The Pi Desktop kit from Premier Farnell - the largest manufacturer of Raspberry Pi - includes an additional board that contains: an mSATA interface, a smart power regulator (plus real-time clock and battery), a heatsink, a USB adapter (Micro-Type A), spacers and screws, all in one box to have it all.
The company said the kit can help Raspberry Pi fans turn their Pi board into a “fully featured Linux computer” in minutes, which can then be connected to a screen via HDMI.
Premier Farnell said that when you combine the Raspberry Pi with a £39.99 Pi Desktop you'll get "all the functionality you'd expect from a standard PC", although the Raspberry Pi 3, a solid- state drive and one camera they will have to be purchased separately, and of course they raise the price.
According to Premier Farnell, using an SSD makes the system particularly durable. Starting Raspberry Pi directly from the SSD also enables a faster startup.
So far we have seen many projects aimed at turning Raspberry Pi into a desktop, including Pi Top.
But none give the performance you would expect from a high-tech laptop. It remains to be seen if Pi Desktop can do it really without the user having to make compromises.
