Raspberry Pi is a single-board computer (SBC) that can be quickly mounted to any TV or other output channels to create different projects. You do not necessarily need a TV unless you want to play games or do some coding. You can use these boards A+ and B+ in robots and in Internet of Things projects. There are several DIY projects posted on the Internet for you to try out. This article checks out the differences between Raspberry Pi A+ and Raspberry Pi B+.
Raspberry Pi A+ vs Raspberry Pi B+
The main feature of Raspberry Pi A+ is that the power consumption is pretty low compared to Raspberry Pi B+. You can use it to create small robots that can run for a longer time without having to change batteries very frequently. The cost too is a little less compared to Raspberry Pi B+. The Raspberry Pi B+ comes at USD 35 while the A+ comes at USD 20. The size of Raspberry A+ is smaller compared to B+ and is just 65mm, whereas the Raspberry Pi B+ is 85mm. Thus, it can easily be used to create projects for small sizes.
The A+ has forty General Purpose Input and Output (GPIO) pins. Though B+ too has the same number of B+, the latter is used mostly with TVs and Gaming. The number of ports is higher in Raspberry Pi B+ but then, the cost of B+ is higher for a reason. As said earlier, B+ is good if you intend to connect to a TV. Likewise, A+ is best when you wish to create projects that are small in size but nevertheless offer better flexibility over B+.
Raspberry Pi B+ has double the memory compared to A+. The Raspberry Pi B+ memory is 512 SDRAM, and A+ is just 256 MB SDRAM. The GPU processor of B+ is dual-core VideoCore Multimedia Co Processer. It provides Open GL ES 2.0, which means 1080p definition. The GPU processor in A+ is the same as that of B+. It too offers up to 1080p definition.
The Raspberry A+ has 700 MHz Low Power ARM1176JZFS Applications Processor. The Raspberry B+ too runs the same processor. The only great difference between specs is the memory and the number of ports they hold. The A+ has one USB port while the B+ has 4 USB ports of 2.0 generation. The A+ has no Ethernet port, so it cannot connect to the wired Internet. B+ has a 10/100 base T Ethernet port that allows you to connect it to other computers or directly to the Internet. The B+ also has a 15-pin camera connector in addition to a DSI display connector.
Both Raspberry Pi A+ and Raspberry Pi B+ have Micro Card of Slider type so that SD cards can be slipped in easily. Note that the Raspberry Pi have its OS on SD cards that can be removed and replaced to replace the entire operating system. You can get more information on the Rasberry Pi website.
To sum up, Raspberry B+ is better compared to Raspberry A+. The latter is useful when you need a tiny board with plenty of battery life. Otherwise, given the number of ports and memory of B+, it makes a good Single Computer Board for many tasks.
Read next: Windows IoT Core vs Raspbian – Which is better?
