8 reasons why a Raspberry Pi is perfect for tinkerers

Summary

• Raspberry Pi models are affordable and designed for experimentation.
• The Raspberry Pi’s small form factor is ideal for smaller DIY projects.
• Versatile hardware connections, low power usage, and a large support community all make the Pi a great choice.

When the Raspberry Pi first launched, it was intended primarily as an educational tool for kids. However, even before the product was released, there were plenty of tinkerers itching to get their hands on one, and the first batch sold out in minutes. The single-board computer (SBC) has become hugely popular among tech DIY enthusiasts, who have used Raspberry Pis to build everything from retro game consoles to magic mirrors.

Why has an SBC intended for school children become so popular among adult tech hobbyists? What is it about this small but mighty computer that makes it such a good fit for DIY projects? Here are some of the reasons why the Raspberry Pi is perfect for tinkerers.

1

Raspberry Pi models are very affordable

You don’t need to break the bank to get your hands on a Pi

The Raspberry Pi was designed to be an educational tool to encourage kids to learn to code and to teach them the joys of tinkering with computers. However, it quickly became a popular choice for adult tinkerers to use in their own projects.

One of the biggest reasons is that Raspberry Pi models don’t cost a huge deal. This was part of the original intent; the creators wanted kids to be able to mess around with a computer without worrying about destroying the family PC. The low cost also made it a great choice for tinkerers, who could use them in their projects without breaking the bank.

2

You can experiment with low stakes

If your project blows up, it’s not the end of the world

The Raspberry Pi was intended to be something that kids could experiment with without having to worry about breaking an expensive computer, and the same is true for tinkerers, too. If you build a Raspberry Pi into a project and the whole thing goes wrong, you’re not out of pocket by hundreds of dollars. You can just buy another Raspberry Pi and try again.

It opens a world of experimentation that you might not otherwise risk if you were using a more expensive computer. For example, you might build a Raspberry Pi into a weather station that you keep outdoors. You’d feel very nervous leaving an expensive device outside your home day and night, but with a cheap Raspberry Pi, you don’t have to worry so much about someone walking off with your tech.

3

The small form factor is great for tinkering

You can build your Pi into smaller projects

Another major benefit of the Raspberry Pi for tinkerers is that the single-board computers are very small. Since everything is on a single circuit board, you can build a Raspberry Pi into a project without it taking up a huge amount of room. Whether you want to build a retro game console or your own bespoke smart speaker, the Raspberry Pi is small enough that your creation doesn’t have to be enormous.

If the standard Raspberry Pi models are still too big for your needs, there are smaller options available, too. The Raspberry Pi Zero is just 65mm long and 30mm wide, making it small enough to fit into almost anything you want to build.

4

The Raspberry Pi can be incredibly versatile

Run Linux or a project-specific OS

Another huge benefit of the Raspberry Pi for tinkerers is that it’s incredibly versatile. This isn’t a computer that is only able to run a specific operating system and nothing else. While Raspberry Pi OS is the official Debian-based Linux distribution supported by the Raspberry Pi, you can run all sorts of other options.

A Raspberry Pi can run a wide range of Linux-based distros, such as Ubuntu, Kali Linux, and Fedora, as well as dedicated operating systems such as LibreELEC for Kodi, Home Assistant OS for smart home automations, and RetroPie for emulating video games. Whatever you’re planning to do with your Raspberry Pi, you should be able to run the perfect OS for your needs.

5

You can connect all sorts of hardware to your Pi

Add almost anything you want to your Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi was designed to be something that kids could use to experiment with programming, but also, they could use to build their own electronic devices. To that end, the Raspberry Pi was built to be able to connect to a wide array of different hardware.

There are the usual connections you’d find with a standard computer, such as USB ports for peripherals and HDMI ports to connect to displays, but there are also plenty of other devices that you can connect directly to your Raspberry Pi. There’s a camera port where you can attach cameras and a display port that you can use to connect touchscreen displays.

The Raspberry Pi was built to be able to connect to a wide array of different hardware.

There’s also the 40-pin GPIO header. You can use this to connect a ton of different components, including LEDs, temperature and humidity sensors, push buttons, stepper motors, keypads, motion sensors, and relays.

On top of that, there are plenty of add-on boards, known as HATs, that can give your Pi even more capabilities, such as Power over Ethernet, digital audio output, a TV decoder, and even a HAT to control Lego Technic motors. With so many compatible hardware options, the possibilities are almost limitless.

6

Your Raspberry Pi will sip power

You can leave your Pi running without spiking your energy bills

Another reason why the Raspberry Pi is popular among tinkerers is that it doesn’t require a great deal of power. If you’re creating a project that you want to leave powered on at all times, using a high-powered computer can eat through a lot of electricity. A Raspberry Pi uses far less power in comparison.

For example, I used to run Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi 3 B. It’s possible to run it on a laptop or desktop, but you really need to keep it running 24/7. Leaving my iMac running 24/7 would use far more power than running Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi; the iMac has an idle power consumption of around 70W, compared to just 3W for the Raspberry Pi.

7

There are plenty of Raspberry Pi models to choose from

Whatever you want to do, there’s a Pi for that

Not every tinkering project is the same. For some projects, you may need the most powerful Raspberry Pi you can get your hands on. For others, you may need the smallest device you can get. Some uses might require Wi-Fi, and others might not. The good news is that there is a variety of Raspberry Pi models, so you should be able to find something to fit your specific needs.

The standard Raspberry Pi is on its fifth generation, and you can still usually get your hands on every model aside from the Raspberry Pi 2. The original Raspberry Pi is available for less than $30, with the top-of-the-range Raspberry Pi 5 available for around $60.

Whatever you want to create, you should find a Raspberry Pi that can help.

If you want a quick and easy way to get up and running with a Raspberry Pi, you can also buy the Raspberry Pi 400 and 500, which build the Raspberry Pi 4 and Raspberry Pi 5 into a compact keyboard. All you need to do is connect to a display and a mouse, and you can be up and running.

If you need something smaller than the standard Raspberry Pi, the Raspberry Pi Zero models are even smaller but still powerful enough for many projects. You can find options with and without on-board Wi-Fi. There are microcontroller boards such as the Raspberry Pi Pico, and Raspberry Pi Compute Modules that are intended to be built into custom hardware products or industrial applications. Whatever you want to create, you should find a Raspberry Pi that can help.

If you’re stuck, someone else will have been stuck the same way

This is one of the reasons why Raspberry Pi computers are so popular with these tinkerers these days. There is a thriving community of people who are creating incredible projects using Raspberry Pis. The benefit of this is that if you want to try to build something, someone has probably already done it. The upshot is that there is a wealth of useful information out there about how to achieve your goals. Whatever problem you’re facing, someone has probably tackled it before and shared their solution online. It means that you don’t have to start everything from scratch; there is a ton of help out there if you need it.