Memory on the Model A

[WillCK]

I love the specs on the Model A...except for one...the RAM being half that of the model B

I will be using my Pi's for tinkering and robotics applications....with usb wireless always...so the elimination of the RJ45 port is a no brainer to me....does anyone really use wired lan (aside from the pc closest to your router) anymore?

Also having only a single USB port is no big deal as I plan on using a powered USB hub for my "desktop" Pi and my "mobile" Pi (mounted on a bot) will probably be accessed with ssh or some other means.

long story short I am sad that the Model A...which is ideal for mounting on a bot has half the available RAM of the model B

Is this strictly a cost consideration?

Just curious if there are any plans in the works to put more RAM on the model A (maybe a $30 US mini pc?)

[DirkS]

For most applications 256MB should be plenty. Just ask all the people who bought the early Model B revisions last year...

Gr.
Dirk.

[rpdom]

Consider yourself lucky. The original specs for the Model A was 128MB of RAM, and the original Model B (like I have) has only 256MB.

It's a price issue. The chips got cheaper, so the machines could have double the original memory without going above the target prices.

[RaTTuS]

256 is fine...
and everyone who want any real speed out of their NIC will use a wired one.
even 100Mbps is faster than a wireless device [especially if you have more than one]....
and more secure
YMMV

[jamesh]

I love the specs on the Model A...except for one...the RAM being half that of the model B

I will be using my Pi's for tinkering and robotics applications....with usb wireless always...so the elimination of the RJ45 port is a no brainer to me....does anyone really use wired lan (aside from the pc closest to your router) anymore?

Also having only a single USB port is no big deal as I plan on using a powered USB hub for my "desktop" Pi and my "mobile" Pi (mounted on a bot) will probably be accessed with ssh or some other means.

long story short I am sad that the Model A...which is ideal for mounting on a bot has half the available RAM of the model B

Is this strictly a cost consideration?

Just curious if there are any plans in the works to put more RAM on the model A (maybe a $30 US mini pc?)

I never use wireless on my Raspi's...slower and insecure.

More RAM would push the price over $25. Which won't happen for the model A. That's a very important cut off.

Decent code shouldn't use more than 256MB anyway.

[pluggy]

Half of my 'B' s have 256MB.........

There are perfectly good 'bots' out there with an Arduino brain. A whole 8bit CPU and 2k of RAM.

[Jessie]

256 is fine, my Arch server has 128MB and it has no problem dishing out content up to 35MB/sec, that's bytes not bits. When the R Pi model B only had 256 I never once saw the memory even close to pegged. There are a couple rare use cases out there that will fill it. The fact is and I get real tired of repeating this... The CPU core is the bottleneck. All the OS images are so stripped down to use this limited CPU that the memory use is very limited as a result.

[tonyhughes]

The Model A doesn't have half the RAM of the Model B - the Model B has twice the RAM of the Model A

Ethernet ports have saved me about $40 in hardware and counting, as my Pi's are connected to a router upstairs, and one connected to a WiFi/ethernet wireless repeater downstairs.

By using ethernet, my favourite distros (Raspbian and Raspbmc) both have network out of the box without having to setup the WiFi. The ethernet ports in the office and behind the TV cabinet were already there.

It is what it is - grab a Model A or a Model B, and start going for it.

I haven't done anything on a Pi yet that requires more than 256MB RAM, including media centre duty, webhosting, SQL database and heavy duty file operations.

[WillCK]

Thanks for all the responses.

I already have a Model B....going to pick up another board...just trying to decide on the Model.

With the feedback here....I am guessing that 256 megs won't slow down most processes (the cpu being the bottleneck point)...so I will probably go with a Model A

I wasn't trying to start a debate about wired vs wireless...wireless is just my preference and I only use wired on one machine here...the one next to the router.

Anyway....thanks again all...I will get my Model A ordered up!

[jamesh]

It will only slow down if you actually run out of memory, and I'm thinking for most robotic apps that wouldn't be a problem.