Getting Started with the Raspberry Pi 3A+

Guides
1

Stephen just shared a new tutorial: "Getting Started with the Raspberry Pi 3A+"



There is a new board in the Raspberry Pi family!
In this Tutorial, we will walk you through the steps to set up your new Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+.To setup your Raspberry Pi 3A+ you will need:

A Raspberry Pi 3A+
A Preloaded NOOBS SD Card
A power …

Read more

2

So… The same CPU as the 3 B+, WiFi (but no ethernet) and only 1 USB. How does it compare size-wise? Looks to be a little short than the 3 B+ no USB next to the GPIO pins) but about the same width? I do like the look of it, but a second USB would have been nice…

1 Like
3

Hi Arb,

Clinton did a comparison of the previous A+ model, along with the bigger B+. The key advantages are size and power, the main disadvantages are ethernet and USB ports. Still, it’s a nice option that would play well for many use cases. A fair bit cheaper as well.

https://core-electronics.com.au/tutorials/raspberry-pi-3-model-a-plus-compared.html

4

I think I can live without ethernet, but the USB is a minor annoyance. Of course, USB hubs are cheap enough, so it won’t be a big problem. I can see a lot of nice uses for this - I may have to save up my pennies and get one. ;^)

2 Likes
5

Hey Arb,

The way I see it, this new Rapberry Pi 3 Model A+ is built to fit those projects where you need Model 3 functionality and ability but want to save space and power. The 3A+ uses significantly less power and has a much smaller footprint than the 3B+. I would use it for a project without many peripheries, I’m thinking media center or similar applications!

6

One OTG USB port would have been good.

1 Like
7

I currently use my 3 B+ for media, git and database servers, so I can definitely see the 3A+ taking those roles. One USB would be usable, but a second would be nice to allow a keyboard, though I prolly have a spare BT keyboard that might work… ;^)

3 Likes
8

A worthy mention to this conversation that VNC is already setup in Raspbian (remote desktop access). If you prefer to use desktop over terminal then you could use VNC to connect to any of your hard working RPi’s from one place.

Here’s a guide by RPi:

1 Like
9

I already use VNC to manage my Pis. ;^) Sometimes though, you still need to connect directly to the device (Network or software issues can sometimes cause the remote device to no longer respond for example.) I find it handy to be able to plug a monitor in, grab a keyboard and try fix any issues. 8^)

1 Like
10

Nice! Nothing beats a direct connection :slight_smile:

11

Occasionally, I have had VNC not responding, but SSH ALWAYS works (for me).

1 Like
12

I’ve had cases where SSH doesn’t respond, so I do like to have the option of physically accessing the device if I need to. Thinking about it a bit more, I would prefer to have a USB hub just in case - if the BT keyboard doesn’t;t work, I’d need to unplug the HD to get a keyboard working, and that would not be a good idea. ;^)

So yeah, I think the one USB is a bit of a design flaw, especially considering the emphasis placed on “Improved USB mass-storage booting” in the announcement on the Raspberry Pi blog, but hubs are cheap enough I guess…

2 Likes
13

In that case, I guess you could use the UART Console.