Chapter 1. Setup and Management
1.0 Introduction
When you buy a Raspberry Pi, you are essentially buying an assembled printed circuit board, or in the case of a Raspberry Pi 400, a circuit board in a keyboard case. For a fully functioning system, you are going to need at least a suitable power supply, operating system on microSD card, and mouse.
The recipes in this chapter are concerned with getting your Raspberry Pi set up and ready for use.
Because the Raspberry Pi uses standard USB and Bluetooth keyboards and mice, most of the setup is pretty straightforward, so you’ll concentrate only on those tasks that are specific to the Raspberry Pi.
1.1 Selecting a Model of Raspberry Pi
Problem
Many models of Raspberry Pi are available, and you are not sure which one to use.
Solution
The decision as to which Raspberry Pi model to use depends very much on what you plan to do with it. Table 1-1 lists some uses and my model recommendations.
| Usage | Suggested model | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Desktop computer replacement | Raspberry Pi 400 or Raspberry Pi 4 model B (4 GB) | You will need the 4 GB of memory if you are web browsing. The Pi 400 offers the convenience being built into a keyboard case. |
| Electronics experimentation | Raspberry Pi 2 or 3 model B | Reasonably up-to-date hardware will minimize software problems. No need for more performance. |
| Computer vision | Raspberry Pi 4 model B (4 GB) | Maximum performance required. |
| Home automation | Raspberry Pi 2 or ... |