Raspberry Pi 500 Hands On First Look, It's Finally Here!

[@JemilMarcosTyC]

Interesting how we came back to the commodore style computing...

[@mirzahadzic8666]

next thing you know we will load games from Spotify.

[@RCCRAWL-q7g]

Nobody ever wanted huge computers. Had tech stayed caught up we never would have stopped.

[@GamerGuy1985]

Bring cassettes back.

[@JemilMarcosTyC]

@@GamerGuy1985 long live CRT monitors!

[@dafoex]

Or given the roots of ARM, would that be BBC Micro? Can we get one with red function keys?

[@albundy7718]

Spoiler: Jeff Geerling couldn't get the m.2 slot to work. Not only is the connector missing but also some electronics on the backside.

[@interproservice]

No full HDMI nor NVME will wait til Pi 600 so another 4 years.

[@hassosigbjoernson5738]

Don't need nvme on such a low end SBC. A simple micro HDMI to HDMI I already have laying around solves the "problem". With Pi600 hopefully there isn't any HDMI still around: should have a USB-C for that by then.

[@DaveMcIroy]

Micro HDMI is shit.

[@crazymcgee3604]

@@hassosigbjoernson5738 A 2230 NVME could be useful...something low-end like 64GB would be more than enough but would offer much more long-term usability than a Micro-SD card.

[@VOLTRONDEFENDER4440]

@@DaveMcIroy agreeded as ite easy to break like mini hdmi

[@wasyl00]

I get the missing nvmi is huge pain but full hdmi is not a big issue imo

[@RoofElmao]

i want it but i don't need it

[@UrgentSnooker]

same and the most regrettable thing is that I don't have enough free time to enjoy playing with it

[@valveman12]

You have it backward: *You do NEED IT because you WANT IT!*

[@jondm733]

I don't want it without m.2 ssd, even the barebones pi5 can take an adapter, this is rediculous, especially their answer that they know what is better for the consumers.

[@MundaneMuser]

OK

[@FloridaManRacer]

I used to be a motorsports writer. I would've KILLED for a simple, light setup like this in the media center at Daytona to write and edit articles and post to my website like this. At sub 200 dollars for the whole setup, this could REALLY get some work done! If it also does retro emulation at all well, up to say N64/PS1, It'd also be great for the downtime. I see this as a no-brainer to buy if you have a use case like I used to for this... Raspberry Pi's products and small form factor single board computers in general just never cease to amaze me these days. Thanks for the showcase!

[@zenunomusic]

@@FloridaManRacer i mean u could just get a laptop for thaat price, even a chromebook can run linux

[@theoriginaldylangreene]

A cheap laptop would have been far more useful. This is a toy for children, babies first linux pc. For teaching basic python so they can make some led's blink etc.

[@cloudycolacorp]

Wait till you find out about laptops 😃

[@arthurwintersight7868]

@theoriginaldylangreene - I feel like it should be possible to buy a laptop without the screen, and simply "dock" it wherever you want to work. That way you can use larger monitors, a custom mouse, and a lot of people really don't like those trackpads.

[@FloridaManRacer]

@@cloudycolacorp any laptop at $190 isn't gonna be worth a damn... this will actually WORK...

[@cynthiaslater7445]

What a neat idea for a youngster's first computer. I like that red/white monitor.

[@lonster3000]

Nice shout out to Jeff, I see he already has two videos out covering the 500.

[@stranger.granger]

no nvme slot is a deal breaker for me. I hope RockPi make a similar product with an nvme slot and hopefully more than 8GB RAM.

[@maniacsatwork]

The matching monitor is really nice. Unfortunately shipping to Australia from a US reseller for the monitor ends up being around $330AUD. Thankfully the Pi 500 is available locally.

[@ranjithmkumar]

Why dont they make a laptop instead !!

[@GreenishlyGreen]

Lol, look at the teardown of their monitor 🤣

[@asdprogram]

+1

[@DFX2KX]

Cost and the fact it would compete with Chromebooks at that point

[@mgg7756]

Just buy a laptop if you want one

[@johnosam4681]

Modular

[@zdanee]

I only wanted two things from this: a 3.5mm audio jack and some solid state storage more reliable than microSD.

[@dafoex]

The 3.5 mm jack could easily be on one of the side edges, if they really wanted.

[@benyyz]

Micro-HDMI?? This is basically e-waste with such a fragile connector. Would be an instant buy if they put full-sized HDMI ports on this.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Agreed.

[@Alacritous]

The Orange Pi 5 has full size HDMI and it has an NVMe slot.

[@trilight3597]

Am I the only one who hasn't had issues with that connector...yet?

[@wisteela]

No it isn't.

[@wisteela]

@@ExplainingComputers They don't seem that fragile.

[@cybernit3]

Someone was saying that the reason the PoE and M.2 SSD wasn't added because of the FCC inspection possibly on Jeff Gerlings channel. It would have been perfect if the m.2 ssd was there, but good they are updating the Pi400. Imagine if this was out in the 1980s, lol, would be so powerful; reminds me of the c64 I once had.

[@fleshreap]

Would be such a suitable computer for my mom if it just had option for an ssd.

[@Carnyzzle]

I run my pi 400 with a portable USB SSD just fine

[@raskarkapax]

Your mom will be just fine with a 256gb micro sd

[@fleshreap]

@@raskarkapax sd cards break and are slow.

[@raskarkapax]

@@fleshreap sd cards only break if you constantly swap it without taking much care of it. But if you put it carefully inside once and never touch it again (just as you would do with an internal ssd) you won't have any chance to break it. And a good SD card can read up to 200mb/s easy which is just as fast or faster than a good HDD.

[@proteque]

Because of the missing m.2 I will pass on this one.

[@anand_bhasme]

Interestingly, Jeff was the one who once recommended your channel on one of his videos. Since then, I was hooked on your content.

[@MINKIN2]

The M.2 is not the only thing that is "missing". There is also A LOT of unpopulated pads and odd layout design choices on the board too. It really looks like they have other intended uses for the board... Perhaps a laptop is in the works???

[@kurtwinter4422]

Maybe a dedicated GPU? A sub $300 laptop with dedicated graphics would be a game changer.

[@arthurwintersight7868]

I would really prefer a laptop based on the CM4/CM5, just because it'll bring us back to the era of being able to upgrade a laptop CPU. Imagine if all laptops used something like the Pi Compute Module 5 and you could simply upgrade that one part instead of replacing the whole laptop.

[@albundy7718]

Jeff thinks on the left side thats an unpopulated PoE Port, which is odd since there is no opening for the LAN cable.

[@JayrosModShop]

The missing parts on the far left is for PoE.

[@Sithhy]

@albundy7718 I mean, the Pi500 has a LAN port... but it's not PoE

[@KimForsberg]

so close to making a modern A500. just a touch of that A500 design would have been so cool maybe like a centimeter of flat part at the back edge with some ridges "for ventilation", and a logo PI500 on the right. Basically a nod and a wink. Of course, with the non-keypad design, maybe it would be better with it looking like the A600, even if the A500 is my Amiga.

[@SurjoKanta-o2y]

Can't open jeff's link

[@deemacgee]

+1

[@sonarfreq]

delete the word "follow" of the end of the url and it will work 👍

[@joester4life]

@@sonarfreq You're right. Looks like @JeffGeerling and Follow is not spaced properly.

[@albundy7718]

The non-working m.2 Slot is the most disappointing fact, because there is no other use for the PCI Port the Pi5 has.

[@nicholasgarratt5646]

Looks good. I have been using a Pi 400 as my main desktop everyday for the over two years now with the Pi OS and a 22" monitor. I have had to replace the memory card a couple of times I can see myself buying one of these too.

[@Spee33]

Kind of a bummer that it doesnt use USB-C for power and monitor. :(

[@ChuckSteel]

Came here hoping to find the answer to this question, but now I'm disappointed.

[@tosvus]

I felt the wording was a bit unclear? He said you could power it by usb from the raspberrry pi but only at 60% brightness. I guess that is not using USB-C but rather hdmi and a regular usb to usb-c cable?

[@_SurferGeek_]

Your link to Jeff isn't working. The lack of the M.2 means I'll keep my Pi 400... for now.

[@sonarfreq]

delete the word "follow" of the end of the url and it will work 👍

[@_SurferGeek_]

@@sonarfreq Yes... but not the point. I was just letting him know that, as it's typed, it doesn't work. Most folks won't bother.

[@tosvus]

Totally missed the 400 (and prior versions??) - this is amazing! Such a nice reminder of the old days of C64, Spectrum, Amiga, Atari ST etc.

[@wanderleyceschim2881]

In my view the biggest miss of the Pi400 was not having at least one regular HDMI port. This new Pi500 perpetuates that mistake. A full HDMI port would have made it simpler for occasional use (my case), so I will pass on this one, as my Pi400 is still serving me well.

[@Astro_Five]

@wanderleyceschim2881 just curious why using a mini Hdmi Adapter would be a problem? They are dirt cheap and it's what I used for the pi400

[@wanderleyceschim2881]

@@Astro_Five Like I said: occasional use. I have many things I plug in and out of the same HDMI port. Would like to just leave the one HDMI cable there and plug whatever to it without having to deal with a separate cable or yet another adapter I will misplace. And I understand the SBCs are tiny so no space for full HDMI port, but they had an opportunity with the 400 and now with the 500 and in my view missed that opportunity.

[@Astro_Five]

@wanderleyceschim2881 right on. You just leave the adapter plugged in to the Pi itself. It works just like the regular size HDMI input at that point. But I respect it being annoying to you

[@UnNamedGuy0]

4:24 I watched Jeff's video first and didn't notice the solder pads to the right of the keyboard ribbon connector marked "Battery". Maybe we will get a Raspberry Pi Laptop or a battery powered version of the Raspberry Pi 500. Or it might get scrapped in future revisions.

[@francescostroppetti8219]

its a shame no M.2 slot, pass for me.

[@craigspada1676]

Great video! Thank you for the excellent review, I am going to get one to play with.

[@impossiblescissors]

I appreciate how the ports were relocated from Pi 400, and the port where you'd presumably plug your mouse is farthest on the right.

[@uncaringbear]

What a shitty thing to do, leaving out the NVMe connector. There's no good reason to do so except to screw over users.

[@sterlingphoenix]

It could also be a budget thing. Like they clearly planned on doing it but couldn't make it work for how much they wanted it to cost. EDIT: In Jeff's video he mentions the power and other components for this are missing (so they didn't just leave something perfectly functional disconnected), and that they said they put those on the board for future product flexibility.

[@anshulsharma9131]

Wow! This is some awesome tech 👏💯👌 Thanks for the review.

[@jktrgg]

Makes much more sense than a chromebook. Hope there would be a streamlined laptop version of this platform

[@bazcurtis178]

I’ve been waiting for this. Now to migrate my Home Assistant from the 400 to the 500.

[@MrDLYouTube]

It's like a blast from the past Amiga. :)

[@cfbmoo1]

This is really the most 1980's computer like modern computer I've seen. All it needs is a cartridge port. :D

[@yoruneko34]

I love that form factor, reminds me of my first computers

[@evanjrowley]

In addition to the NVME slot, I think this could be a lot more successful if it had included a Pi camera connector. The Pi 5 series lacks video encoding, so any advantage it could get to reduce CPU overhead during a video call would help a lot. Video calling is a use case that has really grown over the years and I'd like to see them consider it in the next generation.

[@peterpanimg]

Excellent! Kudos on the ingenuity. Looks clean, well thought of to work as a perfect fit. Great flexibility for preferred ergonomic setup. In that regard, I rate it next to my current favorite Zenbook Duo. Excited to see what else goes on display coming CES. In similar vein, I have a 2017 16" HP Envy with cracked screen and one broken hinge. Old enough for me to experiment with removing the entire top, and attempt at a possible keyboard PC with trackpad :D

[@erickmirandacom]

I hope the pi 600 brings the 16GB and trackpad to make it perfect!

[@oldbrokenhands]

So close to having Deckers, gonna need them soon.

[@Butterscotch_96]

I put a Pi5 on my Christmas list but if I don’t get it then I’m definetly buying myself the Pi 500.

[@brianhonaker]

For this price you can get a mini-pc that blows this out of the water.

[@omegadeepblue1407]

@@brianhonaker any recommendations, i'm not very informed about the topic

[@suntorytimes1]

You’d only have to glue it to a keyboard and… you’re done. Same thing.

[@kurtwinter4422]

For $90? I'm sorry but such a thing does not exist. For $150 yes, you can get an N100 with 8gb/256gb.

[@LaurentCourtin]

I hope the Pi Foundation will finally start using 8-core CPUs in the future. The Pi is neat, but it starts to lag behind the competition on some points. Even the Orange Pi 800 came with a 6-core CPU.

[@Riiyan]

I think I'm more excited that the little monitor is full 1080 and completely cased with buttons with some mounting points then the pi500 but it's still a cool welcomed upgrade. Man you can get one right now for 90 bucks, in stock too. No NVME is complete bummer, it should of been included and just released at $99 dollar instead of 90 to recoup cost.

[@Wallee580]

Cracked up at seeing Jeff. xD

[@jamesg872]

This looks like it would be an emulation powerhouse, and would be neat for Amibian and other distros that take over the Raspberry Pi to mimic the feel of the older hardware.

[@mattdavis9601]

I've always liked the whole "shove a computer in a keyboard" form factor. The Atari 800 and Commodore 64 come to mind. The Pi 400 likewise. This Pi 500 + portable monitor set-up is cool. I'm not sure if I can find a use-case for it that can't be adequately filled by other things I already own; but, I am looking. Haha. I'm looking forward to ETA's future coverage of the Pi 500.

[@crackshotTV]

The monitor looks really promising. Hoping in the future we get something with a bit of a higher refresh rate, would be a godsend for Halo night with the boys

[@wisteela]

I knew they'd make a 500. I wasn't expecting it to be entirely white, and I certainly wasn't expecting a monitor. It would be cool if they also made them in black. I see that's it's got connections for a battery, and other unused spaces.

[@JohnBarber]

Really unfortunate that it doesn't have USB-C PD. Guessing a chipset limitation or something. Certainly something they should strive for with the Pi 6/600.

[@LukeNemitz]

man this is really awesome, gotta snag one of these. thanks for the rundown, ETA!

[@atomicfro]

My work just got a bunch of these to run end-of-line tests at the factory.

[@yuryeuceda8590]

Jeff became a legend, LoL, you made me smile.

[@breakpack]

Got one before they sell out!

[@merciless972]

Cant wait to see how well it will run marvel vs Capcom

[@Darthmaulvader22]

Love the pi 400 I have, so i love the look of the pi 500. Love the monitor too

[@ninaomaranhao]

I have a RPi5, but i think the 6 will brake the barrier, i think the RPi6 will be a computer with full capability, since we have 4 years with good performace arm processors(apple silicon), the next RPi will come with one of these processors(not the apple one, but one with this horsepower), and usb C as major. If is not dream too much, they can give up HDMI and all usb ports for 1 USB C as charger and 2-3 more USB TB3-4 would be more than enough to replace all the actual ports with dongle.

[@8bitchiptune420]

The Jeff channel link is broken.

[@plaistowjames6792]

PC inside a keyboard! Now I've seen it all!

[@superangrybrit]

Missed oppo to have an Amiga style trap door. 😭

[@DarkusObscurius]

i would LOVE a 16gb RAM version of this

[@muruganr4581]

Excellent design

[@kaliv3785]

If the m.2 issue is solved, would there be a way to use a graphicscard with it, jeff already showed, that it is possible with a normal pi 5

[@Bilal.Hussain.Shaikh]

Can you connect Samsung phones for Samsung Dex?, or any phone with desktop mode?

[@jonathanbutler6635]

I would love to see some simple games running on this for a kids first computer. Even something as simple as Minecraft or the emulation we know the pi5 is capable of. I think the gpio plus the near Chromebook level capabilities make this one of the best option for kids getting into tech.

[@JC.CopyCrea]

Now weld the M.2 slot and put an Oculink on it

[@michaelbeiyt]

Back to the 80ies 😊

[@cheongit]

Wow, Sinclair ZX 2024!!!

[@tadghb]

I would be all over this if they had 16gb of Ram.

[@incredibleadventures1027]

Welcome back Comodore 64

[@waitingtoconnect]

Looking forward to your fan/heatsink mod to see how high you can push the cpu :)😅

[@raggersragnarsson6255]

I have the Pi400 and i cannkt type on the keyboard very well due to the weird key spacing. Apart from that its great. I wont upgrade to the 500, but i will wait for the plus or 600 version and see what that includes. Im amazed how the price keeps falling. It will be a great cheap retro gaming and basic computer use type bit of kit to buy for many. It would make a great Xmas present for many im sure.

[@ImaginationToForm]

I watch Jeff as well.

[@Deathbyfartz]

not adding a full HDMI out is kind of a weird design choice for a device like this.

[@DiegoSalatino]

I would like to see this keyboard with an Apple M1 processor inside 🤯

[@TT-pi8ww]

it's called Macbook Air and comes even with a high-res HDR monitor and a battery to use it everywhere ;-)

[@DiegoSalatino]

@TT-pi8ww A MacBook is not a keyboard

[@AhmadAli-kv2ho]

Itd overheat

[@MyPhone-qg2eh]

At 10x the price and won't work without an iTunes password. No thanks.

[@eyb0ss]

I've seen people take screens off M1 Macbooks that were damaged and use them like that. It's definitely something you can do yourself.

[@quarteratom]

If we're really talking about Raspberry Pi desktop, does video acceleration fully work in Firefox and desktop video players like Mpv, Smplayer?

[@toby3701]

Its got MicroHDMI so they can sell 50c adapters for 5 bucks

[@sprockkets]

Yeah, I'm not bothering to solder on an m.2 slot. Them not including it is dumb

[@katoy9976]

Backlight koymamak çok akıllıca bir iş 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@xmaverickhunterkx]

The monitor at 16:10 would have been great. Otherwise, cool setup.

[@sajjadghanbarpour2185]

Lets make a mouse pc too XD

[@wr0ngel]

The most intriguing is the monitor ... I could use that with a mini PC on the go to game in my downtime. As for the Pi, erm yu no nvme? Come on.

[@quarteratom]

For desktop, get a used x86 desktop. Much cheaper, much more compatible.

[@jameslewis2635]

Considering the naming and form factor similarity, I have to wonder how well it emulates Amiga software. Such a shame that they didn't fit the NVME socket. With that it would have been far more useful as a stand-alone desktop.

[@sting6ph]

looking for a replacement for my aging Chromebook...this could be a good option

[@Pedro8k]

Disappointed why no nvme slot needed full size hdmi also how does it keep cool

[@linuxuser145]

looks good for a little office setup i like to try blender on it or Maya if i can install windows 11 on it

[@alksmdlaks]

This thing has more ports than my higher end laptop

[@SeaJay_Oceans]

Sweet. It's the C>64 all over again ! (and it can run C64 emulators too).

[@TheJalister]

I'm hoping for a keyboard with a number pad, 16 GB, and an NVMe slot. That would be perfect for what I want to set up.

[@nicholasgarratt5646]

I think they have missed om something not having a 3.5mm audio jack. I would accept a longer keyboard for a proper number pad. A 4th USB port would have been good too.

[@kjetilfrugard8395]

Seems like a good machine for playing MS-DOS and Amiga games.

[@minskwatcher]

it is capable of much more than that

[@JayrosModShop]

Should have had a populated NVMe slot and 16GB RAM. Here's to hoping we get a Pi 550 down the road..?

[@FrancisFjordCupola]

Would be cool if the portable monitor would have been display over USB in combination with power delivery (from the monitor to the Pi). Think an SSD would have been better on the underside of PCB. Don't want people to go remove the keyboards above with the lid and clips.

[@Dr.Blader]

Commodore 64 finds a worthy opponent 🗣️🔥🗣️🗣️🔥🔥

[@simonr-vp4if]

Raspberry Pi are _this close_ to rediscovering the laptop.

[@RetroGamingMonkey]

I would like to see the different OS options tested

[@mariosonicfan]

Where is the color red under like the pi400 ???? Why there is a spot for a disk nvme on the motherboard with no connector ?

[@unknownxx3280]

one more step and they need to make laptop, cheap with m2 ssd , cheaper them Chromebook it will best solution. Also back plate with 12 AA battery carrier so we can by just them from the local store.

[@kajurn791]

While i love the keyboard PIs in concept, i don't think any of them really nailed the execution and value has gotten much worse than the dollar pricing implies over the years. The non existent NVMe slot feels like an unnecessary gut punch too.