My mobile entertainment centre

[MattBW]

I've been messing around with raspberry pi's (small £25 computers) and this is my latest addition to the Cali. I've added a screen and case it now it's both a games machine and a Kodi media player. I can load films onto a usb stick or even use network drives if I have one in the van. Streaming is also possible.

As well as the movies it can run plenty of game emulators from old arcade games to mega drive, snes and even PlayStation 1 games. Obviously you should only load games you own.

It is quite hungry on power between 1 and 2amps at peak. I could use a pi2 for less but I tend to just use a battery pack.

 

[MattBW]

Only downsides at present is no built in speaker but I can use a basic speaker in the jack.

Anyone interested can check out Retropie


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[sapto]

@MattBW Street fighter? I remember that on my Nintendo (the grey square one), saved money for 2 years to buy one together with my brother.

 

[Bramco]

Wouldn't a pi 3 give you Bluetooth and therefore sound through a set of Bluetooth speakers which might be a bit more versatile.

I'm just putting together a multi room music player using pi zeros and the recently released justboom zero amps. So each room costs a bit over £50 - pi zero, amp, WiFi dongle, SD card and power supply. Beats Sonos prices hands down and is something to keep me occupied while the weather and daylight deteriorate.

Being of a slightly older generation I've never been into games but the whole retro games movement on the pi is amazing.

 

[MattBW]

@sapto yeah Streetfighter 3 I think it is in that screenshot, my friends had SF2 in the early 90s on the Super Nintendo, we played it for hours and hours. Brings back lots of memories which I think is why I like this device so much

@Bramco it does have BT yes but I haven't tried it yet as I don't have anything to try it with. Anything that uses less power would be ideal even an unpowered speaker.

I have some Pi2s and a Zero sitting around too, Ive fancied making an Amazon Echo type device with them or maybe a smart mirror. Its good fun to play around and as you say in the right context very cost effective. I have to say though I love my sonos.


The screen is only 7inches so its pretty small.

 

[jts46]

Mine is a good book

 

[MattBW]

I always take my kindle with me but I never read it unless its raining, same with this device though really

 

[Bramco]

I have to say though I love my sonos.

I would but can't love the price which seems just rip off. A bit like Bose and B&O. I'm sure folks will jump in here but in the past I've consulted with one of those and they readily admit the gubbins isn't anything special, what you are paying for is the brand and marketing.

Like you I had some zeros lying around, bought to experiment with other things and at £4 you can't say no can you. Anyway, saw the Justboom Amp at £24 and thought I'll try that as some of the other pi amps are in the £50 to £60 range. We have a NAS with a squeezebox server on it, so it was simple to set things up. I used the free download of Max2Play for JustBoom and everything worked 1st time. So like I said earlier ~£50 per room and we can listen to all our music or radio 4. There have been some battles.....

 

[MattBW]

I've had a few speakers systems over the years, Orbitsound being the last rather expensive one that was all 5 star reviews but actually a big disappointment. As you say they've never lived upto the hype, My car bose was ok but nothing spectacular.

I will say though I've always found the sound on the sonos very impressive for a small device, I bought mine after I heard one and was blown away at the depth of sound. However I always found the interface a bit restrictive on the sonos. I'm certain with decent speakers and amps you could achieve exactly the same with a zero and bluetooth or wifi dongle. I may give it a go myself in fact, I've been looking for a use for my zero . A good excuse to tinker and I will check out those justboom and I will check out that software too!

I use a NAS too, have lots of movies and music on it although I've switched to apple music of late.