Yep. First of all, the person who said an RPI5 can show YouTube HD just fine is lying. It’s still stuttery and drops frames (better than the RPI4b, but still not great). Second, you’ll end up dropping well north of $100 for the RPI5, active cooler, case, memory card (not even mentioning an m2 hat), power supply, and cable / adapter to feed standard HDMI.
You can find some really solid used laptops and towers in that price range, not to mention the n100 NUC. And they’ll all stream YouTube HD much better, as well as provide a much smoother desktop experience overall.
Don’t get me wrong, I love me a RPI, I run a couple myself. They’re just not great daily drivers, especially if you want to stream HD content.
I’m the person you’re accusing of lying. To your point, there are some dropped frames but that’s not a problem for me, and I figure most people wouldn’t notice 10 dropped frames out of every 1000, or whatever similar ratio it is. I have a rpi for a media PC and I’m happy with it. I play HD video in several web apps and only the shittiest of them (prime and paramount+) ever have a noticeable issue with playback.
People who complain about rpi’s being expensive kinda make me scratch my head. Like, do you not count the accessories you buy for other hardware? It seems the comparison is between the RPI and every single thing you buy for it, vs a laptop/PC itself with no accessories (which you will almost certainly be buying some amount of). I get that it sucks that these devices have gone up in price, but yeah, the accessories aren’t all that much more than any other device. You could have a very solid RPI setup for $120 all-in. And it would be more durable than some sketchy Acer laptop.
The accessories I mentioned for the RPI5 are the bare essentials just to get the thing to power up, boot to a web browser, and connect to a monitor to try to play YouTube, which is the foundation of your original comment. Please show me where a $120 used laptop or desktop tower needs additional hardware purchases to boot and plug in an HDMI cable.
You’re picking the wrong fight with the wrong guy, friend. I’m a huge RPI advocate and I think they are great tools for specific use cases. I simply want to point out that if folks are considering it in the hopes that it’s a small and cheap way to watch YouTube, they’re gonna have a bad time.
My Pi5 setup with a very fast SD card plays YouTube without dropping frames or stuttering at 1080p, that other guy is wrong. The UI is slow and a bit janky, but once YT is loaded and fullscreen, it plays perfectly. It plays 24/7 on a TV in our living room for my partner’s WFH and for our cats when they’re done.
Thank you for that validation! I actually just tested mine and saw the same results as you describe. I would drop about 30-50 frames going full screen and then only one here or there every few minutes. It is damned close to perfect.
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Yep. First of all, the person who said an RPI5 can show YouTube HD just fine is lying. It’s still stuttery and drops frames (better than the RPI4b, but still not great). Second, you’ll end up dropping well north of $100 for the RPI5, active cooler, case, memory card (not even mentioning an m2 hat), power supply, and cable / adapter to feed standard HDMI.
You can find some really solid used laptops and towers in that price range, not to mention the n100 NUC. And they’ll all stream YouTube HD much better, as well as provide a much smoother desktop experience overall.
Don’t get me wrong, I love me a RPI, I run a couple myself. They’re just not great daily drivers, especially if you want to stream HD content.
They run 1080p without any frame drops or stuttering. I have one playing YT 24/7 in my living room. I have a fast SD card for it, though.
I’m the person you’re accusing of lying. To your point, there are some dropped frames but that’s not a problem for me, and I figure most people wouldn’t notice 10 dropped frames out of every 1000, or whatever similar ratio it is. I have a rpi for a media PC and I’m happy with it. I play HD video in several web apps and only the shittiest of them (prime and paramount+) ever have a noticeable issue with playback.
People who complain about rpi’s being expensive kinda make me scratch my head. Like, do you not count the accessories you buy for other hardware? It seems the comparison is between the RPI and every single thing you buy for it, vs a laptop/PC itself with no accessories (which you will almost certainly be buying some amount of). I get that it sucks that these devices have gone up in price, but yeah, the accessories aren’t all that much more than any other device. You could have a very solid RPI setup for $120 all-in. And it would be more durable than some sketchy Acer laptop.
Youtube on the RPI5 drops frames and is stuttery. If that’s fine for you, great. But I’d argue it’s not what people consider a good viewing experience. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBQosbjl9Jw&t=278s and https://youtu.be/nBtOEmUqASQ?si=VXFGVBid5wCrhu-u&t=797 if you’d like more info.
The accessories I mentioned for the RPI5 are the bare essentials just to get the thing to power up, boot to a web browser, and connect to a monitor to try to play YouTube, which is the foundation of your original comment. Please show me where a $120 used laptop or desktop tower needs additional hardware purchases to boot and plug in an HDMI cable.
You’re picking the wrong fight with the wrong guy, friend. I’m a huge RPI advocate and I think they are great tools for specific use cases. I simply want to point out that if folks are considering it in the hopes that it’s a small and cheap way to watch YouTube, they’re gonna have a bad time.
My Pi5 setup with a very fast SD card plays YouTube without dropping frames or stuttering at 1080p, that other guy is wrong. The UI is slow and a bit janky, but once YT is loaded and fullscreen, it plays perfectly. It plays 24/7 on a TV in our living room for my partner’s WFH and for our cats when they’re done.
Thank you for that validation! I actually just tested mine and saw the same results as you describe. I would drop about 30-50 frames going full screen and then only one here or there every few minutes. It is damned close to perfect.