Hello,
Ok, so I’m a total newbie at the Pi, and I was given a Raspberry Pi 500 (original, not the premium version) to use as a primary desktop while I learn Javascript and Python. So I need advice on how best to get the Pi to do what I need it to do.
(I’ve read over as much of the forum as I could and didn’t see this answered anywhere, so apologies if I missed it, and please point me in the right direction to find it.)
I was given the desktop kit of the RPi 500, 8GB version, with 32GB MicroSD card. I read the book that comes with it and spent a while reading through whatever I could of the forum, so I understand that it can handily do all your general web surfing things, YouTube, word processing stuff, all that jazz. However, I also need it to do all the programming exercises, sample projects, and portfolio building exercises for my studies, and handle my weekly discord video tutoring sessions. If possible, I would also like it to run Stardew Valley and Minecraft. (I use short sessions of these as rewards and stress relief at the end of the day.)
(I've googled all of this, but not been able to get a definitive advice one way or another. So, I'm asking people with more experience.)
So, my questions are:
32GB doesn’t seem like very much memory, especially since I’ve read that to use SV, I’m going to have to change the OS to Ubuntu. I’d already planned to save the card that came with the Pi as an emergency desktop OS backup anyway, so that’s not a surprise. I don’t have access to any other computers that I’m allowed to download/install anything on, so I already know I’m going to have to do the whole “install to USB/SSD” thing or buy a cheap SD card reader and put the installer on the original PI OS. But I don’t know what’s best to change it to. Do I get another SD card and a card reader? Or a USB or SSD, like I’ve seen discussed in other posts? What would work best for my situation? And how big of one?
The last computer I had used a 256GB hard drive. It worked out pretty well, so I’m inclined to stick to that, but would a 512GB make things easier with what I need to do? (Heck, I’d love to get a 1TB right now, but Santa hasn’t gotten back to me in years. Maybe in a year or two.)
I’ve not got a large budget. I’ve only 90 dollars I can throw at it right now, and anything more will have to be bargained for with a family loan that I’d rather avoid as much as possible. I’ve got a pair of Bluetooth headphones, a USB microphone, and a nice monitor already, so that’s been taken care of, but I need to buy the Uninterrupted Power Supply (I’ve found one that does everything I need it to for about 55 dollars). After that, everything goes to getting the Pi working for me. I’ve nothing else (no powered USB hub or anything. It’s on my list.) I’ll have to start saving up for anything else later.
After reading everything I could find, I’m inclined to get a Samsung BAR Plus 256Gb USB (3.1 USB, 400Mps) flash drive as the new memory/OS location, to gain more space and speed it up, and then start saving up for a SSD later down the line, when I start needing the improvement in power and space. Would that do what I need it to do reasonably well, at least while I learn?
So, any advice on what to do would be welcome.
Thanks in advance - Farnathi
Ok, so I’m a total newbie at the Pi, and I was given a Raspberry Pi 500 (original, not the premium version) to use as a primary desktop while I learn Javascript and Python. So I need advice on how best to get the Pi to do what I need it to do.
(I’ve read over as much of the forum as I could and didn’t see this answered anywhere, so apologies if I missed it, and please point me in the right direction to find it.)
I was given the desktop kit of the RPi 500, 8GB version, with 32GB MicroSD card. I read the book that comes with it and spent a while reading through whatever I could of the forum, so I understand that it can handily do all your general web surfing things, YouTube, word processing stuff, all that jazz. However, I also need it to do all the programming exercises, sample projects, and portfolio building exercises for my studies, and handle my weekly discord video tutoring sessions. If possible, I would also like it to run Stardew Valley and Minecraft. (I use short sessions of these as rewards and stress relief at the end of the day.)
(I've googled all of this, but not been able to get a definitive advice one way or another. So, I'm asking people with more experience.)
So, my questions are:
32GB doesn’t seem like very much memory, especially since I’ve read that to use SV, I’m going to have to change the OS to Ubuntu. I’d already planned to save the card that came with the Pi as an emergency desktop OS backup anyway, so that’s not a surprise. I don’t have access to any other computers that I’m allowed to download/install anything on, so I already know I’m going to have to do the whole “install to USB/SSD” thing or buy a cheap SD card reader and put the installer on the original PI OS. But I don’t know what’s best to change it to. Do I get another SD card and a card reader? Or a USB or SSD, like I’ve seen discussed in other posts? What would work best for my situation? And how big of one?
The last computer I had used a 256GB hard drive. It worked out pretty well, so I’m inclined to stick to that, but would a 512GB make things easier with what I need to do? (Heck, I’d love to get a 1TB right now, but Santa hasn’t gotten back to me in years. Maybe in a year or two.)
I’ve not got a large budget. I’ve only 90 dollars I can throw at it right now, and anything more will have to be bargained for with a family loan that I’d rather avoid as much as possible. I’ve got a pair of Bluetooth headphones, a USB microphone, and a nice monitor already, so that’s been taken care of, but I need to buy the Uninterrupted Power Supply (I’ve found one that does everything I need it to for about 55 dollars). After that, everything goes to getting the Pi working for me. I’ve nothing else (no powered USB hub or anything. It’s on my list.) I’ll have to start saving up for anything else later.
After reading everything I could find, I’m inclined to get a Samsung BAR Plus 256Gb USB (3.1 USB, 400Mps) flash drive as the new memory/OS location, to gain more space and speed it up, and then start saving up for a SSD later down the line, when I start needing the improvement in power and space. Would that do what I need it to do reasonably well, at least while I learn?
So, any advice on what to do would be welcome.
Thanks in advance - Farnathi
Statistics: Posted by Farnathi — Wed Jan 14, 2026 6:32 pm — Replies 0 — Views 18