These are the 3 accessories I wish I had bought with my Raspberry Pi

My Raspberry Pi 500+ finally arrived, but I kept the order on short notice to keep the cost down. Despite my attempts to be frugal, I'd be lying if I said I hadn't toyed with the idea of ​​adding a few more items to the order.

Here are three purchases I'm still eyeing.

Oddly shaped and overpriced touchscreen.

Corsair Xeneon Edge An expensive, oddly shaped 14.5-inch LCD touchscreen with a 2560×720 resolution. It's thin and wide or long and narrow, depending on how you choose to use it. While it's primarily intended for gamers and creative types as a secondary monitor for reading chat windows, monitoring system stats, and displaying UI elements, I think it pairs perfectly with my Raspberry Pi.

At $250, that's a high price (costing over $200 for the Pi 500+ and five times more than the base Raspberry Pi 5 Model B). Regardless, I think this would be the ideal main screen for the Pi 500+ Universal Keyboard Case.

I can see it used horizontally in desktop mode behind the low-profile Pi 500+ mechanical keyboard enclosure, or mounted vertically in cases where you're short on space. The device uses magnets to attach to a removable stand or anything else you want to use, like a 3D printer or wall panel, as a sort of smart home display. Yes, it's an expensive desk decoration, but I don't need a large display for my Pi 500+ because it will mostly be used for small projects and I really need the desk space.

Luckily, there are many cheaper small touchscreens available, such as GeeekPi 7″ LCD Displaywhich usually retails for $60. It doesn't have the same compact short and wide design, but it costs much less and will get the job done.

There are many more alternatives on marketplaces like AliExpress, e.g. Wisecoco 7.84″ GPU Monitoring Displaywhich lacks touch, but retails for less than $100. If you want to use the Pi outdoors or in a bright room, Wisecoco 7 inch touch display (which retails for around $120 at the time of writing) has a brightness of 2000 nits.

Brand

Corsair

Color

Black

The Corsair Xeneon Edge is like a giant Stream Deck with a fully customizable touchscreen.

HAT Raspberry Pi DAC Pro

Credit: Raspberry Pi

One thing I want to use my Raspberry Pi for is to add Bluetooth and AirPlay audio to an old stereo receiver I'm moving nearby. The only problem is that the Pi doesn't have dedicated audio outputs, meaning you'll have to pull audio from the HDMI output (either using an adapter or routing audio from your monitor if it has an output).

That's where Raspberry Pi Pro DAC ($25). It connects to any Pi with a 40-pin GPIO header and provides the best audio quality possible on a Raspberry Pi. No soldering is required as the DAC Pro comes pre-wired and offers standard RCA output (stereo left and right ports) as well as a 3.5mm stereo output with headphone amp.

You can save by choosing DAC+ ($20), which uses a slightly inferior quality D/A converter, but I'd rather go all in and get the best audio quality possible.

A good mouse or trackball

Photo: Hannah Stryker/How-To Geek

Most people probably don't associate the Raspberry Pi with a desktop replacement, but the Pi 500+ is designed to do just that. It's a cheap and cheerful desktop with 16GB of RAM and built-in NVMe storage that significantly improves on earlier models by improving the typing experience.

Instead of a cheap membrane keyboard, the Pi 500+ has a fancy, clicky, and very nice mechanical keyboard. The switches are (non-replaceable) Gateron blue, and there's even an addressable RGB LED underneath each one. The problem here is that it displays a nasty old Microsoft mouse that I had to dig out to use the Pi.

I didn't expect to enjoy typing on this computer so much, but here we are. It doesn't have the “tech” feel that many expect from a mechanical keyboard, but as someone accustomed to the Apple Magic Keyboard (and preferring the low-profile typing experience it provides), I'm having a great time.

Now all I need is a matching mouse. I use Apple's Magic Trackpad on my main Mac and love it. I prefer not to move my hands across the table, so I want to do it weird and pick up a trackball instead. There's something alluring about weird pointing devices, and maybe I'll finally have a reason to buy one.

I've got my eye on Kensington SlimBlade ($120) or Kensington Expert ($110). Besides aesthetics, there are Lots of reasons to switch to a trackball mouse.

Sensor

Optic

Connectivity

USB receiver 2.4 GHz, Bluetooth, wired USB-C, wireless

The Kensington TB800 trackball mouse features a reversible design with a central scroll dial, side scroll and zoom wheels, and eight programmable buttons. This is an excellent, highly customizable trackball mouse for those who value ergonomics and creative functionality.

Whatever Pi you have, there are plenty of great accessories to add to your shopping list. microSD cards are always at hand, a powered USB hub allows you to connect a variety of additional accessories, and e-paper display has many uses.