December 9th, 2024

Raspberry Pi 500 review with Raspberry Pi Monitor and teardown

The Raspberry Pi 500, a keyboard PC, was reviewed with the Raspberry Pi Monitor, highlighting setup issues, limited monitor brightness via USB, and subpar audio quality from built-in speakers.

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Raspberry Pi 500 review with Raspberry Pi Monitor and teardown

The Raspberry Pi 500, a keyboard PC, has been reviewed alongside the 15.6-inch Raspberry Pi Monitor. The review includes an unboxing experience, detailing the contents of the packages, which included the keyboard PC, a power adapter, and a micro HDMI to HDMI cable. The keyboard features a UK layout, with other layouts expected in the future. The monitor has a sturdy design with a 180° hinge and multiple ports, but lacks USB-C video support. Initial setup faced issues due to a microSD card not being fully inserted, but once resolved, the Raspberry Pi OS booted successfully. The monitor's brightness is limited when powered via USB, but can reach full brightness when using its own power adapter. Audio quality from the built-in speakers was found lacking, prompting the use of external speakers for better sound. The Raspberry Pi 500 operates similarly to the Raspberry Pi 5, with specifications indicating it has a quad-core CPU and 8GB of RAM. Overall, the review highlights both the strengths and weaknesses of the new hardware, particularly in terms of setup, audio quality, and design.

- The Raspberry Pi 500 is a keyboard PC that comes with a UK layout and lacks a mouse.

- The Raspberry Pi Monitor features a sturdy design but does not support USB-C video.

- Initial setup issues were encountered due to a microSD card not being properly inserted.

- The monitor's brightness is limited when powered via USB but can be increased with its own adapter.

- Audio quality from the built-in speakers is subpar, leading users to prefer external speakers.

Link Icon 3 comments
By @gnabgib - 5 months
Discussion (120 points, 17 hours ago, 108 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42364038
By @wkat4242 - 5 months
I wonder if soldering the M.2 connector is really all that's needed to support NVMe. Did someone try it yet? Perhaps they gave up on it for a technical reason.