The Raspberry Pi is an incredible tiny gadget that can do almost anything. They’re cheap, small, and have a support community that’s unmatched when it comes to any sort of DIY electronics.
There’s also a rich ecosystem of accessories that make projects using the Raspberry Pi easy to build. I use them for things like a Pi-Hole, the “brains” of my aquatic setups, streaming music and video, and even as a small-scale server for file sharing and storage. And of course, I love to build contraptions for fun using cheap parts.
Prime Day means it’s a great time to pick up a few things like SD cards and cables, but I found five really cool things for the Raspberry Pi that I just had to buy while the price was right.
Keep things cool with this case
I use a Raspberry Pi and some old hard drives to keep a backup of my music collection. It’s not a full-blown NAS, but it’s close, and if you aren’t looking for blazing-fast speed, you can save a lot of money this way. I also have a gadget called a Pi Hole as my home network’s DNS server that blocks malicious ads before they have a chance to show up on my computer or phone.
Both of these projects use a Raspberry Pi that you’ll never have to touch once you’ve got things set up, but you still need to keep everything cool — the Raspberry Pi 4B runs a little hot. This case should be perfect for my next project.
An awesome portable display
A Raspberry Pi is a completely networked device that’s designed to be programmed and administered remotely, but sometimes it’s just easier to grab a keyboard and a screen and go hands-on.
You need a display for that and you’ll probably want a small one that’s a stand-alone unit that simply plugs in and works. I actually have this display and I like it so much I’m buying a second one with plans to use it as a visualizer for my next project. Saving $15 bucks is sweet, too.
Battery backup
Unless you have a larger UPS solution for your electronics, you probably want some sort of battery backup for your Raspberry Pi. When the electricity goes out, it can corrupt data as well as the operating system itself.
I have some larger battery back up solutions and use them, but I also want a small self-contained unit that doesn’t need an extension cord strung across the floor of my office or my workshop. This should give me plenty of time to send a safe power-off command if needed, or to keep power on when the mains start flickering.
A proper Raspberry Pi camera
A Raspberry Pi is a great way to monitor a 3D printer, and I’m finally going to build a “proper” OctoPrint interface and be done with it. What was holding me back was the camera, so I bought one.
You can do a lot more with a Raspberry Pi and a camera. It can make a great privacy-focused camera to monitor your home, build self-driving robots that should stay away from the stairs (ask me what happened to my last camera module), or just use it as a webcam if you build a Raspberry Pi desktop. This one is the right price, offers a high-resolution sensor, and comes with a mounting solution and cables.
A HiFiBerry is something I always wanted to make
A HiFiBerry is a specialized audio board that works with a Raspberry Pi to deliver awesome audio. It’s a stand-alone DAC that attaches directly to the Pi and works with whichever software you use to play your music or video. I’ve been wanting one for a while.
What made me finally pull the trigger and order the parts was this great deal on a pair of Klipsch bookshelf speakers and the beautiful aluminum case to house the parts. With both of them being on sale for Prime Day 2.0 I couldn’t say no. I’m ready to build an awesome music player that I can control from anywhere.