Raspberry Pi order equipment

The Raspberry Pi is a great mini computer, but a bit helpless without a number of different supplies. You Pi needs for its computation a power supply, but for a good work, you will need more things. I decided to write a detailed list of all components that may be useful for you.

Case

Important, but not necessary is a Raspberry Pi Case. With it, your Pi is save against mechanical damage. It is important, that this case is aired, because the Pi has no active cooler. Another reason is, that the Pi looks better when it is not naked!

If you overclock you Pi and you are worried about the heating, you may use additional passive coolers. With it you can cool down your CPU and GPU when the Pi gets hot. It prevents it for physical damage. So you can get the rest out of it.

Memory

You need memory to store your operating system and your files. The Raspberry Pi boots from a SD card. If you have more cards, you can use different systems which are very easy to change. So you can use one Pi for different things.

• SanDisk 4GB
  4 GB is the minimum of memory you need. It is a good idea to use a bigger card.
• Transcend Extreme-Speed 16GB
  I can recommend this card. The price is only a bit higher than the 4 GB card, but it is much bigger and also faster. The Speed is not really important during computation, but if you want to copy many files.
• Transcend Extreme-Speed 32GB
  If you will need more, take this one. On this 32 GB card, you can install different operating systems on only one card which you can switch at boot time with a boot manager.

Cable

There are a lot of useful cables that you may need for your Pi:

• Micro-USB Power Supply
  You will need it! But there are different micro USB cables and power supplies, which may have too less power. So if you have troubles with you Pi, try to use this power supply. It may solve it!
• HDMI-Cable (2,0 Meter)
  It is not necessary, but a good idea if you want to connect your Pi with a big screen. This cable is ideal, because it is also long enough to give  your Pi an optimal position.
• InLine Klinke Cable 3,5mm
  If you want to use the audio out of your Pi you can use this cable. You can connect it with our audio system. Normally audio is also transported with a normal HDMI cable, but if you do not use HDMI or you want to use your Pi as a radio or jukebox, you will need it.
• Video-Cable Cinch
  If your TV has no HDMI, you can use the video out of your Pi. Connect it with this cable to the TV set or Display.
• Cat5e Ethernetcable (4,2 Meter)
  If you are not using WLAN, you can connect your Raspberry Pi with a normal ethernet cable to the network. I use this method to connect my Pi directly to the router.

USB devices

There is a huge number of USB devices that can be used on PC, Laptop, … Your Raspberry Pi has 2 USB plugs, so you can run 2 USB devices parallel. Watch out, not every device works on your Pi! Here is a list of tested devices:

• WLAN Stick
  This EDIMAX WLAN Stick is certified for Linux Systems, small and very cheap. Ideal for your Raspberry Pi and works without problems.
• 16 GB USB Stick
  You can also use additional memory for your Pi. This 16 GB stick is useful. Why? You can do automatic backups of your system from SD card to this stick. If the SD card has a problem, you have a backup ready!
• Logitech K400 Keyboard
  A wireless USB keyboard with touchpad. It works on your Pi and you can control it from remote.
• Mini wireless Handheld-Keyboard
  Again a useful keyboard, but a little bit smaller.

Display

Normally you will use your TV set or a PC display for your Pi, but if you are away, wouldn’t it be a good idea to use a mobile display? There are Pi projects that use small mobile displays and a Pi as backview camera or media center in the car. 4,3 Zoll MIni LCD Monitor