Raspberry Pi Model A+: 512 MB

The Raspberry Pi Model A+ with 512MB of RAM is a little PC that can be used like any other computer. It can be used with a USB mouse & keyboard, USB Wifi Dongle and other USB perifpherals with it's onboard USB port. It has lots of input and output pins for controlling multiple devices without much processing power needed. The Raspberry Pi A+ uses a microSD card reader to boot off and store to a microSD card similar to it's big brother, the B+.

If you're trying to figure out whether you should use this microPC or the Arduino UNO, we recommend you select the Raspberry Pi if you feel the need to have a full PC with an Operating System, if all you're looking for is a simple robotics project, the Arduino UNO will be simpler for beginners. This board is intended to run Linux kernel based operating systems.

In summary, the Model A+ is the latest version of the budget Raspberry Pi model A and is the weaker brother board to the Raspberry Pi B+. The Raspberry Pi A+ has the same chipset as all other Raspberry Pi boards, the same number of I/O pins as the Raspberry Pi 2 and Raspberry Pi Model B+ and microSD card storage similar to the B+. However, the A+ differs by having half the RAM of the Raspberry Pi B and B+, 1 USB port as opposed to 4 on the B+ and no ethernet port. We recommend the A+ for simple projects where you need many I/O pins to be controlled and low processing power.

Please note, if you need ethernet capability, more than 1 USB port, or high processing power (for tasks such as running video-intensive projects) you'll want the beefier Raspberry Pi 1: Model B+ or the even faster Raspberry Pi 2: Model B.

Check out our Raspberry Pi A+ Starter Kit which includes a Raspberry Pi A+ along with all the accessories you'll need to get started!