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[Preorder] Raspberry Pi 400 $107 (or Kit for $152) + Shipping (from $7.95) @ Core Electronics (or Element 14)

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The new Raspberry Pi 400 is probably THE Christmas gift for SBC enthusiasts. Although Pi Australia is the “official” distributor here in Ozzie but their pricing is just, as they always is, unfair ($128/$209 Kit, may need shipping depends on products). Not mentioning that now you have to pay for a spot on pre-orders with the bloated price 🤷

Core Electronics has this pre-order nearly the same price as in the US/UK ($107/$152 after tax and currency exchange, US77.5/US$110 equivalent) and $7.95 Fastway shipping (or AusPost if add extra). Good for them! Bought stuff from them before as well, pretty nice service and fast shipping speed.

I ordered a non-kit version and has an estimated date of 9th Dec to the warehouse, so I guess it will be delivered before Christmas. If you’re interested, try them out instead of Pi Australia.

Thanks @jeanie pham, it seems Element 14 Australia has Pi 400 backorder as well, with free shipping over $50
US keyboard only version
US Kit version - I don’t know if this contains ANZ power supply or not
Keyboard only version has an estimated delivery of mid-Dec., US Kit version is currently at 23 Nov.

Related Stores

Core Electronics
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  • Side note, anyone know if RS Australia is going to have Raspberry Pi 400 as well? My guesstimate is that they’re component seller so won’t sell 400 model, which is more like consumer electronics. Could be wrong.

    • +2

      Not sure if it helps, but I preordered mine from Element14, I'm guessing they're kinda similar companies. The kit is available here, https://au.element14.com/raspberry-pi/rpi400-kit-us/raspberr… - deliveries starting from 23/11.

      • Not similar companies in terms of Core Electronics being local and E14 large overseas one

        • +1

          I meant in comparison to RS Components. I think E14 also have warehouses here.

  • I'm getting shipping costs added. How are you getting free shipping?

    • Sorry I think I made a mistake… RS is free-shipping but CE is not. I’ll update the post

      They do have 7.95 fastway, I think it’s affordable and making sense.

      • +1

        Please try avoid fastway if you can. They are the worst.

  • +1

    Raspberry Pi USB-C Power Supply
    Raspberry Pi Mouse
    1M HDMI Cable
    16GB micro-SD card
    Raspberry Pi Beginners Guide
    … Worth $45 extra?

    • +6

      Depends on whether you need it or not. The main thing will be the power supply, its a 15W USB-C, so you can't just use any old usb supply that you got lying around.

      But probably not worth it.

    • +5

      If you’re gifting, it’s worth it.

    • +2

      USB C power supplies can be had for around $15
      Mouse probably worth $5
      HDMI cable worth $2
      16gb micro SD worth about $3
      Guide… Probably $2 in printing

      So I'd say no unless you're lazy and want a simple package

  • Does anyone know if windows can be installed on it?

    • +5

      It’s the same Raspberry Pi 4 (well, with a slightly newer SoC and higher clock speed, sans CSI/DSI port) so I assume Windows on ARM runs fine?

      But it’s slow. Really slow.

    • +1

      There's a modified version around which apparently runs ok well but doesn't support the built in ethernet and bluetooth.

    • +1

      It will run but sluggish. Not recommended.

  • Hanging out for a newer model with data over USB-C.

    • +3

      I think it was supported on original RPi 4 alread (https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=243952)
      And newer model fixed e-marker cable issue as well (https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=259629)

      No reason Pi 400 won’t support it. But will need to wait until someone test it out. My money on it supports data over USB-C.

      • Thanks for the pointer. I had read earlier about the issues with USB-C in the first batch of 4s (I was hoping to mate it with a Dell docking station), and hadn't done any follow up research. Cheers

        • +3

          You’ll also need to make sure it’s not a Thunderbolt docking station (the ones with TB suffix).

  • Can anybody quickly educate me what tthese are used for?

    • +24

      Home automation is a really common one… But possibilities are endless. You really need to be tech savvy or have a want to be tech savvy to delve into Raspberry Pi.

      If you prefer iPhone over Android forget it 🤣

      • What do you use your Pi for? :)

        • +2

          I don't use mine anymore. Have two raspberry pi zero w's that were previously using Domoticz and OpenHab for home automation. But one day it started becoming flakey and I realised my memory card was dying. I hadn't taken a backup in a few months and it was too much effort to redo all of my setup again. So gave up and now using Smartthings. Raspberry pi was great to have total control and local automation. May end up doing it again one day when Smartthings inevitably stops working or changes support, etc.

          What annoyed me is that all smart home platforms I came across for Raspberry Pi required some form of paid subscription for Google Home support. Would cost me at least $120/yr which is the price of my Smartthings wifi ZigBee gateway more or less from the RACV bundle.

          • @0 0 0: You know Home Assistant can integrate with Google Home without the need for a Cloud Subscription. A little bit of extra work.

        • I'm tempted to set up a manic mirror and pihole with pi zero's. I want to set up a proper ambilight system too.

          • @Caped Baldy: i always wanted to setup a magic mirror but in the end i decided i cbf and just leave the mirror as a mirror, and use a lenovo smart display for everything else.

        • 1 is a NAS
          2 is a docker host with pihole, calibre, portainer, and a few other containers I play with from time to time
          3 is a docker host with octopi, able to launch additional instances when it picks up my 2nd 3D printer.

          Still want to add these two into a node, with an old laptop in the mix - (to add multi processors in the mix…)

        • +1

          I have a Raspberry Pi Zero W that runs SOMA Connect to control my blinds, and then Raspberry Pi 4B that runs a bit of custom software that hooks up my Flic button to my LIFX lights, turns on my PS4 automatically when starting the Harmony activity, turns on my speakers when casting Spotify to my Google Home, as well as some other stuff :)

        • +3

          Retropie (Pi3).

          SNES/Megadrive/PCEngine.

        • +11

          Mainly for occupying space in a desk drawer.

      • -8

        I must be imagining that I own two and also have an iPhone

        Oh wait, I remember now - working with MacOS, which is POSIX-compliant out of the box, means I know how to use a real operating system with a real shell, not one that makes me sing my ABCs to keep track of mounted file systems.

        I'd say go Google what Darwin is but it being open source and Unix-like won't do much for the tired "walled garden" horses^&* you guys like to throw around.

        • +1

          I wonder how many users here with a Pi also have an Android phone, who didn’t buy it only because it was cheap.

      • +1

        Super ignorant comment.

        Source: Have many RasPi (though I’m using VMs more these days) with Home Assistant and Node-Red flow based automations configured for my home (to name one).

        Sent from my iPhone.

    • +4

      Multiple uses, I got a Pi 3 and set it up with Retro Pi so it can run all old PS1, N64, Mega drive games etc prefect for when travelling as its nice and small !

    • +4

      Since Pi 400 is based on Pi 4, so almost everything running on Pi 4 will run on Pi 400.

      And Pi 400 is inspired by Commodore 64, so you can use it as a simple PC - good enough for YouTube watching and redditing, or simple word processing.

      Perfect gateway drug for computer science and electric engineering education.

    • +1

      Nostromo Boot Sequence on a Pi Zero Cluster. What else?

    • +1

      NAS, Homelab, and Self hosting docker containers. https://docs.linuxserver.io/ has some really good docker container images that will run. If you're starting out, I recommend running OpenMediaVault as the OS.

    • It's a small, cheap ARM-based computer; this new model has it built in to a keyboard. They were originally designed as a cheap educational machine for kids to play with, but they've grown from there.

      People use them as media players, emulation machines (like a NES Mini), lightweight file servers, VPN servers, and as cheap machines for learning Linux/clustering/Docker/SQL/web development. Mine's running PiHole as an ad-blocking DNS server.

    • I asked the same question once.
      They said you can make it water your plants automagically.
      Requires effort but I suppose and you can make it do anything.

    • +1

      The pi4 would be great for emulation (gaming). The less powerful ones is great for pihole(network wide adblocking), vpn access point. You can even use it to extend your WiFi range. There are tons of guides online that requires little to no programming abilities. Cheers.

    • +1

      I use one for running pihole / pivpn. I used another to manage my non-networked UPS, which then could trigger shutdowns on each device connected to it. I briefly ran home assistant on one before moving it onto my NAS.

      Another was in a small arcade cabinet i made running retropi.

      Not sure if I would use this keyboard version though, I guess this is just intended for people to learn computing/programming on (similar to OLPC which others mentioned).

  • +11

    Element 14 has it for the same price with free delivery
    https://au.element14.com/

    • +1

      Thanks! I’ve digging into it a bit and updated the post

  • +1

    I wonder if they would sell the bare board so you could install it into a proper keyboard…

    • +1

      install it into a proper keyboard

      If you have a 3D printer, you could add a case to the bottom of your preferred keyboard, making a computer that looks like the old Amiga 1200: https://www.a1200.net/

      That will give you plenty of space for USB HDD or an SSD, and maybe an internal power supply.

      Note that you'll have to 3D-print several sections, and glue or bolt them together.

      • A lot of keyboards have enough space inside that you could probably even mount a Zero W with a bit of protective shielding.

  • Any suggestions for portable mini hdmi monitors to work with it?

    • +3

      Just get a mini to standard HDMI cable ?

  • How powerful is this compared to a typical smartphone?

    Basically my plan is to have a small work corner in my bedroom and just connect to my main PC (which is in the study) via Parsec (the actual Parsec works well because I've been working around the house on my laptop with Parsec to my main PC). Would this handle the decoding fine?

    • +2

      It's a quad-core 1.8GHz ARM A72 with hardware h264/265 video decoding (i.e. what Parsec uses to send video).

      I'd expect it to be fine, but if I wasn't using it as a portable I'd buy a standard pi and a full-sized USB keyboard, just for the ergonomics of it.

    • Really depends on which code you run it, and which type of smartphone (small vs large). As a roundabout figure, this is very 2014-level of performance. In the Apple world, it's between an iPhone 5S (Apple A7) to an iPhone 6 (Apple A8) and upto an iPhone 6S Plus (Apple A9) level.

      In the Android world, the processors it's close to are:
      (slowest) QSD 810, QSD 632, Exynos 5433, QSD 650, Helio X20, RK 3399, QSD 652, QSD 653, (faster)
      (slower) Exynos 7420, Helio X23, Helio X25, Helio X27, Exynos 7885, QSD 636, Kirin 710, (faster)
      (slower) QSD 665, QSD 670, QSD 660, QSD 820, Kirin 950, Helio P60, Kirin 955, Helio P70, (faster)
      (slower) Helio X30, QSD 675, QSD 821, QSD 710, QSD 712 (fastest).

  • +5

    Good deal, but I gotta say that I’m confused by this product.

    I’ve got the Pi4 4GB and it’s got compact versatility. I can add heat sink, fan, case etc fairly easily. If I want a keyboard, I’ve got (like most people) spare cheap keyboards lying around.

    This new product format seems to limit options, rather than expands options

    • +3

      This product has some OLPC vibe - it looks like it was made for poor children in developing countries.

    • +5

      They're going for the old-school C64 vibe, plus as a cheap solution for giving kids their own PC.

      Also this thing's 300MHz faster than the PI4, and has a large built-in heatsink.

    • +2

      I think it's just that it is cool, and very unintimidating.
      I imagine there will be Dad's installing retro pi after Xmas lunch and kids playing with tux paint on the tv.
      I understand your points, and agree with them, but $100 is not very expensive for something that is just kind of cool to muck around with.
      Most parent age people remember c64 or Amiga computers and the fun and simpler time nostalgia, so I think plenty will find it an interesting Xmas gift.

  • It only has 4Gb ram. Why?
    There's a RPi4 8gb version.
    Why wouldn't the Rpi Foundation use that for something that's squarely aimed at a PC setup?

    • +1

      Price point and it is likely the CPU will be the bottleneck not ram for these devices. Remember they aren't windows.

  • Awesome! Was looking for these.

    The image of the US version has the AU style keyboard though… I think?

    Just can't get over the position of the backspace in the Australian ver

    • Pi 400 AU model uses US keyboard. They don’t provide a separate AU keyboard layout.

      P.S. is AU keyboard layout a thing at all?

      • +1

        The two most common keyboard layouts are ISO (L-shaped enter button) and ANSI (rectangular enter button). The US and Australia typically use ANSI.

      • Yeah sorry per @harro112…

        The "AU" version seems to have a keyboard that's ISO, and I am used to ANSI. The images I saw of the Australian RasPi400 have the ISO layout.. I definitely want the ANSI.

  • Can this run Ubuntu or equivalent? I'd get this if it could

    • +2

      So a bit of googling and I have confirmed Ubuntu confirms it works. I'm going to be getting one.

      • +2

        ubuntu works without any issues

      • Cool, me too. Getting Commodore/Amiga flashbacks….

    • Yes, 20.04 LTS and 20.10 run.

      I'm using Raspbian as Citrix thin client for work at the moment, it's a pretty good lightweight OS.

  • -1

    I seriously don't understand these hypes. I'm gonna wait till it hits Amazon or ebay in a another few months time. Probably with a promo - like a good Ozbargainer :)

    • +3

      I have never seen the raspberry pi have decent sales… Maybe once. But the pi zeros have been on sales more so

    • +2

      There are rarely any promo on Pi’s. In most time they’re back-ordered due to supply shortages.

      If I recall correctly, when zero series came out, each batch sold out in minutes. For months.

    • In my experience Pi's are cheaper right at release like this deal.

      • Yup mostly zero and zero w, as they are too good for the price. But I've seen in last prime day sale, PI4 4GB labist complete kit gone for $110ish. So fingers crossed.

  • +4

    I suppose it’s safe to say that if you’re not sure if you need one, you definitely don’t need one?

    • Yup.

      My standard is that if it’s over $10 and you’re not sure, I should walk away 😂

  • I'm currently using my pi 4 as a Citrix thin client driving 4k Monitor. It works! I'm VERY tempted to get the pi 400… BUT why on earth isn't it 8GB?!

    • Probably because 8GB Pi 4 is EXPENSIVE? I mean you should be able to run thin client with 2GB, right?

      I would say 4GB is the sweet spot. A 8GB version would likely to cost $150 for keyboard only version - that’s quite a bit bitter to swallow IMO.

    • Hey Felix - looking to buy a new Pi 4 8gb + Argon M.2 case to run Citrix - driving dual 24" @ 1080p.

      Am very interested to hear how your setup is working for you, and whether there's any pain points?

  • Gees the Commodore 64 has come a long way since I was a kid!

  • I don’t know what this is but I’ve read people turning them into a cheap router for gigabit internet

    • Not a good idea. To use as a router you’ll need two NICs, and the only option for 2nd NIC is USB, which is often flakey in terms of stability.

      Or run VLANs over the only NIC with a managed switch, but then you can’t enjoy the full gigabit bandwidth.

      Use that $100-ish to buy a decommissioned Dell Optiplex - add a 2nd NIC card and you’ll have a MUCH MUCH more capable router.

  • SBC = Single Board Computer

  • Are the types of docket containers you can run on this limited? How many containers could you run at once?

    Eg, could I run a PostgreSQL DB, web server, nosql database, etc?

  • Can I run pihole on this? What's the difference with keyboard and US versions??

    • Of course. But why? PiHole is a server application running 24/7, normal Pi would be a better choice.

      Pi 400 comes with different keyboard layouts just like any other keyboards. If it’s kit version, there’s different power adapter plugs fitting different markets as well.

  • My order just went to backorder - with an ETA of January, sigh.

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