The only issue that I hit is the ARM support for various Docker images. For example, I’m currently writing this blog post within VS Code, building it using Jekyll within a Docker container. So easy it was almost boring! I had a couple of issues, but on the whole it was very easy to set my Raspberry Pi 400 up so that I can write code, use Docker, and push changes to GitHub. Installed the VS Code Remote Containers extension so that I can use Docker dev containers to develop code within.Installed Visual Studio Code using these instructions.Set up Chromium, and installed the 1Password extension.I’ve spent the day setting my Raspberry Pi 400 up, and I’m pretty impressed. I can see schools/code clubs purchasing these devices and using the in their computing labs. Overall, the hardware is pretty good and I love the form factor. I’ve spent most of today browsing the web on it, while also installing apps, running docker containers, and building code, and it’s felt fast/snappy pretty much most of the time. The 400 starts up quickly, and is very capable as a general purpose desktop device. I have an Adafruit T-Cobbler Plus which makes it very easy to connect the 400 to a breadboard and build…stuff! The 400has the GPIO header at the back, so with a ribbon cable you can build electronics projects very easily. Again, this isn’t a big deal for me but if you were expecting to build any camera projects then the 400 isn’t the right choice. The other thing the 400 doesn’t have is the connector for the Raspberry Pi camera module. It’s not a BIG problem, but it’s something I hadn’t considered. For me, that’s a problem because my monitor doesn’t have speakers. Given the price point the keyboard is absolutely fine, but it does feel a tiny bit “plasticy”. I bought the kit (which includes a mouse, power supply, HDMI cable, and official guide) for £94. It’s a neat device, with a good collection of ports and connectors at the back. It was very easy to plug the 400 in and get it up and running. The 400 comes with a 16GB SD card pre-installed with Raspbian, and a host of apps (LibreOffice), dev tools (Geany, Mathematica, Scratch), utilities (Chromium, VLC Media Player), and games (Minecraft). MicroSD card slot for operating system and data storage.
2 × micro HDMI ports (supports up to 4Kp60).Dual-band (2.4GHz and 5.0GHz) IEEE 802.11b/g/n/ac wireless LAN.Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 (ARM v8) 64-bit SoC 1.8GHz.You can read much better descriptions elseewhere, but the main points from the tech specs are: The Raspberry Pi 400 is, essentially, a Raspberry Pi 4 housed within a keyboard.
The following are my initial thoughts on the hardware, and on using it for light weight development. So, given this, how could I resist buying the new Raspberry Pi 400!? Computers built into keyboards, that you can easily plug into a TV, are part of my DNA. I grew up programming on my TV, with a Sinclair ZX81 followed by a ZX Spectum.
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