This looks great, but they should have wrapped a wifi antenna cables around the keyboard like it's done in laptops (usually around the screen) to increase the reception area. Built in wifi is still the Achilles's heel of all of the Pis I've used
I dont know why but it makes me really happy that your also interested in single board computers. Love your videos was just learning about Jupiters moons!
They do very wise decision not to use wifi built in board. Cheap wifi assembly tends to have different quality issues - either closed source drivers that works with tons of trubles and have conpatibility issues, or issues with recieving/transferring physical module, or issues with decoding/encoding chip or errors in frimware. So if you need wifi connection, they supply this device with additional standard usb hole, where you can insert any favourite usb wifi plug and have wireless connectivity experience. Very good, wise and lucky decision - user have freedom of choice - there plenty different usb wifi plugs on the maket.
@@joselu90 I don't know your testing method. Run video encoding for 2 hours for example, and log CPU temperature and frequency. Also, it is interesting, how hot and stinky will be the plastic case after it.
What I love about the module inside is that all the ports are on the same edge. I can see a few hardware hackers getting these and removing the case and keyboard.
Thanks, Jeff, your video of how to get the keyboard off was very helpful. This work for the Raspberry PI keyboard as well. This comes in handy if you need to switch the keyboard language or have a damaged keyboard. The Pi keyboard and the Pi 400 keyboards are compatible. Also your selection of the tool to pop the seams on the keyboard is spot on. I have not found a better tool.
This perfect for the average home user. It has been frustrating "arguing" with family about them buying $500-$1000 computers to browse the web, watch videos, use Word and Excel.
6:40 Nope, the 400 number is not an homage to the Amiga 500. It's an homage to the Acorn Archimedes 400 series, which was the power user version of the Archimedes (the low-end version was the 300 series). All the Raspberry Pi names pay homage to early Acorn computers (the BBC Model A, Model B, Archimedes, etc.). The ARM processor was originally the Acorn RISC Machine CPU -- the first 32-bit desktop RISC processor, released with the Acorn Archimedes. The acronym was later renamed to Advanced RISC Machine. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_Archimedes en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Micro en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARM_architecture
the guy who made the pi said he was inspired by the Amiga already, my guess is the 400 is for 4gig of ram like the amiga 500 the 500 stands for 500k of ram
@@Yahgiggle Did you read what I wrote? Please research the history of the BBC Micro. The creators of the Raspberry Pi were inspired by Acorn computers, not by Amiga. They are British, not American.
@@usethefooorce yes I know all about the Acorn and you could be right as the information I was told was second hand, but from someone I would think would not tell BS his information was that the guy that made the pi 400 got his inspiration from the Amiga 500
I noticed this pop up in my Google News feed and I was curious about its innards. Your video sated my curiosity and I liked the cheeky humour / skits mixed into the overall "box opening" video. Good job on making this video Jeff and keep it up! :)
@@zuryan There's still the cost of the connectors, on both the Compute Module and the hypothetical main board. The Pi is cheap enough that that sort of thing matters.
@@electronics-girl the compute module is already being sold with the connectors. so all they need is two connectors on the keyboard PCB. the only two reasons I can really think of is 1st, it technicly not being a "single board" computer anymore, and 2nd the compute module remains not as easily usable by tinkerers so that way they can don't run into stock shortage for industrial use as easily.
Have to say, I REALLY want to see one of these with 8G of ram and an integrated M.2 sata port. Perhaps even with a beefed up SOC of 2Ghz+. I love these little low powered computers for running things during power outages, which happen often in my area. While my neighbors are running around with candles I have a powerbank with a led camping light and a ARM Chromebook running Ubuntu tethered to my phone. Priorities I guess ;-) .
Thank you for this. Really well done review, answers all my questions, looks up chips, etc. Many many small details you do so well for conveying the picture of this device.
they have all that space but still went with those crappy tiny HDMI sockets! could be design philosophy? make everything tiny then you notice the gpio header ok maybe not! they probably just did it to save money so they didn't have to stock regular hdmis
@@FunHaverSD Because Mini and Micro HDMI SUCK. They are pretty fragile and break easily. Also, since those connectors suck and almost any device uses full size HDMI or uses USB C for Video (that connector is around a billion times better then Mini/Micro HDMI), nobody got those fucking Cables/Adapters on hand. No, less is not allways more. They really got more then enough space for at least one full sized HDMI on there. Or do it at least over a USB C port, that is actually a good connector. The recourses argument is pretty week btw. The difference between Micro and fullsize is very small, it basically didn't matter. But if those tiny amounts of material mean something to you, think about the adapters to fullsize people need to buy.
GAME CHANGER! For real. Tech only gets more compact and lightweight in time. This could be the first of a new breed of systems geared towards coding professionals and engineers of all kinds. Love it!
Looks really neat! I'm surprised they didn't just put a normal Pi 4 in there, I guess they are expecting to sell enough units to make up for the investment of a new PCB design.
It also saves on the overhead of adding a bunch of extra jumpers/cabling to get the GPI, power, and HDMI plugs on the back of the unit. I think this design was the easiest way to get the whole thing in the same footprint as the Pi Keyboard.
You know what's funny, there's a guy doing exactly that with an old TI-92 calculator, he's calling it a "PI-92". twitter.com/Hacksterio/status/1320913681610383361 (We're thinking of doing something similar with some second-hand Alphasmart keyboards, which would be similar to this PI-400, except with the LCD display as well).
Makes sense. It's being launched for £70-£100 just before christmas in a year where parents don't have a lot of money, and won't be able to go shopping in towns because of Lockdown2.
Thanks for the run-through. I've been curious about what's inside, but leery about disassembling my shiny new Pi 400. I'm glad we have other people on TH-cam to do it for us.
@@JeffGeerling The Acorn machines are also Arm based and part of the Pi's heritage like the model B's coming from the BBC micro model B which was made by Acorn.
@@NigelGent A lot of heritage there! I have still never seen an Acorn in the wild, but it seems like a lot of the Pi heritage dates back to that company.
@@JeffGeerling In my loft I've got an Acron A310, A4000 and an A5000 and they all still work Thr RiscOS they ran was brilliant and you can run it on a Raspberry Pi.
I'm glad I was able to get it back together so easily, too! It's always 50/50 the first time I open something like a keyboard whether I cut myself on it or break off a few tabs. Luckily the Pi 400 is pretty dang robust!
If you don't have access to a plastic spudger, a guitar pick or old/unused credit/gift card also work in a pinch. These materials have lower hardness compared to metal pry tools, so they won't mar the finish of the product you're disassembling. Terrific teardown and analysis, by the way. Love the attention to detail and the email exchange (actual journalism) you've put in prior to making this video. Keep up the good work.
Glad you liked it! All the guitar picks I had on hand were too soft/flimsy to pop the connectors... but I think I'll invest in iFixIt's kit for the next go-round.
FYI, if you're looking for a Pi in 2022, the Pi 400 is still available at a non-gouged price point. I just received my Pi 400 kit yesterday (Mar 2022) and I paid $100, same as retail when they were released.
by the way it has been put together, it seems like they want you to tinker with it, so i expect lots of accessories and perhaps custom cases for this in the near future so this could be interesting.
The bourns part is the ethernet magnetics (basically a couple of small transformers), on the regular pi they use a jack with integrated magnetics; this board is using a standard 8P8C jack with external magnetics, likely for lower profile.
I was wondering about that myself. I guess they were attached to their target pricing and didn't feel they could take the modest bump and put in the bigger ram.
i was hoping so too, but i guess that would be more thermally dense? although then it would be easier to heatsink the extra chips... maybe they're just wanting to save the cost of the additional PCB + board-to-board connectors
Yes i always wanted to replace the board of my atom laptop bcz that cpu is so fucking slow like it performs like a pentium 4 from 2000... & A board like this with a custom lcd and keyboard , mouse driver and sata interface with battery controller and omg!! .. it would be so nice but having that custom interface for the keyboard is going to be tough. Lcd controllers r easy to find on ebay and there is millions of them . The laptop has a really god display and keyboard .. & also 47watt hr battery which should be enough for the pi to run about 3 to 4hr.
@@KuntalGhosh have a look at the Pinebook Pro. Quad core ARM based. Runs Manjaro from the factory. $200USD Optional NVMe storage. (requires adapter ~$20)
@@williamp6800 no no , i am talking about replacing the motherboard of an existing net book that i have laying around. i also have an lenovo ideapad from 2010s with core 2 duo t7200 , and i think i can fit a ryzen sbc in there with a flat heat pipe laptop heatsink maybe.
I'd been wondering about the formfactor of the actual PI inside the keyboard. I guess I was expecting to find a Raspberry Pi CM4 attached to a backplane providing all the IO ports. I did not expect to see an all new board design.
OK, after playing with this in the UK for several days doing lots of ffmpeg based h264 / 265 video transcoding I found that the Pi 400 can run up to +20C compared to using an Ice Tower with a regular Pi 4 4GB, e.g 66 C v 47C. Now most people don’t run video transcodes for hours like me. I ran ffmpeg libx265 CRF 20 for 15+hours (0.043x with 41 mins input file). So definitely usable from a temperature if not performance perspective. On the downside I had a boot USB 3 SSD connected and found that like the Sinclair ZX81 from the early 1980s the connector comes out far too easily thereby freezing the Pi 400. It is crying out for an internal storage option. Just move the keyboard and the USB 3 SSD interface link is interrupted. Sticking with MicroSD might be a better option.
Ok, I didn't expect a completely different motherboard. I thought it was just a pi 4 + breakout board to get to all the IO ports. That explains the missing 3.5 jack and missing camera connector. I was thinking that I would have to drill a hole to get to that. My reason is that I wanted the "RCA" video option for playing on olden TVs. They still exist and are a backup display option when you are out in the wild. I understand why they would ditch the 3.5 jack, but if you ditch the jack then maybe go with standard HDMI connectors.
Something I've NOT noticed at first is that it lacks the CSI and DSI connectors. I guess it makes sense to leave out the DSI in such a design, since it already has two HDMI outputs; but maybe people would want a camera, even if only to use a videoconferencing app. Also, a microphone input would be a great addition. Of course one could add both the camera and the mike with a single USB port, but it would be nice if we could use whatever interface had become available by cutting out the DSI port to add a sound digitizer, and still keep the CSI port for a Pi camera.
Thank you for the video, I was really curious to see what was inside. I use guitar picks to open electronics, they work well and you can buy a set of 40 for very little money on amazon. Each set includes picks of different thickness. 🙂
The key for this particular case was rigidity. Unfortunately all my guitar picks on hand were too flimsy, and my normal spudger and credit card were both slightly too thick to fit into the gap. But yes, a good solid guitar pick would probably be perfect, and result in less risk to my digits!
@@JeffGeerling then I can recommend guitar picks sets from amazon as they go from super thin and flimsy to thick and sturdy. I used a medium/thin pick to take apart a keyboard with a similar latching mechanism as I needed to change its internal battery.
Not everyone has BT headphones; nor do they want to go to the expense of buying a set considering their limited battery life. However, wired headphones always work, do not need charging and are cheap.
@@littlejohn2708 quite true and I too prefer wired headphones especially for desktop/fixed systems. However, I think not having the headphone jack on the Pi 400 is really not a big deal. In case someone dose not have Bluetooth headphones then there is always the headphone out jack on almost all montors/TVs that the Pi would connect to via HDMI.
Excellent video. Subscribed. I love how it's built. I would recommend removing the SD card before removing the board. Yes, I think it was a nod to the Amiga 500 too.
Reminds me of the Acorn Atom... the casing was first used for just holding the keyboard for the Acorn System 1... then Acorn banged together a simple all-in-one microcomputer, which fitted into the same casing to become the Atom.
I literally just slimmed down my pi4 to fit it under a Psion 5 keyboard and relocated ports to the back like this.. Now I want the board they used in this!
It would be really nice to have that, though I'm guessing the main culprit is the thinness-having a daughtercard to carry the CM4 would make it harder to fit that giant heat sink inside, and it seems the heat sink is necessary to keep the thing from overheating (which it does very well in this case). But it would be very interesting if someone could build a little carrier board for the CM4 that would fit inside (with some modifications to the heat sink).
@@JeffGeerling Don't quote me on this...but I recall there being a sodimm socket that is essentially edge-connector in a recent laptop, allowing the ram to sit flush with the motherboard. Would be super cool to use that style and have a cutout for where compute would sit.
That’s really neat, didn’t know they made one. But I’d never use the power of a pi4 unless I was trying to make it run proper CAD software or whatever, so would probably prefer a cheaper one with a pi3. A trackpoint in the middle of the keyboard would be a nice touch.
No mention of audio jack in any of the early reviews. I checked the specs on datasheets.raspberrypi.org/pi400/pi400-product-brief.pdf and there does not appear to be an audio jack. So sound is HDMI only? Can you confirm Jeff?
Yes, no built-in audio jack or composite video. Apparently since the space was lacking, they dropped that instead of something else. I am using audio through HDMI on my monitor, and most (all mine at least) have at least a 3.5mm audio passthrough, if not built in speakers. For those that don't, there are HDMI audio splitters, though that's an extra expense.
4:47 That's not true, pi 4 (and also pi 3b+) both have ethernet magnetics with support for poe, it's just integrated into the RJ45 jack itself. The transformer middle taps needed for POE are routed to the 4 pin header next to the connector. You just need to attach to it the POE hat or other POE power module. But I agree with you, that they missed the opportunity to implement POE into the PI 400.
That chunky ‘chip’ is not an IC, it is just a transformer. I wouldn’t be surprised if you could make it work with POE with a mod. I guess you need to connect a DC converter to the correct pins and the DC converter (5 volts output?) goes to power the board.
When I first saw it, for whatever reason I was sure it will have a compute module 4 inside. New PCB makes more sense though, as it definitely is cheaper than separate I/O board. Can't wait for new Pi-laptop builds with this new form factor!
It's a commodore vic-20 replacement, the vic-20 had a connector for a common 44 pin edge connector card of its day, for expansion and experimentation. This version of the raspberry pi seems to capture the essence of the Vic-20 but with modern capability. The commodore 64 was more of a gaming rig back then in the old 8-bit days.
I would really prefer my laptop and tablet to have those slots to open the case! I am in agreement about adding thermal pads for a few of the other chips.
So far it looks like you could just get the keyboard/board for $70 separately, but if you just want the IO and board you'd have to rip it out of the keyboard shell.
@@JeffGeerling Even then, it seems like a good price for this specific type of form factor. It is nice that all the connectors are on one side and that it is a fairly thin and flat strip. It seems completely doable to reclaim the USB2 connection from the HiD chip for other (internal) use and it isn't a stretch to imagine using 1 of the USB3 connectors to reroute them to the inside of a project for a nice and spiffy USB3 SSD.
much better! I've seen all of these reviews coming out today but... I KNOW WHAT A PI CAN DO! TAKE THE DERN THING APART! I wanna see what's up that petticoat!
If you crack open the official keyboard is the ribbon cable the same, and is it physically the same (snap in points) as the keyboard on the Pi 400? I'd definitely buy a black keyboard and swap it to the Pi 400 for a different look. Thanks in advance, and thanks for the tear down! I'm looking forward to grabbing one of these now.
Hey Jeff, my Pi 400 is the computer I could afford right now. When I get something more powerful, is there a way to use the pi 400 as a keyboard for it? (to reduce cost, clutter, and e-waste)
Yes, the Pi 400 is currently offered in American, British, German, French, Italian and Spanish layouts (though some layouts may be out of stock). I suspect more versions will follow later.
@@nialltracey2599 www.wired.co.uk/article/raspberry-pi-400-review has a picture of the UK layout while this video shows the US layout. Compared to the US layout the UK layout has an extra key between the left shift and z keys and a different arrangement in the enter key area. I believe the other European layouts are physically the same as the UK layout.
FINALLY, a usable Board with all external Connectors on one side. I got tired trying to Integrate Pi's in Systems and routing the HDMI-Cables with Adapters to the back. All I need now is SMT for external antenna and a internal USB-header.
This looks great, but they should have wrapped a wifi antenna cables around the keyboard like it's done in laptops (usually around the screen) to increase the reception area. Built in wifi is still the Achilles's heel of all of the Pis I've used
Hello, wonderful person.
i was just watching a lot of your videos
yeah i use ethernet in mine
I dont know why but it makes me really happy that your also interested in single board computers. Love your videos was just learning about Jupiters moons!
They do very wise decision not to use wifi built in board. Cheap wifi assembly tends to have different quality issues - either closed source drivers that works with tons of trubles and have conpatibility issues, or issues with recieving/transferring physical module, or issues with decoding/encoding chip or errors in frimware. So if you need wifi connection, they supply this device with additional standard usb hole, where you can insert any favourite usb wifi plug and have wireless connectivity experience. Very good, wise and lucky decision - user have freedom of choice - there plenty different usb wifi plugs on the maket.
Finally someone made a modern day Commodore 64 style computer.
Yaaay
Or more like XZ Spectrum, since it is from Uk
It looks like this thing designers have medications a lot of -- next idiotic design without the vent system. What about the heat and throttling, bro?
@@dmitryponyatov2158 There are some test, it never reaches more than 52ºC, this is less than in an aircooled rpi4.
@@joselu90 I don't know your testing method. Run video encoding for 2 hours for example, and log CPU temperature and frequency. Also, it is interesting, how hot and stinky will be the plastic case after it.
What I love about the module inside is that all the ports are on the same edge. I can see a few hardware hackers getting these and removing the case and keyboard.
"Until next time, I'm Jeff Geerling" - so next time you'll be someone else?!
Just wait and see ;)
Yeah he's going to be red shirt Jeff.
@@benp439 I can imagine everything either sliced open or on fire :)
@@JeffGeerling okay, I ran out of patience 😂 can you tell me how much I have to wait ?
He should be Rusty Shackleford next.
Thanks, Jeff, your video of how to get the keyboard off was very helpful. This work for the Raspberry PI keyboard as well. This comes in handy if you need to switch the keyboard language or have a damaged keyboard. The Pi keyboard and the Pi 400 keyboards are compatible. Also your selection of the tool to pop the seams on the keyboard is spot on. I have not found a better tool.
This perfect for the average home user. It has been frustrating "arguing" with family about them buying $500-$1000 computers to browse the web, watch videos, use Word and Excel.
Definitely buying this for my little brother for Christmas. He’s a littler tinkerer so he’ll love it.
Maybe this is cool for him too : th-cam.com/video/wyvS1FxR4ic/w-d-xo.html
What a nice brother!
aww, that's so sweet :)
try buying him the crowpi2.
th-cam.com/video/FggIxJ5tNmo/w-d-xo.html
I wonder if you'll be able to find one.
6:40 Nope, the 400 number is not an homage to the Amiga 500. It's an homage to the Acorn Archimedes 400 series, which was the power user version of the Archimedes (the low-end version was the 300 series). All the Raspberry Pi names pay homage to early Acorn computers (the BBC Model A, Model B, Archimedes, etc.). The ARM processor was originally the Acorn RISC Machine CPU -- the first 32-bit desktop RISC processor, released with the Acorn Archimedes. The acronym was later renamed to Advanced RISC Machine.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_Archimedes
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Micro
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARM_architecture
the guy who made the pi said he was inspired by the Amiga already, my guess is the 400 is for 4gig of ram like the amiga 500 the 500 stands for 500k of ram
@@Yahgiggle Did you read what I wrote? Please research the history of the BBC Micro. The creators of the Raspberry Pi were inspired by Acorn computers, not by Amiga. They are British, not American.
@@usethefooorce yes I know all about the Acorn and you could be right as the information I was told was second hand, but from someone I would think would not tell BS his information was that the guy that made the pi 400 got his inspiration from the Amiga 500
I noticed this pop up in my Google News feed and I was curious about its innards. Your video sated my curiosity and I liked the cheeky humour / skits mixed into the overall "box opening" video. Good job on making this video Jeff and keep it up! :)
Thanks, I'll take it!
I wonder why they didn’t use the new compute module. With that, it would be upgradable in the future.
I agree. the first thing I thought is that it's cheaper to produce the Pi 400 as a single part but they're making both anyways so it shouldn't matter.
Imagine the physical abuse some Pi400s will get from frustrated kids. I think a single board is better.
@@zuryan There's still the cost of the connectors, on both the Compute Module and the hypothetical main board. The Pi is cheap enough that that sort of thing matters.
@@electronics-girl the compute module is already being sold with the connectors. so all they need is two connectors on the keyboard PCB. the only two reasons I can really think of is 1st, it technicly not being a "single board" computer anymore, and 2nd the compute module remains not as easily usable by tinkerers so that way they can don't run into stock shortage for industrial use as easily.
Connector cost; also given they will be hoping to sell this in volume, a single PCB rather than two will save money.
Have to say, I REALLY want to see one of these with 8G of ram and an integrated M.2 sata port. Perhaps even with a beefed up SOC of 2Ghz+. I love these little low powered computers for running things during power outages, which happen often in my area. While my neighbors are running around with candles I have a powerbank with a led camping light and a ARM Chromebook running Ubuntu tethered to my phone. Priorities I guess ;-) .
With a fast disk, just use it for swap!
Strangely on the Pi4 4GB I rarely run out of memory, but on the Apple M1 8GB, it creaks!
I did not know this was a thing, glad to see someone already opening it
Thank you for this. Really well done review, answers all my questions, looks up chips, etc. Many many small details you do so well for conveying the picture of this device.
they have all that space but still went with those crappy tiny HDMI sockets!
could be design philosophy? make everything tiny then you notice the gpio header ok maybe not! they probably just did it to save money so they didn't have to stock regular hdmis
Two HDMIs are more than one. You know what they say: "The more, the more"
@@FunHaverSD Robustness. Mini/Micro HDMI ports are known to be weak. Maybe that is why it has two, one spare for when the other inevitably dies.
@@FunHaverSD Because Mini and Micro HDMI SUCK. They are pretty fragile and break easily. Also, since those connectors suck and almost any device uses full size HDMI or uses USB C for Video (that connector is around a billion times better then Mini/Micro HDMI), nobody got those fucking Cables/Adapters on hand.
No, less is not allways more. They really got more then enough space for at least one full sized HDMI on there. Or do it at least over a USB C port, that is actually a good connector.
The recourses argument is pretty week btw. The difference between Micro and fullsize is very small, it basically didn't matter. But if those tiny amounts of material mean something to you, think about the adapters to fullsize people need to buy.
@@FunHaverSD they break easier
Even USB-C ports with displayport support would have been better.... mini/micro hdmi ports are crappy and hard to come by.
GAME CHANGER! For real. Tech only gets more compact and lightweight in time. This could be the first of a new breed of systems geared towards coding professionals and engineers of all kinds. Love it!
Looks really neat! I'm surprised they didn't just put a normal Pi 4 in there, I guess they are expecting to sell enough units to make up for the investment of a new PCB design.
It also saves on the overhead of adding a bunch of extra jumpers/cabling to get the GPI, power, and HDMI plugs on the back of the unit. I think this design was the easiest way to get the whole thing in the same footprint as the Pi Keyboard.
I was actually hoping for a (raplacable) Pi 4 compute module. wouldn't it be amazing to be able to replace it in the future?
You know what's funny, there's a guy doing exactly that with an old TI-92 calculator, he's calling it a "PI-92".
twitter.com/Hacksterio/status/1320913681610383361
(We're thinking of doing something similar with some second-hand Alphasmart keyboards, which would be similar to this PI-400, except with the LCD display as well).
Makes sense. It's being launched for £70-£100 just before christmas in a year where parents don't have a lot of money, and won't be able to go shopping in towns because of Lockdown2.
@starshipeleven It's relevant because *other* computers can be bought in town in normal years, so the lockdown puts the Pi 400 on an equal footing.
wow super super slick design, the build pi's 10 minutes from where I live in West UK (Southern Wales). Quality engineering at a great price.
Thanks for the run-through. I've been curious about what's inside, but leery about disassembling my shiny new Pi 400. I'm glad we have other people on TH-cam to do it for us.
I'm always amazed how powerful already the regular Raspberry Pi4 Model B is.
An even better Pi wow!
It is quite easy to overclock Pi 4 Model B to 2 GHz, although it isthen recommended to cool it.
The 400 might be a reference to old Acorn machines like the A4000 or even the A410 and A440. The A4000 was also a keyboard based machine. :¬}
Lots of that form factor back in the day!
@@JeffGeerling The Acorn machines are also Arm based and part of the Pi's heritage like the model B's coming from the BBC micro model B which was made by Acorn.
@@NigelGent A lot of heritage there! I have still never seen an Acorn in the wild, but it seems like a lot of the Pi heritage dates back to that company.
@@JeffGeerling In my loft I've got an Acron A310, A4000 and an A5000 and they all still work Thr RiscOS they ran was brilliant and you can run it on a Raspberry Pi.
Or maybe Atari 400. That would make a bit more sense.
thank you for opening it!
I'm glad I was able to get it back together so easily, too! It's always 50/50 the first time I open something like a keyboard whether I cut myself on it or break off a few tabs.
Luckily the Pi 400 is pretty dang robust!
When I first saw this It reminded me of the Comodo C64. Thanks for the teardown.
If you don't have access to a plastic spudger, a guitar pick or old/unused credit/gift card also work in a pinch.
These materials have lower hardness compared to metal pry tools, so they won't mar the finish of the product you're disassembling.
Terrific teardown and analysis, by the way. Love the attention to detail and the email exchange (actual journalism) you've put in prior to making this video. Keep up the good work.
Glad you liked it! All the guitar picks I had on hand were too soft/flimsy to pop the connectors... but I think I'll invest in iFixIt's kit for the next go-round.
@@JeffGeerling better yet, we will write them emails to sponsor you. I am surprised they haven't approached you yet.
FYI, if you're looking for a Pi in 2022, the Pi 400 is still available at a non-gouged price point. I just received my Pi 400 kit yesterday (Mar 2022) and I paid $100, same as retail when they were released.
Fantastic teardown, mate! 😊👍
Good bloopers at the end. Thumbs up. Good video thank you
I love this design!
That heatsink looks much more like an EMC shield that is serving a double purpose.
more like a hommage to the old Atari 400 and retro home computers in general
Yeah, it just needs a cartridge port. Someone get Red Shirt Jeff...
Is the board still good for other things? I think it would be cool to get that board out of the keyboard and into something else.
Thanks for the video. There were plenty around for the Pi 400 when it first released, but none of them opened it up, which is what I wanted to see.
Great to the point tear down, it's the first one I could find on this new release.
Always wondered what's in my Pi400.
Now I know.
Thank you.
by the way it has been put together, it seems like they want you to tinker with it, so i expect lots of accessories and perhaps custom cases for this in the near future so this could be interesting.
Just ordered it. Will have it this week. Happy days.
Good, thoughtful teardown. Thanks Jeff.
The bourns part is the ethernet magnetics (basically a couple of small transformers), on the regular pi they use a jack with integrated magnetics; this board is using a standard 8P8C jack with external magnetics, likely for lower profile.
Love that shaping noise
Great review
Nice to see the teardown
Thanks for sharing👍😀
5:10 How he just kept talking after that voice crack
Thanks for the teardown. I wanted to see the "innerards" as soon as I saw the announcement ! Sure wish it had 8GB.
I was wondering about that myself. I guess they were attached to their target pricing and didn't feel they could take the modest bump and put in the bigger ram.
*innards
Maybe next month
i was sort of hoping that it used the computer module, that would of been interesting for future upgrades. but still pretty cool, ty for the vid
i was hoping so too, but i guess that would be more thermally dense? although then it would be easier to heatsink the extra chips...
maybe they're just wanting to save the cost of the additional PCB + board-to-board connectors
*module. That
*would've (contraction of "WOULD haVE")
First worth watching video about this thing. Thanks 👍
Looks like a perfect board for a laptop. I'm sure someone will make it into one.
agreed except for the gpio, wonder if anyone makes a gpio plastic cover or something that can easily slide on and off and is sleek
Yes i always wanted to replace the board of my atom laptop bcz that cpu is so fucking slow like it performs like a pentium 4 from 2000... & A board like this with a custom lcd and keyboard , mouse driver and sata interface with battery controller and omg!! .. it would be so nice but having that custom interface for the keyboard is going to be tough. Lcd controllers r easy to find on ebay and there is millions of them . The laptop has a really god display and keyboard .. & also 47watt hr battery which should be enough for the pi to run about 3 to 4hr.
@@KuntalGhosh have a look at the Pinebook Pro. Quad core ARM based. Runs Manjaro from the factory. $200USD
Optional NVMe storage. (requires adapter ~$20)
@@jq6413 i dont think so.. its an older laptop & has enough depth to fit a board of raspberry pi without any of those usb and ethernet ports.
@@williamp6800 no no , i am talking about replacing the motherboard of an existing net book that i have laying around. i also have an lenovo ideapad from 2010s with core 2 duo t7200 , and i think i can fit a ryzen sbc in there with a flat heat pipe laptop heatsink maybe.
I'd been wondering about the formfactor of the actual PI inside the keyboard. I guess I was expecting to find a Raspberry Pi CM4 attached to a backplane providing all the IO ports. I did not expect to see an all new board design.
OK, after playing with this in the UK for several days doing lots of ffmpeg based h264 / 265 video transcoding I found that the Pi 400 can run up to +20C compared to using an Ice Tower with a regular Pi 4 4GB, e.g 66 C v 47C. Now most people don’t run video transcodes for hours like me. I ran ffmpeg libx265 CRF 20 for 15+hours (0.043x with 41 mins input file). So definitely usable from a temperature if not performance perspective. On the downside I had a boot USB 3 SSD connected and found that like the Sinclair ZX81 from the early 1980s the connector comes out far too easily thereby freezing the Pi 400. It is crying out for an internal storage option. Just move the keyboard and the USB 3 SSD interface link is interrupted. Sticking with MicroSD might be a better option.
Ok, I didn't expect a completely different motherboard. I thought it was just a pi 4 + breakout board to get to all the IO ports. That explains the missing 3.5 jack and missing camera connector. I was thinking that I would have to drill a hole to get to that. My reason is that I wanted the "RCA" video option for playing on olden TVs. They still exist and are a backup display option when you are out in the wild. I understand why they would ditch the 3.5 jack, but if you ditch the jack then maybe go with standard HDMI connectors.
Hey nice video! Hadn't heard of it till now. Well done.
Great job Jeff. 👍🏻
The Pi 400 laptop will likely be coming soon.
Something I've NOT noticed at first is that it lacks the CSI and DSI connectors. I guess it makes sense to leave out the DSI in such a design, since it already has two HDMI outputs; but maybe people would want a camera, even if only to use a videoconferencing app. Also, a microphone input would be a great addition. Of course one could add both the camera and the mike with a single USB port, but it would be nice if we could use whatever interface had become available by cutting out the DSI port to add a sound digitizer, and still keep the CSI port for a Pi camera.
Thank you for the video, I was really curious to see what was inside.
I use guitar picks to open electronics, they work well and you can buy a set of 40 for very little money on amazon. Each set includes picks of different thickness. 🙂
The key for this particular case was rigidity. Unfortunately all my guitar picks on hand were too flimsy, and my normal spudger and credit card were both slightly too thick to fit into the gap.
But yes, a good solid guitar pick would probably be perfect, and result in less risk to my digits!
@@JeffGeerling then I can recommend guitar picks sets from amazon as they go from super thin and flimsy to thick and sturdy. I used a medium/thin pick to take apart a keyboard with a similar latching mechanism as I needed to change its internal battery.
Unfortunately the 3.5mm audio jack and related circuity is missing.
Yes, but there is always the Bluetooth to connect the headphones/earbuds!
Not everyone has BT headphones; nor do they want to go to the expense of buying a set considering their limited battery life. However, wired headphones always work, do not need charging and are cheap.
@@littlejohn2708 quite true and I too prefer wired headphones especially for desktop/fixed systems. However, I think not having the headphone jack on the Pi 400 is really not a big deal. In case someone dose not have Bluetooth headphones then there is always the headphone out jack on almost all montors/TVs that the Pi would connect to via HDMI.
An adapter like this would do the trick. www.amazon.com.au/UGREEN-Convertor-Adapter-Ultrabooks-Camcorders/dp/B01ALGJS32
Excellent video. Subscribed.
I love how it's built.
I would recommend removing the SD card before removing the board.
Yes, I think it was a nod to the Amiga 500 too.
I wish it was CM4 based, for the options and upgradeability. Hitting the price point would be tough, however.
Very happy with my Pi400👍
My next will be Pi400/8G
or Pi Notebook😎
Great video. Well worth a subscription.
Reminds me of the Acorn Atom... the casing was first used for just holding the keyboard for the Acorn System 1... then Acorn banged together a simple all-in-one microcomputer, which fitted into the same casing to become the Atom.
Nice video .... I am going to link this video into my video description as I need a teardown
I use various guitar picks to open such things. Works very well
You know what they say - _Don't turn it on, take it apart!_
You, me, and AvE!
@@JeffGeerling nooooo more like eevblog!
@@AMalas eevblog too!
Snaps into four pieces, "there you go!"
@@Grunchy005 Ah, the red-shirt-jeff approach.
I literally just slimmed down my pi4 to fit it under a Psion 5 keyboard and relocated ports to the back like this.. Now I want the board they used in this!
Kind of sad to see its not compute module based. Otherwise it's rather cool.
It would be really nice to have that, though I'm guessing the main culprit is the thinness-having a daughtercard to carry the CM4 would make it harder to fit that giant heat sink inside, and it seems the heat sink is necessary to keep the thing from overheating (which it does very well in this case).
But it would be very interesting if someone could build a little carrier board for the CM4 that would fit inside (with some modifications to the heat sink).
@@JeffGeerling Don't quote me on this...but I recall there being a sodimm socket that is essentially edge-connector in a recent laptop, allowing the ram to sit flush with the motherboard. Would be super cool to use that style and have a cutout for where compute would sit.
Explaining Computers: Does thermal stress test.
This guy: Looks at coolant system.
I wonder if EK has a water block for it yet?
And doesn't redo the thermal paste upon reassembly. 😲
@@cgraham6 thaaaaaats what was keeping it on lmao.
Thank you for showing this! Needed to know how to open this thing so I can try and sway the white keyboard for the black one!
Just don't use a knife like me; find a spudger or guitar pick!
That’s really neat, didn’t know they made one. But I’d never use the power of a pi4 unless I was trying to make it run proper CAD software or whatever, so would probably prefer a cheaper one with a pi3. A trackpoint in the middle of the keyboard would be a nice touch.
Good post, i looked at the boxed pi 400 the other day, a wired mouse should be a choice between wired or wireless
7:11min aren't you Jeff Geerling also after next time?
Maybe 400 stands from lenght of board or keyboard? 400mm?
No mention of audio jack in any of the early reviews. I checked the specs on datasheets.raspberrypi.org/pi400/pi400-product-brief.pdf and there does not appear to be an audio jack. So sound is HDMI only? Can you confirm Jeff?
Yes, no built-in audio jack or composite video. Apparently since the space was lacking, they dropped that instead of something else. I am using audio through HDMI on my monitor, and most (all mine at least) have at least a 3.5mm audio passthrough, if not built in speakers.
For those that don't, there are HDMI audio splitters, though that's an extra expense.
Thanks Jeff for the confirmation and HDMI audio splitter tip, ordered from Amazon UK ;-)
4:47 That's not true, pi 4 (and also pi 3b+) both have ethernet magnetics with support for poe, it's just integrated into the RJ45 jack itself. The transformer middle taps needed for POE are routed to the 4 pin header next to the connector. You just need to attach to it the POE hat or other POE power module. But I agree with you, that they missed the opportunity to implement POE into the PI 400.
Jeff. Is there any hope for a new pi 400 with a dead space bar?
I wonder if we could mod the colour of the case....
Is that a PoE module on the far left? The big chonky one? I haven't seen that mentioned anywhere, not even the product brief.
Yes, but the Pi 400 lacks the required power circuit to allow PoE passthrough.
@@JeffGeerling ahh bummer. Well, there's a mod waiting to happen!
That chunky ‘chip’ is not an IC, it is just a transformer.
I wouldn’t be surprised if you could make it work with POE with a mod. I guess you need to connect a DC converter to the correct pins and the DC converter (5 volts output?) goes to power the board.
nice that all the ports are down one side , would make it easy to design a cluster baseboard for it
Any tempting thoughts of clustering and overclocking the Pi 400 boards?
When I first saw it, for whatever reason I was sure it will have a compute module 4 inside. New PCB makes more sense though, as it definitely is cheaper than separate I/O board.
Can't wait for new Pi-laptop builds with this new form factor!
With the DSI port being removed, there won't be any laptops based on this hardware.
It's a commodore vic-20 replacement, the vic-20 had a connector for a common 44 pin edge connector card of its day, for expansion and experimentation. This version of the raspberry pi seems to capture the essence of the Vic-20 but with modern capability. The commodore 64 was more of a gaming rig back then in the old 8-bit days.
I would really prefer my laptop and tablet to have those slots to open the case!
I am in agreement about adding thermal pads for a few of the other chips.
you got yourself a new sub! great vid
Thanks!
nice board, but why no pci slot? drivers to add a god graphics card (with pci to larger pci adapter) should be a matter of time.
Will they be selling this board without the rest of the kit? I always wanted a Raspi with all the I/O on the same side of the board
So far it looks like you could just get the keyboard/board for $70 separately, but if you just want the IO and board you'd have to rip it out of the keyboard shell.
@@JeffGeerling Even then, it seems like a good price for this specific type of form factor. It is nice that all the connectors are on one side and that it is a fairly thin and flat strip.
It seems completely doable to reclaim the USB2 connection from the HiD chip for other (internal) use and it isn't a stretch to imagine using 1 of the USB3 connectors to reroute them to the inside of a project for a nice and spiffy USB3 SSD.
I was hoping there would be an EMMC on this Pi4 variant, I'm hoping someone finds a way to shoehorn a drive in there!
Red shirt Jeff is my spirit animal. But legit that joke keeps getting better lol
much better! I've seen all of these reviews coming out today but...
I KNOW WHAT A PI CAN DO!
TAKE THE DERN THING APART!
I wanna see what's up that petticoat!
If you crack open the official keyboard is the ribbon cable the same, and is it physically the same (snap in points) as the keyboard on the Pi 400? I'd definitely buy a black keyboard and swap it to the Pi 400 for a different look.
Thanks in advance, and thanks for the tear down! I'm looking forward to grabbing one of these now.
This is on my list of things to try... I just haven't had time to grab my original keyboard and crack (well hopefully not literally *crack*) it open.
@@JeffGeerling Thanks for the reply Jeff. I'll keep my fingers crossed for the right kind of cracking of plastics.
Why not add a small battery in it
Hey Jeff, my Pi 400 is the computer I could afford right now. When I get something more powerful, is there a way to use the pi 400 as a keyboard for it? (to reduce cost, clutter, and e-waste)
The 400 only is sold out on pishop already, lol. I think it's fair to buy the kit this time around
Did they drop 3.5 mm Jack?
Ouch, I had not noticed this.
No analog audio in/out. Audio has to go through Bluetooth or USB. Or Ethernet...
Wonder if this has an option of an iso layout keyboard. I can’t get on with those American style enter keys
Yes, the Pi 400 is currently offered in American, British, German, French, Italian and Spanish layouts (though some layouts may be out of stock). I suspect more versions will follow later.
Different keyboard options are the same physical layout with different key prints, as far as I can tell.
@@nialltracey2599 www.wired.co.uk/article/raspberry-pi-400-review has a picture of the UK layout while this video shows the US layout. Compared to the US layout the UK layout has an extra key between the left shift and z keys and a different arrangement in the enter key area.
I believe the other European layouts are physically the same as the UK layout.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for this.
Cool! Will there be a UK keyboard layout version?
Get used to US layout and learn how to make £ on it - never liked UK keyboards even in UK.
Hint: compose_key -, then l.
@@NickPhillips1Nooooooo! UK layout is the superior layout 😉
UK layout better because of the return key size and shape & also has dollar key.
FINALLY, a usable Board with all external Connectors on one side. I got tired trying to Integrate Pi's in Systems and routing the HDMI-Cables with Adapters to the back. All I need now is SMT for external antenna and a internal USB-header.
I wonder what the little rectangular hole near the RJ45 is for. It is not connected to any port on the motherboard.
Kensington security slot
To prevent theft
+1 for including the bloopers :-) no seriously, thank you and I would +more if I could!
Awesome thank you
Whoever came up with the idea to put the pc inside the keyboard was genious.
At 6:02, I think that's a PCIe lane without the connector.
Pi 400 homage to Atari 400 ?