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Comment by alpaca128 | Hacker News Reader

How are two niche ports requiring adapters more accessible than one full-size HDMI port? Are two ports on such constrained hardware really worth it? If my adapter cable breaks (which already happened) I have to order a new one and can't use the device while sitting on a pile of unused but unsupported HDMI cables. Meanwhile iirc it took until after the launch of the Pi 4 to get USB boot support without first flashing and booting a microSD card, another piece of hardware not known for its longevity.

The RPi project is amazing and I'm glad it exists, but some decisions are just weird considering their goals. Though to be fair the RPi 4 & 5 improved the situation significantly.

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The weird niche port for video is the #1 reason I stopped using raspberry pi. I have one adapter, somewhere, but I'll be damned if I can find it in less than an hour. It's at the bottom of some bag or drawer of infrequently used adapters

Why don’t you just keep it with the Pi?

I have like five or six pis they get packed and unpacked every time I move

Amen. Micro-HDMI is trash and should NEVER be used, because it will break promptly... especially on a dinky device that moves and shifts a lot.

If a full-sized HDMI port is somehow too big (which it isn't on the regular-sized Pi, and definitely not on the 400), they should just use USB-C ports with DisplayPort capability. I'd rather use a DP-to-HDMI adapter (which is cheap and effective) than a shitty micro-HDMI port.

I have mixed feelings about that.

Personally, I found the mini HDMI ports themselves a downgrade. One is forever looking for adapters. However, having two displays is nice!

It boils down to whether someone is using the device like a computer.

The Pi 400 is a nice, respectable computer and I use one for development. Two displays makes sense and is high value.

Now you can absolutely use the device.

I have an epaper project in development. I have the epaper setup and attached to a Pi 3. That makes sense and it works well. Code output goes there and I have it all in one place.

I use it in two basic ways:

One is headless, using VNC to access dev tools and code located right on the Pi. I keep various wi-fi setups handy and can copy a new one onto the SD card if needed. Usually, I am powering the Pi with my laptop in that scenario.

The other is via plugged in displays with keyboard and mouse.

I do both of those with Pi 3 and 4 devices.

The Pi-400 needs the display adapter and though I have not lost or broken one yet, it seems to me simply attaching an adapter permanently to the computer would make a lot of sense.

This thread makes me want to 3d print a different case so that I can incorporate the adapters properly and just expose HDMI slots like we see on the earlier devices.

Finally, just a tip:

I will often use my laptop as a display for the Pi with one of those HDMI capture devices. Power the Pi with the laptop and bring up a display to work with.

> I will often use my laptop as a display for the Pi with one of those HDMI capture devices

Then why don't you just...use the laptop? It's unlikely the Pi has better performance or compatibility.

I agree if they are running it strictly for Linux needs however they may be using it for gpio and not be aware there are gpio USB boards out there that basically do the same thing.

Using it as a dev environment for e-paper at the moment. Once I have a Pi setup for a task, it stays that way. That is nice and I do not need speed.

I like to set up the dev environment on the Pi.

For a lot of reasons, my primary laptop runs Windows 10. It has a lot going on. Sometimes a setup on the pi is easy. When that is true, I just leave things on the Pi.

The two HDMI ports are worth it for me. I have a project with Raspberry PI 400 in multiseat kiosk mode.

It has two monitors, and an extra keyboard and mouse. The microHmdi->HDMI cables you can get for 2 dollars each.

It paid for itself in saved electricity bills in about a month (it replaced older computers and I set it up just when electricity went through the roof here in Europe).

On the other hand I did not need wifi or bluetooth. But wireless, and the extra HDMI probably does not add much to the price. I think Raspberry made reasonable choices regarding ports, etc.