Why I Quit the Raspberry Pi 

An ongoing updated list of 12 volt Laptops would be nice along with a starter video.

Rockin my 4b for the last 3 plus years 24/7 with 73 Linux/BAP and my G90. I also have a slightly higher end windows laptop that runs on 12v. But the Pi running headless with VNC is so easy to use from my desktop or my tablet or my phone from anywhere in the house. I just updated everything this week on the PI, since I am going to be using my backup 4b to work as a server in an FPV lap timer that works off of video signal strength as the drone passes the start/finish gate. But it is nice to know, if one fails, all I have to do is pull the other one and change SD cards and I am back in business. Thanks for all you have done to make the Pi such a useful piece of kit Jason.

01:50 - Regarding prices, the top-end 8GB Pi 4 was $75 - I think the problem is the Pi 5 was introduced only at $60/80, which is a $5 bump over the 4/8GB Pi 4 that came before... but there was no low-end model. I'm still hopeful Raspberry Pi introduces a $40 Pi 5 2GB model, it would be perfect for my radio hacking needs, especially with Pi Connect out now-I have a couple of my Pi 4s sitting in a rack with RTL-SDRs and Gqrx I can access remotely for some SDR work. That $50+ price point is tough to stomach for a hobby board!

You can also get used/refurbished/renewed Thinkpads for about the same price and much higher performance. Great video. 73

Hey how come i never came across this great channel before? Subscribed :) In any case, same here: i even bought a Pi 400 at some point, and used it for a bit, but i since sold it at a low low price (it was to a friend, so i can justify to myself taking a loss). I slowly came to the conclusion of the following: for me at least, unless you are crazy into ARM or energy efficiency, or unless you need the GPIO ports for some project, the Pi is just a nice curiosity. You'll probably get a better deal on an old laptop for most of your needs. Case in point: i got an EEEPC 901 and that tends to fulfill my retro gaming needs much better than the Pi. Maybe I am a corner case, but once I got over the Pi hype, it's just an ARM board, that depending on your needs, might be underpowered. No intent in throwing shade to the Pi, it's a great project, and much respect to it nonetheless, but it might just not bring me the best cost / performance ratio for my use case. Ultimately, for me, it was fun to play with for a while, but i'll use my old EEEPC any time of the week if given the choice.

I actually mostly use old thin clients bought used on ebay and similar platform. Thay typically come from well known brands (HP, Dell, Fujitsu etc.), so driver support is not an issue with linux. These small devices are great. Very low power, quality hardware, often passive cooling, good IO-Ports (USB, Audio, Network/Wifi), stable and standard power supply, and the even have a Power On button hi. A Raspberry in my opinion is only the better solution, if you need the Hardware IO-Pins for some electronic project. But in most cases you can substitute these with an Arduino connected to PC via serial or even WiFi/Bluetooth (esp8266/esp32). In addition there is also the issue, that Raspberry Pi ltd. now is traded on the stock exchange in London. I personally don't support this.

Jason, you have made some of the coolest, most helpful videos I’ve ever seen and used for my own projects. You have also given a lot of us projects to try because you really got into the projects, showing us everything we needed to know…and I always enjoyed building those Pi’s right along with the content you shared. Heck, we’re Guys that enjoy the hobby and how cool is it to have something to do every other week with Jason as our Teacher?! Thank you for your Dedication to what we do and for inspiring us to go beyond, to reach higher in our thoughts and experience. Lastly, Thank You for always making yourself available to answer emails when I couldn’t find the answer myself, you Truly are a Ham Brother to me and literally thousands of us. Now, you can explain to my Wife why I need to buy yet another small form factor computer project so I can continue to follow along, I feel like your content mirrors that of the Highlights magazine I used to get as a young kid, I’m almost 56years old now and still having fun following along with these “educational” teachings! 😂😂 73 Jason. Danny NF4J

I was blessed with a nice Microsoft Surface Pro from a lifelong friend a couple months ago, so I'm setting it up as my field computer. I have a Raspberry Pi4 running Hampi on two 32 inch monitors in the shack, and I bought an Inovato Quadra about a year ago that is my ADSB server. The "human malware" ruined so many things for us. We have never recovered from it.

I keep telling people, you only should buy a PI if you're doing something that needs GPIO support. Otherwise get a mini nuc like system!

I moved off the pi quite a while back to mini PCs due to a lot of the reasons you mention in the video along with the fact that the X86 PCs are faster and run 12V. Eliminating wall warts is a big thing for me personally and in the field eliminating buc converters. The only time I use a PI is when a GPIO pin is required for connecting sensors and the like but some of that is now moving to Meshtastic. I did a video a while back about the mini PC processors that run on 12V from Celeron 3000, 4000, 5000 to the N95, N97, N100 and N305. The N305 is a core I3 processor and is still 12V. Also, a lot of monitors are now 12V also. I own several as well for portable I have some USB-C powered screens that I use that I power from the 12V PC. Thanks Jason.

As a wannabe maker, the CM4 is my goto RPI, nowadays. Just add any 3rd party carrier board that's appropriate for the project. Same OS, community support, and minimal hardware cost. Perfect solution in an imperfect SBC world.

Been using a 12V minipc for most of 2024 so far. Had been using an older windows laptop. Nice to be able to plug it directly into my 12V power system (battery/solar). Never really got into using the Pi for ham - have some for 3D printing and home assistant. The minipc was cheap ($100 on sale) and came with windows. If I want to take it outside I have a USB-C powered monitor that I got for around $75.

The RaspberryPi was originally intended to be able to put a computer which can be interfaced with the world on every school desk in the UK. Just connect a mouse, keyboard and monitor and you have a cheap desktop which can be used to teach programming and electronics. That it could be used as a field kit is an indication of how successful it was at that and going beyond. That other computers are filling the general purpose niche is fine, probably good. As you say there's still uses in the shack, and beyond for which it is more suited.

What got me into the Raspberry PI, is when they first came out years ago, all I used it for at time was a small Linux based computer but after getting into ham radio, my interests were focused on buliding a node so that I could access to nets via the Pistar interface in lieu of spending money on other similar nodes. As a result, I used this along with my FT-70DR HT to access various nets which for a long time served me well. However, once I moved to setting up a Wires-X node with an HRI-200 and a FTM-100DR which I replaced with a FTM-300DR, I found that I really didn't need the Pistar any more which I no longer use. But while I don't use it for the intended purpose I built it for, building it from scratch and going through all the requirements to getting it running was not only challenging, but more importantly educational which has given the experience to help others who wish to do the same.

Thank you. I feel the same way

It's funny you put this video up... We were just discussing those little laptops yesterday at the Youth On The Air camp. They showed up with probably 10 or 12 of those little guys. I hadn't seen a laptop that small in many years here in Canada. The price is nuts at $60 and they told me they might be $80 USD now, but even then it's a great value.

Following your instructions i put together a RPi to do digital modes while traveling. Foumd out the hotel didn't make it easy to connect to the TV. While the go kit was compact the keyboard was separate and made carrying everything klugey. In steps the $60 jenkopotamous. Far more convenient to carry and lets me go anywhere.

I think the Pi family shines best when you need some I/O other than USB. It's really cool paired with my 3D Printer because I have a relay board and the accelerometer input for shaper tuning, you don't get that with an x86 PC thingy. I've been using those tiny PCs and thin clients like the Dell/Wyse 3040 for stationary Linux stuff like Home Assistant, typically behaves a lot better and faster than a Pi.

I'm glad the Evolve is working for you. I've already had 2 fail, 1 right out of the box and another with about 10 hours of use.

I love RPI's for what they are, but in the field, i want simple, easy and quick. I work with computers day in day out, when I'm out my radio, i want to do radio. I go for the cheapest, easiet method to do digital modes. I'm happy to pay for SDR-Mobile I only wish it had a SSTV mode, but everything else its there. I dont even need a computer unless I want to do SSTV in the field.

I ordered an Evolve III several years ago. I love the battery life. But the computer I received had the memory and SSD soldered to the motherboard. As a retired IT guy, 4GB of memory and a 64GB SSD were totally inefficient. I ended up attaching one of my 1TB USB attached SSD to it. That makes portable use very cumbersome. I use the device, but it is the computer of last resort now. The performance is very doggy because of the lack of memory and the slow processor. I was extremely disappointed that I could not upgrade the memory and SSD internally.

I also made the same natural migration from pis to x86 that you did, for the very same reason. Also, so many more options to choose from for different use cases. For example, I tried the Evolve but gravitated towards the Lenovo Yoga 11e 5th gen (with the N4000 or N5000 series processor). This Education Series model is available on the surplus market real cheap and are quite small, powerful and far more rugged than the Evolve. I have 5 of them and call them my little tanks.

Agreed, and for the same reasons. When constructing my Ham Radio display PC (Xastir, HamClock, WPSD Digital Voice Dashboard) I considered running a Pi. I have a bunch of them from the 2 to the 4, but wanted a bit more horsepower, and was concerned at the price. I ended up going on ebay and picked up an HP SFF PC with a 7th gen Core i5 and 8gb of memory for around $60. I had to add a BT/Wifi m.2 board (15 bux) and an m.2 SSD. All in, I think I was around 115ish. I had been looking at the Pi 5, but the basic kit was going to cost 125 or so for the cheapest one. So I have a much more powerful and capable x86 system for less money. Unless you need the tiny form-factor and or the extremely low power consumption, it doesn't make sense to use the Pi. Having said so, I do run an APRS digipeater up 6400 feet on a mountain top that is solar only. The Digipeater (YAAC / Direwolf) runs on a Pi3 and doesn't dent the battery bank hardly at all. The Pi is perfect for this scenario.

I would love to get my hands one of those low end computers for radio work.

Thanks for confirming my own thoughts on the matter. I jumping into Raspberry Pi a few years ago largely because of your channel. The past two years I’ve drifted away from the Pi as the low-end Windows machines are easier to use and just as cost effective. Moreover, Winlink really runs best on Windows (unfortunately). ARES/AUXCOMM uses those Winlink forms that only the Windows version does best. Keep up the great work Jason. 73

Totally agree, but have been toying with the idea of putting together a pi zero 2W for portable work given small size, low power draw and potential to use phone/ tablet for remote acess or is there a better option?

"human malware" lol excellent wording. What flavor of linux did you run on your Pi to work digital modes?

Just got an Orange Pi 5 Plus with 8 cores, 32gb ram, dual hdmi out and a single hdmi in, dual 2.5gb ethernets and a 256gb emmc. Pretty quick device and and it happens to have a similar 40 pin header like the Raspberry Pi(s). Mine is currently running Armbian and Cinnamon. Tricky install to use emmc but it also has an NVME socket on the bottom. Should check it out.

I used to be a rpi fan until the orange pi zero 3 became a thing. Improved performance with the power draw at 2W (only) max.

Talking about leaving Raspberry PI, I'm about ready to quit and sell my Elecraft KX3-PX3- KPA100’s both sets (one set is in a Faraday Bucket as a “back-up” but I am now trying to sort out the back up KX3 because that my regular use KX3 is at Elecraft’s repair shop. Double whammy! I also have two fairly new i5 laptops HP Envys running Windows 11. My back up lap top does not show any bouncing green vertical bar at the green rectangular CAT Box in the lower left of the JS8Call desktop. No error messages either. I never had this problem until I tried TXing @ 100W from my backup KX3 via the KPA100 and HP which indicates transmission of 80-95 watts output and a 1.2 SWR. But no green vertical indicator bar at the CAT box. Only a short yellow bar stuck on the bottom, and zero ACKs to my Heart Beat signal even though JS8Call indicates transmission on the right. So obviously I am not transmitting. I can Rx. I have always selected VOX with no radio on the JS8Call set up menu. Where is the problem? Microsoft, Elecraft or JS8Call? I suspect it is Microsoft and after they stopped supporting the Audio CODEC1 Soundcard, my two Elecrafts would no longer work with my SignaLinks and I had to switch to a Soundblaster3!Y sound cards which worked, for a while, but now I have this issue with CAT. If I stay in this hobby, I am seriously considering converting everything to Linux, not just converting a Windows laptop to Linux via Mint. A pure from scratch switch. Naturally, Elecraft KX3 groups and general users of Elecraft don’t know anything about how to correct this problem. They all want to create YT videos how to set up. Over and over again. Or else the radios, computers, and sound cards they use. But troubleshooting? No one responds. Any ideas how to specifically identify the problem, assuming it is the problem, and if so, how to fix this? What am I missing? Thanks for any advice/ response. 73’s Karl, AF5LQ

Does the current version of the Jankopotamus run on 12V? I think I heard that they cut that out at one point, which drastically reduced its facility as a field computer.

Yeah, I had been looking at the Raspberry Pis. I went with a refurbished mini HP Elite and a refurbished T460p ThinkPad laptop instead, and upgraded them over time with 1TB SSDs and 64 and 32 GB RAM, respectively. They both have gen. 6 i7 CPUs with 4 cores/8 threads. Cheers.

I recently got a used Surface tablet for around 100 bucks. I think it is a near-perfect field computer (for x86). The monitor and keyboard are built in. Touch screen so mouse not needed unless you want to add one. Made to be portable. Enough horsepower for the radio apps. I am still getting it all set up, but I think it is going to be great.

Excellent topic and fully agree! 👍🏻 I’ve gotten frustrated with the Pi’s after many years and am migrating to old Thinkpads. Also, Yes, the beelink, gmtec and letsung boxes look interesting for the cost on Amazon. ;)

During the lockdown I switched over to Orange Pi devices to replace some functions on my Raspberry pi's to free up those Pi's. I also bought some used Thin clients. I did not buy the Raspberry Pi5, I chose the new Orange Pi boards as they were faster and had more memory options.

There are still uses for the PI and I wish more companies would adopt their applications for Linux. I been praying for the same thing for probably 20 years. I've tried go all Linux with emulators, but it gets to be very frustrating with random issues popping up here and there. My main ham laptop is a small Thinkpad running Windows. I have the 12v adaptor for it. No efficient, but it works.

Agree with you on the big Pi’s but, I still love the Pi Zero W’s footprint + power profile and still have more project ideas for it.

Been thinking about 12v laptops. Jason, is it possible if you could adapt your "Build a Pi" for say running Linux mint as that script is so cool!. Still have my RPi 4 box with Build a Pi running on it

I bought a used lenovo laptop for my shack anf field ops. it runs ubuntu linux. for my non-linux apps i installed oracle virtual machine. it‘s free. i then made a windoz 10 vm. the lenovo has a long lasting battery I bought a 12v charger so i can recharge from a field battery or portable pv system. raspi was fun. kind of. but a full fledged laptop is less hassle and i think more dependable for field ops.

I was in need of a windows machine I could take with me in the truck for Wires-X when I first got started and ended up with the Surface Go. Now it’s wasn’t $60 when it first came out but it’s been a great little machine to do all my ham radio stuff with. OH8STN would agree. 😊

I use a headless hampi on my sailboat. My understanding is the power consumption of RP4/RP5 are better than x86 systems.

yes....price and performance comparison....those mini PCs are a better choice also made the switch watching this on my Linux Mint mini PC N100....(used to be the job of a RPi4B 4GB system) did bought some RPi5 (a 4GB and 8GB)....but those remained boxed up to this time...

👍 similar story this last year. RPi 3b to 4b (via ACK’s great videos, thank you) and decided that the x86/64 world works better for my needs. As with other comments, I now use a 12v N100 based mini pc with Win11 accessible via Google Remote Desktop or vnc. No adapters or buck converters any more. Sure had a lot of fun with the RPis, but time to move on.

Do the miniPCs have a GPIO equivalent? Are they open source?

Now you tell me. I just bought a bunch of pi5s and loaded up build a pi! ❤ blahahaha ❤❤❤

If there is anyone that can use one of the evolve laptops, I have a spare, but the battery was removed due to swelling, and the battery seems to be $40-50. You could theoretically just run it on 12V or 120V without the battery though.

I think my "which tool to use" flowchart where "just a microcontroller" sits at one end and "rack mounted server with a giant pile of cores and ram" sits on the other looks like this: * can the project run on an arduino/pi pico/esp32/msp derivative? * does the project need to host any software? * does the project require a battery or mains power? * big ass battery or little battery? * What about GPIO? * do I feel like reading datasheets and soldering? Not going to put a mini pc on a drone for example, but mini pc is when power doesn't matter, I don't need GPIO, I don't feel like messing with documentation, and I want to do it for cheap.

can you share more info on the inexpensive 12v laptops please. KB2GCG

What about the Inovato Quadra Running Ham Clock or HamPI on sd card less than $60

Although I still use my 4Bs, My primary driver today is a Lenovo IdeaPad 3-154 upgraded to a 1TB NVMe, 32GB RAM. My total cost, (equiv with 14" monitor, keyboard, PS, battery, etc) is under $175, and capable of running VirtualBox and Docker which gives me the equivalent easy change functionality of swapping SDCards. Plenty of USB, extra HDMI. Easy to get ahold of, along with the models Jason Discusses. Not limited to Raspbian OS. Runs almost every Linux and Windows versions. It's amazing how that human malware changed the lower power, high capability landscape in computing...

exactly! the right tool for the right job, and rpi is great for a bunch of things, but not really for a full blown system with tools that need double layer translation (box86 and wine) i fully agree, in my case i still prefer rpi and one reason is that i want to support arm, in vision to soon swap to risc-v because of being fully opensource but thats a personal thing more related to ideology another reason is how hackable it is, you are free to do anything, unlike intel and amd processors which are locked by firmware and if you change the firmware you will be likely voiding the warranty, which doesnt make sense imo it feels like you really own it, you have full control and also, for my use case, having a bunch of GPIO pins for adding hats and hardware, or for just connecting to the tty over serial, is amazing and really makes the difference with that said, thats because for my use case, its really handy, but at the end of the day all is summarized to what you said, the right tool for the right job, for what i want, rpi is the right tool, but its not the right tool for everything, nor for everybody

I have adopted one of the windows mini desktop computers. It was a fraction of the price of one of my shack desktops. It’s 12v that I can and do power with my LiFePo that I use to power my radio. I use a portable monitor that is USB powered. I use a USB power brick that lasts for days. I use a smaller blue tooth keyboard and mouse. The computer has all the software for operating and logging. My truck has built in wifi that supplements my cellphone for internet connection. I have several laptops but prefer the new portable setup..

You can still purchase older versions of the RPi.

Still love the pi4 for a good balance of power use and capabilities

I consider Pi to be an appliance. WPSD Hotspot, or Hamclock, or Digipeater. For Winlink and its modems, I stick to Windows. Getting Vara running for Winlink is a breeze. Since Winlink is mostly for EMCOMM, I do not want a Pi/Box86/Wine glitch to happen at an event. I spent more to get a 14" Windows laptop, to be easier on my eyes than 11" would be.

Thank you for the video. To be fair, it's a form, fit and function case. It's still a lot of fun, tinkering with a PI and really fits in the Makerspace, where HAMs kind of sit. While you can get a USB GPIO card for a laptop, a Pi for GPIO capability still wins. BTW, FWIW, the Libre Le Potato and Sweet Potato now have a Raspbian OS, and I Have been able to make your APRS Tracker on each of these. When I Have time I am going to try ASL V3, just to see. $30 for the Le Potato, and $5, for the WiFi dongle, and it works great. I believe it performs a little better than the Pi 3B. 73

I use my pi for hamclock and retropi nowadays.

FTW Pi-400 8gb. Yeah, it was about $100 when new but with a spare monitor, I was on my way. I do prefer my Evolve though!

I agree the PI Zero 2 W i worth $15 but the pi 5 is over priced

2nd hand SFF or USFF systems are really good for 'hobby servers'. Businesses tend to almost chuck them away like candy when they want a new model. Given the SD card is both highest point of failure and the slowest part of the pi, the cost to upgrade it to PCIE ssd + actually ssd itself starts to add up against it in a big way. Don't forget you need a power supply that can give it 4A at only 5V, which is actually completely outside the spec of standard USB. Why they couldn't have implemented Power Delivery...

I 100% agree! Well said!

I actually have both in my go box a raspberry pi 4 in an argon case with an SSD and a GMKtek nuk computer with a KVM. Best of both worlds, I definitely agree for things like Vara just get an x86 box.....

But doesn't the raspPI take less power? ARM cpus are usually more efficient than x86... just wondered... I guess by not much difference.

With so many users purchasing/using a Raspberry Pi for Retro Gaming, i had real high hopes for the Pi 5. Sadly, it's one of the last current/available devices i would recommend for Retro Gaming today. (& yes, a Pi 3/4/5 still has plenty of other uses) X86 has caught up for sure. (GMKtec G5 N97 is what I'm currently recommending.)

I went through the same process. I now use an i5 mini pc that was $50 to the door.

I'm going to go on record: All of these apps built using C# .Net for Windows ONLY could absolutely be compiled to run on Native MacOS or Linux if the programmer actually knew what they were doing. Microsoft has native compilers for C# .Net code libraries for both the MacOS ARM platform and Linux. The programmer likely doesn't know how, doesn't want to, or doesn't have enough hardward to compile native packages on the various platforms. The problem is with the developer, not the platform or operating system.

It didn't keep up tech wise and got over the tip of it's skis price wise. I can't help but think most people with one do nothing but try to run them as mini-desktops PCs. Which is found very wanting today. And doesn't make much sense. But, the buy in price was cheap and if screwing around wasn't for you because you thought you might be interested on hardware projects, it didn't cost much to find out.

I admit I have a weird addiction to these small desktop PCs, more than I ever was the Pi. I keep a Pi around for a couple of projects that use the GPIO pins for electronics projects, but more software-oriented stuff is a lot easier on x86_64. And like you stated, it just doesn't make much sense to spend this much on a Pi for such lower specs, when you're looking at just a couple inches in footprint difference anyway.

This feels very "jankopotimus", in that how long is this evolve going to be available? Your strikes against the RPI are all valid, and one thing you didn't mention is the instability of the RPI in that if the power is cut at the wrong time the OS build is corrupt on the microSD, and you have to reflash another one or have a backup already flashed. This also happens if the OS hangs, and you have no choice but to cut the power.

Thanks, time to get another pi. Pi 5! Ftw.

Where do I get a cap like that

Do you run Windows on that laptop, or do you install Linux on it?

So I can make a mmdvm out of one of those pc's?

I got into the pi as a tech enthusiast, and to me it is a great, relatively secure and safe, education tool. Something to practice on. But at any given time, the best bang for the buck, along with the most personally useful (because you need to use what you know), changes relatively often. The great thing about playing with the pi is being able to get good with it's limits, and taking advantage of the simplicity that comes with those limits. For a power user? It's worth the extra few bucks for a mini super computer, when comparing it to the pi 🤪✌️

I hope you keep supporting Build a Pi!

Pi is a good computer but, like you said hard to get. i have the Invotao (sp) and like it.

I spent weeks trying to get fldigi working with a later version of the Pi OS with no avail. I spent weeks faffing about with trying to get VNC running without having an HDMI monitor connected to the Pi. And as for adding layers of software onto a limited platform - I CBA. I want things to work. I use a Pi W with a portable system and I have it where I need it to be - I can run the apps I need natively on Linux and that will do. It's become a fixed-function device with no plans to make it do anything else. It does what I want it to do. I really wish that VARA would be available for Linux - I think it is limiting its appeal as I for one don't want to run Windows on my own hardware. I don't want to start running x86 hardware in the field as I want something that I can run from a battery bank and keep the whole system form factor as small, lightweight and low power as possible.

Most laptops/chromebooks can boot off a SD card (or USB) so it's just as easy to swap systems. Though you might not get the speed of the internal SSD. USB NVMe is pretty fast but now you have something hanging off the computer instead of the internal SD card. Anyway, it's all better than a Pi.

With raspberry pi listed in the stock exchange, expect the price to go up!

I found at the same price of the pi and all its parts to get a way more powerful laptop and run Linux. The power usage of the pi is nice though.

my original idea was to get PIs, and use them as the 'standard' server board for my home-labbing (mostly hobby and learning), I could get a dozen, have 2-3 as back up, and always be ready for failure by just switching away the board, net install the OS and config from my scripts, and then taking care of the bad Pi's troubleshooting, whenever I have time. But like, for the last 4 years it's been impossible for me to get? Like I have 1pi 3 and 1 pi4 and never managed to get a Pi at reasonable price again...? I won't buy 12 overpriced things... Another point for me was feeling that I could always get more PIs down the line, but nowadays I don't trust that I'll be able to just go ahead and buy some when I need more. Do you know what I can reliably get? Random x86 laptop motherboards with soddered ram and cpus on them. Yeah the IO is crap but tbh I just need network and that's it (and those which don't come with ethernet are OK I can use a m.2 to gigabit adapter they are like 5 bucks ).Yeah it's not always the same board but with x86 it doesn't really matter, all OS builds will work on em. It's not like ARM boards that not all will support the same OS, orangepi, bananaPi, radxa boards, upsquare boards, etc etc, they all require different OS versions....

MiniPCs and cheap laptops are mostly useless where raspberry pi shines. Small devices that work as hotspots, receivers, transmitters, monitoring stuff. And that's not only because raspberry pi are compact but due to low power usage (in my country that matters a lot). Also rpi has a great software ecosystem. Some people are tempted to use other SBC but these other SBCs are light years behind in term of ecosystems AND long term support (I can still (and I do) use rpi 2 (did't try rpi 1) with latest raspberry pi OS without any problem).

I read a few comments and nobody mentioned another candidate, re-using 2011-2015 MacBook pros with Ubuntu (or other distro) on them. Apple has pretty much made them useless due to their greedy practices, so you can pick em up for around $50. They are not worth anymore as they can't run anything past MacOS (12) I think, and the parts don't fit newer machines. They are great machines, X86 based (i5 or i7), often come with a built-in DVD Rom, HD graphics card and screen, nice audio, USB, Firewire (on some) or Thunderbolt and so on. I had no problems with Ubuntu picking up the wifi, ethernet, sound card, etc. All worked perfectly straight away. On newer models (but still X86 based), just tick "allow 3rd party drivers" when installing and Bob's your uncle. If you need lots of I/O's just use an Arduino and connect to the MacBook via USB, problem solved.

I agree that those laptops are superior for a ham human interface. But as far as closed source ham specific software goes, it is not ARM, not Wine, but Vara and its ilk that are the problem. If they want me to pay for it, it had better run on several popular architectures, and on several popular OSes, and definitely on Linux (where, if it is closed source, I'd still want to run it in Docker or maybe even in a virtual machine.

The Raspberry pie is a good computer if you like to browse web and play simple games like TUX CART and other old 80's stile video games like i ran on my Amiga 500 in the 80's. They are good for pet projects like camera or other small stuff. They are mostly used in chimerical projects like Elevators. or to run Video's to promote brands. Or the maps that tel you where stores are in Malls or even office buildings. It is easier to get a PC new or used and run Linux. I use Steam games so i need a video card for intense video performance that you cant get on a pie with the small slow processor chip. The Orange Pie has the MVME board and power button that is better but my self build is nice.

Just keep in mind that this laptop won't support windows 11, so when windows 10 support is dropped you will need to air gap it from the internet or install linux.

I only use PI's for hardware interfacing. For any other purpose a used PC will always beat a PI.

I need to get a raspberry pi . Is this a post COVID video?

I absolutely agree with you. when I was looking to buy the pi 5 and saw the price. I was deeply disappointed. The price hike is an insult to the community. The price was their biggest promise. but Instead of keeping the price, they decided to stock up on performance and feature and raise the price sharply. its an insult !. bye bye pi, I will never buy another pi. just as you said, There are Tons of options for better prices and better performances. the pi is not special in anything, it was only the price that made it special and allow the community to love it.

I don't miss all the fried SD cards...

If you just quit you are a little slow on the uptake. Never in stock, always selling for much higher by scalpers than the already too high list price. The only thing they seem to do well is documentation and software, which is no small feat, but when you can buy a mini pc for the same price, that is not enough.

Thin clients. Real hard drives instead of SD cards. Power cables that don’t fall out. Hardware clocks so your don’t have to set the time on boot(important for PiHoles). Unless you need the GPIO or ultra small form factor a much better platform IMHO.

Raspberry Pi 5 took their customers for granted. Just having to buy a expension card for using a NVME drive.. and then the expension card goes over the cpu, making it impossible to mount a good cooler for the CPU. What the? :D then the NPU module. Meanwhile, Orange Pi 5 Pro gives you 16GB, and NVME; and all for a little less. But I went to using a chromebook running linux instead.

Using the right tool for the job is always best. The pi has its place, so does x64.

Pi's are great for protable, easy to learn with RU-vid and can do multiple things well with a USB swap. Android, Twister OS and Retropie and there wasn't really more you could do with a Pi4 OR anything else as easily. Pi5 was screwed with Wayland. Otherwise would be the new king of SBCs.

What are better than Rasberry Pi?

I have to say that they came out of the raspberry pi 5 a little too late. It would have been a big high if they can release it between 2020 to 2021. Many people have already switched to mini pc. I still have pi 3 and pi4 but I will only make good use of them and I will likely stopped buying raspberry pi.

You touched on the 800lb gorilla in the room at the very end: power. The fact that the RPi is not 12v wouldn't necessarily be an issue: a battery box can easily be constructed that outputs USB 5v power. The problem is that the RPi endlessly nags the user if it isn't plugged into shore power. It doesn't even matter if one is plugged into a high-wattage USB-C power source with the appropriate cable: the Pi will continue to complain endlessly about a low-voltage condition. The other piece is that, look: Jason has done yeoman's work bringing additional functionality to the Linux platform for Amateur radio -- the email gateway, the enhancements to PAT Winlink, Build-a-Pi, and 73 Linux -- just to name a few. But there's still a long way to go for Linux to reach parity with Windows, and until critical field applications like Vara can run in Linux reliably; until there's parity in terms of user interface...*and* the fact that the Pi complains endlessly about power? -- it simply doesn't meet my standard for a primary computer for field use. So, what *have* I been using? I went a different route than Jason and even Josh over at HRCC. I've been using the HiGoLe pocket PC. It has a small touch-screen, but I use one of the two HDMI outputs to run an external 10" monitor. This computer has four USB ports, two HDMI ports, runs on 12v power, runs Windows 11. It literally fits in an external hard drive semi-rigid case. I paired it with an MoveSpeed Energy Cube (70,000mAh) external battery, but it is also perfectly happy running on a smaller 20,000mAh Romoss Sense 6 battery pack, *and* has it's own battery built-in. This solution isn't as elegant as simply using a laptop, but it's a highly portable solution that *sips* power, and runs everything that's necessary without compromise. The best part? -- the power input is USB-C. I put a $15 cell phone kick stand on it.

I've never thought of the pi as a full field computer, even though you can do that. It's not just money, to me reliability and built for purpose projects are much better than messing around with x86. I hate very much to hear you're moving away from the pi. I don't think the cost has ever been the primary point. When you talk about the ARM processor, keep in mind the software we hams have used on the pi is built for purpose, so getting hung up on ARM on x86 is a far irrelevant tangent, IMO. It sounds like you're lumping too much together. Yes you said you're still using the pi, but limited... no bueno IMO.

n100 or n95 is WAY better value i have seen used systems for as low as $90