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Comment by HeyHoJoe | Hacker News Reader

> I own several Raspberry Pi computers (1, 2 and 3). Most of them are the Model B format, but I have couple of Zeros too. All of them sit in a box, unused.

Same for me and most people I know who have bought an rpi. Buy it because it seems like a cool toy and then stick it in a box and never use it for anything.

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If you're looking for a fun use for your shelved rpi, I can recommand installing a retro-gaming distro such as recalbox (https://www.recalbox.com/) or retropie (https://retropie.org.uk/).

I installed recalbox on a rpi3, and it runs nes/snes fine, and even some n64 games. On occasions I brought it along when visiting friends, and plugged it into the TV/projector with a couple of joysticks. It has been a blast!

All in all I'm very happy with my small on-the-go arcade machine.

thats always the suggestion, but every computer and laptop can easily emaulate all those things+ more.. I see no reason to use a rasp for that

This is always where I struggle as well.

I can bring two old corded Xbox 360 controllers with my Surface Book 3 and play pretty much any console game on an emulator. My SB3 has an HDMI dongle that I got with my SB2, so I just struggle to see the point.

I bought an SNES Classic, and it sits in the box because I can emulate all those games, plus more, with better graphical quality and more features on SNES9x.

Other usable ideas could be as an "Internet Radio" listening device if you can cobble together a descent front panel display and software stack.

Another could be some type of a Twitter ticker tape display for your front room.

Sure you can indeed. For me the compactness of the rpi was a plus however. Since you don't need a dedicated screen or a keyboard (recalbox interface is tailored for controllers), having only to carry the small rpi makes it more convenient and more suited to this use in my view.

Of course, if it's to play at mainly at home then I agree it's not as interesting.

This seems like a much more practical and useful package for most people, especially the full kit with all the connectors and such you need included. Just hook it up to a hand me down / cheap TV and you’ve got a very capable little computer. If this had come out when my kids were younger, learning Scratch and getting into Minecraft, I’d have been all over it.

If you say so, but I doubt I’ll buy an rpi again, with or without a built in keyboard. I had a look at project ideas when the 400 was announced and realised there was nothing I wanted to do, and for most of the projects you can buy a premade solution cheaply. I guess I’m not their target audience.

Mine was catching dust for years, then I bought a Arcade 1UP, modded it and it's now the core of it.

Your buying it wasn't in vain as it allowed the RPi 400 to be made. Without people buying it would have petered out.

I did use my A as irc bouncer for a while. Then I stopped. rpi curse

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