry) that you need at least 3.5 to 4 Amps PSU capacity... which means that the standard Raspberry Pi PSU that most of us have, will need upgrading to something a bit heavier to cater for NVMe's heavier current requirements.... (and keep using a powered USB HUB for everything else) I can't emphasise enough, the importance of using a quality, powered USB Hub for your Argon One Pi4 projects....🙃

[@markconger8049]

A nice review indeed. All features covered well. That said, this is not a case I would buy after having purchased and used the first Argon case for the Pi 4. It’s quite restrictive in a few ways. One, no SD card access is really silly given how simple it would be to add a little door to the plastic bottom portion of the case. Two, there is literally no way to add any HAT to the Pi 4 in this case. It would be nice if there were a daughter case that attaches to the GPIO so that HATs could be added. Three, after all the engineering that went into this case with sophisticated circuitboards and cooling they could not find a better way to attach the M.2 board than with a USB to USB jumper? It looks crude and is not secure. Other than those issues, a decent case. They really should consider selling just the HDMI extender board as that is a highly desirable feature.

[@PS_Tube]

Another cool video from our favourite channel. And behold it's has co-starring Stanley.

[@ExplainingComputers]

:)

[@AFCAWorldBodybuildingArchive]

Finally we can take........ a closer look, again 💪😍

[@digitalmediafan]

The hdparm test only gave me 257MB/sec with my WD green 240gb M.2 ssd. Little bit disappointed it's not the same

[@karbinunit]

Its a good case, all good been running it for months as my Amiga emulator!

[@scheimong]

Funny how I was configuring my new Argon One (w/o m.2 edition) just yesterday and KZbin recommends this video to me today... I guess I google searched sometihng.

[@andrewd4906]

When I added the M2 base to my Argon One case I didn't put the screws in until I sorted the USB boot out. Then I removed the microSD card and screwed the base to the case.

[@njbair]

Same here. The rigid USB bridge actually did a decent job keeping it all together during the migration.

[@RetroSegaDev]

Beautiful little case! I am very tempted to pick one up!

[@k7ufo819]

It would have been nice to see a comparison of the download speed and signal strength before and after putting the case. My Flirc Raspberry Pi 4 Case aluminum body design affected them compared to not having a case.

[@My03Tundra]

I’m SO tempted to build a PI 4 computer like this, and do a good Linux installation on it, for basic daily stuff and game emulation, too.

[@KingKevin108]

What linux distro would you use instead of Raspbian?

[@My03Tundra]

@@KingKevin108 That’s the hard part, as there are now many options. If I were to do a build like this, Raspbian (based off of Debian), is pretty solid.

[@TheOceanLoader]

What a great video! Very informative and educational, as well as inspiring me to go out and buy one of my own.

[@TheOleHermit]

Been using the Argon One cases for several months, now. Considering the programmable cooling, SSD, and additional features, they can't be beat, even by less expensive cases retrofitted with intelligent cooling/power HATS. Been there, done that. Anyone want my extra cooling HATS? Love these cases so much that I've purchased all 3 models: * Argon One with programmable cooling; * Argon One M.2 with the SATA SSD base. FYI #1: the SSD base can be purchased separately to upgrade the above original Argon One with M.2 SSD & remote power on/off via IR. FYI#2: Purchased a second Argon One M.2 and modified it to house the Geekworm 872 NVMe SSD board. But, that was only a fool's errand, because the USB3.0 kills the speed advantages offered by the more expensive NVMe SSD. Plus, the 972 board & NVMe were too power hungry for Pi's wall warts. (Oh well, my NVME will live in a CM4 board with on board M.2 for NVMe.) * There's also an Argon One Sound case, with a builtin HifiBerry DAC, which I've added the above restored SATA SSD base and turned into a multi-room music streaming system over WiFi, with RPi/HifiBerry DAC receiver/amped speakers. These cases are attractive enough for my living room home theater's primary web browser/downloads library (wish my 4K TV were dumber and cheaper). I'm using the standard Argon One to test Ubuntu and software. Happy Maker! :-)