Raspberry Pi 400 - not yet, but almost like an All-In-One!

If we switch "B" in the "Raspberry Pi 4B" phrase for two zeros, our Raspberry Pi 4B will grow a keyboard.

15:39 22 March 2021

Let's see what is hidden inside the Raspberry Pi 400 introduced in the second half of 2020.

 

Integrated keyboard with central computer unit

 

The name “Raspberry Pi” is mostly associated with small PCBs with dimensions similar to a credit card, which are equipped with a processor, memory and a set of connectors for the external devices and accessories. Thanks to this, for example, the Raspberry Pi 4B can act as a master controller for embedded applications. After connecting a mouse, computer and display. It can be used as media player and computer meant for the office job. After the release of the Pi 4B model with 8 GB of RAM (available since May of 2020), the designers from the R&D department of the Raspberry Pi Foundation took one step further, creating the Raspberry Pi 400 - the first single-board computer from the Raspberry Pi series in a form of a keyboard with built-in central unit based on the Raspberry Pi 4B. The package of the Raspberry Pi 400 kit also includes an optical mouse, original RPi power supply, microSD/SD card converter, HDMI display cable and user manual. The Raspberry Pi 400 keyboard looks very attractive and is very comfortable in use thanks to the fast key response - it’s almost like the keys on mechanical keyboards made for gaming.

 

Even more powerful CPU

 

Elegant appearance, high-quality craftsmanship and a very comfortable ways of interacting with the keyboard are not the only advantages in favour of purchasing the Raspberry Pi 400. Electronics hardware is hidden underneath the membrane keyboard mechanism, which in fact is based on the Raspberry Pi 4B blueprints (available since June of 2019). Pi 400 is equipped with 4GB LPDDR RAM memory, thanks to which it works perfectly even on the most complex computing processes. Wireless connectivity can be realized via the built-in 2.4GHz / 5.0GHz dual-band Wi-Fi module or Bluetooth 5.0. The front panel is equipped with all connectors known from the Pi 4B, i.e. Gigabit Ethernet, 2x USB 3.0, USB Type-C for power, 2x micro HDMI, microSD slot, and the hallmark of Raspberry Pi in all its glory... 40-pin GPIO connector The Pi 400 also has two USB 2.0 ports, but one of these ports is housed in the chassis and reserved for keyboard communication. Additionally, the housing has a Kensington Lock slot for a combination lock that protects the computer against theft. It might seem that the Pi 400 is just the regular Pi 4B in an keyboard enclosure, but the designers have introduced a very important modification - the Broadcom BCM2711 SoC quad-core CPU which is clocked at 1,5 GHz in Pi 4B - got tuned up to 1,8GHz, so you can use this computer for even much more advanced tasks!

 

What can you do with the Raspberry Pi 400?

 

Due to the almost identical technical specifications, the Raspberry Pi 400 can be used for the same tasks as the Raspberry Pi 4B, and thanks to its faster processor, even more advanced applications that demand higher computation power. To use the Raspberry Pi 400, you need to insert the micro SD card that is pre-loaded with Raspberry Pi OS. The micro SD card in Raspberry Pi 400 is a "counterpart" of HDD used in regular PCs - it does store Raspberry Pi OS data and user data such as text documents and MP3s. Together with Raspberry Pi OS we get Python IDE, LibreOffice, notepad, calculator and Minecraft. The Raspberry Pi 400 is an excellent tool for both making low-level embedded computing with external hardware peripherals and for common ones such as office work, multimedia, games and surfing the Internet. The Raspberry Pi 400 is available at Botland Store - officially licensed distributor of Raspberry Pi Foundation products.