25.8.2019

Got this to run Pi Hole which turns it into a local DNS server and in turn allows it to act as a network-wide ad blocker, also blocking tracking across the internet, malware domains, software phoning home with “analytics” and “telemetry” (especially useful for any Windows 10 devices on your network), and basically any other domains you want it to block either individually or through lists. You can for example block all known domains associated with Facebook (which when my brother is out of the house, I do!)Now for the hardware itself. It’s light and compact just as the Raspberry Pi has been from the start. And as always it requires a case to be purchased separately - I went for the official white and red one,which I think looks very cool and sets it apart from the usual black ones.I didn’t get one with a fan however. Although I’d read of high running temperatures, I installed Raspbian Lite which is essentially the official server OS for the Pi. It provides only a command line without any GUI (although you can install one if you wish, but I didn’t) and only a minimal number of packages preinstalled so you can choose what software you have running.In my case I use it as a headless server with automated updates so I rarely ever need to even so much as plug in an HDMI cable. Whenever manual management is required I use the web UI of Pi Hole or I simply SSH in. As you can imagine this leads to a low CPU idle.Pi Hole’s web UI happens to measure CPU and RAM use along with running temperature. Right now it shows my Pi is running at 56.4 Celsius with barely any CPU use and 19.7% RAM use for reference. The temperature is pretty much what you’d expect from any regular computer especially considering it’s a hot summer at the moment. So temp is no concern if you aren’t using the Pi for anything heavy in my experience.However if you plan to run your Pi as more of a full-blown computer with a GUI and all the extra software Raspbian includes on the full image expect higher CPU load - in that case you may want the case with the fan. But for my use case I didn’t find it a necessary consideration.Now I’ve had this thing for about a month and in that time I’ve been pleased with it. I have it running not only Pi Hole which in turn runs FTL-DNS as it’s backend (a fork of Dnsmasq) but also Unbound, a separate project which allows me to use my Pi as a local recursive DNS server with DNSSEC enabled. My Pi Hole therefore runs my entire network’s DNS needs using barely any CPU.The best bit? I even have my Raspberry Pi powered by my desktop computer, an Intel NUC. If enabled in the BIOS settings, the front yellow USB port on an NUC will output enough power to run a Raspberry Pi, even when it’s shutdown. This is excellent as throughout the years the Pi has become more picky about the type of power source it will accept as it demands more and more power with each new generation.One note however. If you wish to run a similar setup to me with Pi Hole, Unbound, or another form of DNS server software, and you like me also have a Plex server or any frequently used server running, I recommend you use a different DNS server on that box. When I had my Plex server set to get DNS from DHCP (which served my Pi Hole) the Pi Hole was utterly taken over my Plex traffic. Everything was Plex. It made up about 95% of my network traffic and that’s no exaggeration. As a result it kept crashing. But once I did a clean install on the Pi then set the Plex box to simply use Google’s DNS (choose whatever you prefer) the Pi Hole worked as intended without any reliability issues.Overall I am very happy with this nifty little device. They continue to be as cool and open for experimenting as they’ve always been. Lovely bit of kit perfect for doing whatever little project you need to do. But do keep in mind, if coming from an older model, they do require more power with each new generation so make sure you have a power supply up for the task. If you don’t wish to plug yet another thing into a socket, see what other devices with powered USB ports you have around! I was surprised my NUC was up to the task but thankfully it was. Now I have a computer... powering a computer. Oh 21st century technology.

16.12.2018

I love my Raspberry Pi!It's a full blown computer the size of a deck of playing cards. It runs silently, and uses a fraction of the electricity of a larger computer. It can be configured to do nearly anything. People have configured them to work as personal computers, retro gaming consoles, media players, art installations and much more.They will run a variety of operating systems; a version of Linux was created specifically for the hardware. Linux has come a LONG way since I tried to install it on an old PC decades ago, unsuccessfully; everything works the way you'd expect it to on a modern computer. I was able to install the operating system and connect to the internet within about 5 minutes.

12.4.2019

For Christmas, I asked for a Raspberry Pi 3B+. After borrowing previous models, I started thinking about a robotics project, and thought “Hey, with the computing power of the Raspberry Pi, and the power of the Arduino (microcontroler), what an awesome robot I could make!” Since then I not only got what I wanted, but also got a second one as a desktop computer. Here are my thoughts:Both times I got my Raspberry Pi, and it looked and worked fine. The board itself is credit card shaped and is easy to hold. All the ports seem to work fine. After using a Raspberry Pi 2B+ v1.1 I was disappointed with the microSD card slot on the 3B+, as it does not feel as satisfying to click into place. All in all,

3.4.2018

This review is having to be limited in scope due to my very specific needs for this Pi. As I do not use all of its features it would be unfair to comment on them.I use this Pi 3+ as a Kodi box and nothing else. I do use the Milhouse nightly version of Kodi 18 Leia builds and it does work very very well.Previously in the same setup I had the Pi3.I hesitated about changing to this Pi as the differences seemed more incremental and perhaps a waste of money.But the small but noticeable performance jump has meant a more fluid response when navigating through the menus and faster responses when browsing through photos on my media server. I have it connected via Ethernet to my LAN.Also this Pi seems to run much cooler than the previous model.

29.10.2018

Let's be honest, if you're looking at this product the chances are you know what a Raspberry Pi is, and have a usage in mind for it, and are just looking for which version you want to buy.I chose the Pi 3B+ because I wanted the extra CPU and RAM, but mostly because I wanted its built-in network booting ability - I configured it to boot over the network so no SD card was required. However, I found it a bit flaky, sometimes booting and sometimes not, and usually not booting from the network at all after a soft reboot. It seems that's a known issue, and it feels like they rushed it out with fairly poor network boot code in ROM, thus the 4 stars. Also, with no SD card in, I was finding poor performance,

7.1.2019

I had just recently returned an Nvidia Shield for Christmas 2018 as it wasn't stable enough (even after updating to the latest firmware and software). Playing movies it would drop the sound at some point in the movie or even the picture, but it is an amazing bit of kit especially if you intend to use RetroPie on it. But for media, way too unstable for my liking, anyhoo; I bought the Raspberry Pi 3B+ not expecting much. Wow, it's a lot snappier than the 3B, navigating around the menus in KODI and loading up media file pics was comparable to the Nvidia. A very pleasant surprise, the Pi 3B now resides in my bedroom whilst the Pi 3B+ is my media center.

6.9.2020

I have had a midi keyboard laying around and I wanted to let my son be able to play without a device with a screen (laptop or tablet), so I decided to by a raspberry pi. I have dabbled around with Linux before and the installation process is super easy and straightforward and it has real vnc included so I can remote control from my phone hence no need for an external monitor. I have ardour installed and on all the time and the keyboard works like a regular piano. Brilliant.The only downside I've found is the included audio interface, when plugging in the speakers to the built in 3.5mm adapter, the latency is pretty high and doesn't work right if it's lowered.

4.8.2018

This is such a nice little SBC with so much support online to get you going. Has onboard WiFi and Bluetooth as well as an internet jack to hardwire if you want. Also has 4 USB ports (USB 2 speed). Makes a great retro gaming machine. Download RetroPie with Emulation station and load your games up. Use the 40 pin I/O header and build and control that robot you always wanted to.There are faster (and more expensive) SBC's like the Asus Tinkerboard and the Odroid XU4 but their level of online support can't match the latest Raspberry Pie 3b+. This a great way to get into computing and programming and is a great choice for someone on a budget. You will also need a power supply and a case and an HDMI cable,

9.11.2019

It seems almost unnecessary to write a review on the Pi these days, they've become so well known over the past few years, and they're so versatile that the list of things you can use them for is endless.This is the second Pi 3B+ I've bought, and both are used for running Retropie.The packaging in minimal, just a small cardboard box containing the Pi and an information leaflet. But if you know enough to use a Pi, that's all you need anyway. On top of the device itself, you need to buy (or reuse) a MicroSD card, a PSU (ideally rated 2.5A at least) and preferably a case.The 3B+ offers a few advantages over earlier models, mainly in the addition of 5GHz Wi-Fi, a gigabit ethernet port (though it's limited to about 300Mb/s,

14.4.2019

Purchased to run Home Assistant as an alternative to an off the shelf home automation system.The raspberry pi itself is well built, albeit feeling a little delicate due to its size. A very versatile bit of kit, plugged in and loaded my chosen software from the SD Card without issue. Plugged into my router via ethernet through a switch, no issues and automatically detected the network.**UPDATE**Running stable since installation, no issues at all. Now in a case so it looks smarter. Would recommend if looking to buy for something similar. The Pi 4 looks tempting, I'll see when the Home Assistant software is updated for the Pi 4 and see if I'm hitting any limits that warrant an upgrade.

7.7.2018

I'm running Openhabian on my PI it's a smart home controller software like smart thingsI'm hugely impressed with the quality and performance of this little credit card sized single board computerI wish I had brought one sooner will be buying more for many other projectsRunning kodi (libreelec)Building low performance nas (openmediavault)And many other projects found onlineExtremely happy don't forget too buy a sd card and power supplyUPDATE: I have since brought an extra rpi the same model ect for use with libreelec/Kodi and am also more than happy with the performance again another good reveiw and I still plan too buy another for another libreelec machine and maby more for a NUT (Network UPS Tools Server)

24.3.2018

Great piece of kit, my first upgrade since I bought the first generation Pi.One comment on a problem that I ran into that took a couple of hours to unpick, and which I've seen a few reports on elsewhere but for older gen Pis. Note: this is based on what's currently the latest version of Stretch [2018-03-13]. Having followed the official documentation for both the GUI and then command line instructions to configure the on-board WiFi card, I got an SIOCSIFFLAGS error when I tried to bring the interface up. The only way I could find to fix this was with the rfkill unblock command. The soft block on the Wifi card reinstates itself after every reboot so I've had to add the command to rc.local.

15.9.2018

Hands down, the best purchase I have ever made.There are innumerable things you can do with the Pi, but I (and likely most) people use it as a retro gaming/media center/desktop device.The 3B+ comes with an HDMI port, four USB ports, an Ethernet port, built-in Wi-Fi and an AV port, for those without HDMI TVs.Why buy the overpriced and under-supported NES or SNES Mini Classics with 20 games, when you can buy a Pi for a fraction of the cost, and play every game from the ZX to the PSX/PSP (literally thousands of titles)?Install KODI to alternate use as a media center, or install Pixel as a workable desktop/laptop replacement.The Pi is priceless, but you can buy one on here for about £33.00.

18.2.2019

Retro gaming machine utilizing RaspberrypiI saw a lot of materials and images that I could make, and I wanted to challenge myself.I was surprised at the small size when I received the product after the purchase.This small device supports many emulation and high performance emulation.I was surprised at the support.RaspberryPi was assembled in a MegaPi case, and an emulation program was installed and operated for a while.When I was emulating on a PC, I felt a different feeling.Performance also feels better.I think I need more experience and study,It was really interesting to buy a product and make a retro gaming machine.Next on the opportunity to take advantage of RaspbeeryPiI will challenge

2.12.2018

Love these things. I’ve got three now and a rpi 2 I use as an low power torrent box.They are very versatile and adapterable to your needs. Personally use my rpi 3b as retro games console, one on my 50” tv and one in a bar top arcade.Caveats are though that you should be aware of what they are capable of. They are great for old arcade games and consoles up to the n64. Some reviews state that they do run n64 games and some will fun very well, other are not good goldeneye is bad for example, but Mario64 is excellent. Again it emulates PlayStation 1 well but some games don’t play well. For more demanding consoles (PSP, Dreamcast, Naomi GDI) invest a bit more and get an Odroid XU4.Having said that I love my Pi(s)

Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ - Reviews

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