26-02-2015, 11:44 PM
Hi all,
I thought I would start this post as a way to assist each other with what it costs to build a Raspberry Pi Thin Client.
I'll be straight up honest and say that I don't have any experience with buying or using a production (ie: wyse or HP) type thin client. All I can say is that from what I've heard they can be expensive....please correct me if I'm wrong.
But I'm a tinkerer and the Pi appeals to me on that level so here I am using rpitc in our small office as I believe it affords us a cost saving with regards to hardware (my time to get it all setup...forget about it. This is more a labor of love than a business decision for me to spend my time to build scripts and processes around rpitc in our office
).
But I digress...
Here is my opinion on what hardware I need to build a thin client for our office. We've been using rpitc for the past 2 years and it's been pretty successful. We've made some adjustments in that time with regards to how we power the Pi. And I continue to make adjustments in that I'm looking to modify what we have even further in the coming weeks. I'm in Canada so here is what I'm buying and approximately paying (doesn't include shipping cost):
A bit of explanation here maybe. In our office I had previously used a Powered USB Hub. These had a power on/off switch and special port to Power the Pi Thin Client. But with the new Pi2's having 4 USB ports I'm thinking of ditching the powered hub and running my peripherals all from the Pi (I've determined that all my peripherals do not exceed the 1.2 Amp maximum the Pi2 4 USB ports can deliver). Also I want to give my employees the ability to gracefully shutdown and restart their Pi Thin Clients with a proper power button (especially now since I'm removing the powered USB Hub which had an on/off switch on it). This is why I'm looking to introduce the Pi Remote. I also have the need to deliver USB connected devices to my virtual machines (USB2IP) which is why I've included the license for Virtualhere.
So my setup is most likely different than others but it's a starting place for total cost of the Pi thin client.
Total price for my Thin Client setup is approximately: $140.95 (plus taxes and shipping).
I'd be interested in hearing from others on this board to see what their setup is costing them. Is this a reasonable price to pay to setup a Pi Thin Client? Are there better alternatives out there?
Thanks!
I thought I would start this post as a way to assist each other with what it costs to build a Raspberry Pi Thin Client.
I'll be straight up honest and say that I don't have any experience with buying or using a production (ie: wyse or HP) type thin client. All I can say is that from what I've heard they can be expensive....please correct me if I'm wrong.
But I'm a tinkerer and the Pi appeals to me on that level so here I am using rpitc in our small office as I believe it affords us a cost saving with regards to hardware (my time to get it all setup...forget about it. This is more a labor of love than a business decision for me to spend my time to build scripts and processes around rpitc in our office

But I digress...
Here is my opinion on what hardware I need to build a thin client for our office. We've been using rpitc for the past 2 years and it's been pretty successful. We've made some adjustments in that time with regards to how we power the Pi. And I continue to make adjustments in that I'm looking to modify what we have even further in the coming weeks. I'm in Canada so here is what I'm buying and approximately paying (doesn't include shipping cost):
- $35 - Raspberry Pi 2 - http://www.mcmelectronics.com/basket.asp...69fe7aa536
- $7.95 - 2 Amp Pi Power Cable from Adafruit - https://www.adafruit.com/products/1995
- $47 - Pi Remote and Case (approximate cost) - http://www.msldigital.com/collections/al...-plus-2015
- $39 - Virtual Here License - https://www.virtualhere.com/purchase
- $12 - 3 foot hdmi to vdi cable (approximate cost).
A bit of explanation here maybe. In our office I had previously used a Powered USB Hub. These had a power on/off switch and special port to Power the Pi Thin Client. But with the new Pi2's having 4 USB ports I'm thinking of ditching the powered hub and running my peripherals all from the Pi (I've determined that all my peripherals do not exceed the 1.2 Amp maximum the Pi2 4 USB ports can deliver). Also I want to give my employees the ability to gracefully shutdown and restart their Pi Thin Clients with a proper power button (especially now since I'm removing the powered USB Hub which had an on/off switch on it). This is why I'm looking to introduce the Pi Remote. I also have the need to deliver USB connected devices to my virtual machines (USB2IP) which is why I've included the license for Virtualhere.
So my setup is most likely different than others but it's a starting place for total cost of the Pi thin client.
Total price for my Thin Client setup is approximately: $140.95 (plus taxes and shipping).
I'd be interested in hearing from others on this board to see what their setup is costing them. Is this a reasonable price to pay to setup a Pi Thin Client? Are there better alternatives out there?
Thanks!