by James Valle

The Raspberry Pi is a credit card sized single-board computer developed in the UK by the Raspberry Pi Foundation with the intention of stimulating the teaching of basic computer science in schools.

The Raspberry PI has a Broadcom BCM2835 system on a chip which includes a 700MHz processor, videocore IV GPU, and 256MB of RAM. The Raspberry Pi does not include a built-in hard disk, but uses an SD card for booting and long term storage. You can also install a hard disk via USB. There are two Raspberry Pi versions available, the Model A which is priced at $25.00 and Model B priced at $35.00. Model A comes with one USB 2.0 port and no ethernet port. Model B comes with two USB 2.0 ports, a 10/100 ethernet (RJ45) port, a HDMI port, a 3.5mm audio jack output and a composite RCA output.

To power the Raspberry Pi, you will need a micro USB cable and a minimum 700mA – 1200mA, 3.5w, 5v USB AC adapter. The Motorola USB phone chargers are the best ones to use because most have a rating of 700mA – 1500mA. If you are running resource intensive applications or plugged in peripherals that draw more current, make sure the mA rating is enough to support it.

Today, we will be installing Raspbian, which is the newest version of Debian, optimized for the Raspberry Pi. Applications run faster on Raspbian than other distribution of Linux ported to the Raspberry Pi. You can download Raspbian from the Raspbian’s website.

Before proceeding, you will need a USB keyboard/mouse combo, SDHC/micro SDHC memory card with a minimum of 4GB to install Raspbian. A monitor that supports either HDMI or composite RCA video cable is needed.

Here is our video. Enjoy!

Tags: Apple, BCM2835, BeableBoard, computer, credit card size computer, Dell, Installation, iOS X, iOSx, J Tech, J Tech Inc, J Tech TV, J Technology Inc, J Technology TV, Linux, PC, personal computer, Raspbian, Rasperry Pi, Tutorial, Unix, Windows