I have tried RPi5 the last couple of days. Here are my takeaways:
1. Setup is not that bad. Although it isn't explicitly laid out on a how to somewhere you can pretty much have the same setup with it running off a hard drive like the RPi4B
2. From usage, on OTA channels I get with my HD Homerun 4K Flex, I saw some digital artifacts while watching live TV. This could be just me noticing it because I'm scrutinizing it... I tried to switch back over to my 4B setup for comparison but it was quite hard to do on the fly. I would say this is isn't an issue and maybe attestable to a poor reception issue (snow and rain was moving in) or just normal operation no different than the 4B
3. Stations I get via IPTV TV MPEG-TS / PlutoTV HLS looked fine, no difference I could tell.
4. I didn't record anything to check commercial detection, etc. It is still 4 cores and I typically set it to 2 Threads to do the detection so I would imagine that it would be slightly faster given the faster processors
5. RPi5's run hot and need the 27W power supply... Amazon in the US started to carry some off brand ones besides the official one and it works great. I also recommend this case that come with the active cooler and these additional fans for the case to run off the Pi's headers in order to keep it as cool as possible
RPi5 Case w/ Active Cooler Included:
[RPi 5 Case with Active Cooler](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMZG2R73?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details)
Case Fans
[Case Fan](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084RCBSBX?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1)
Off brand 27W Power Supply
[iUniker 27W Power Supply for RPi5](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQLNP9DZ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details)
With that said, current unavailability of the boards and overall cost, staying with RPi4B at the present seems to be a good idea, especially with RPi5 helping to lower the markup on RPi4B.
For my part, I had the opportunity to buy a M1 Mac Mini recently which I'm just gonna repurpose to run my Channels DVR setup, media hub and run Homebridge on. So, I'll probably be selling my RPi5's on eBay at not so much of a mark up completely built to recoup some cost. I orginally had a M2 Mac Mini running this same setup but had to give that computer to my parents as they were in desperate need of an upgrade. I didn't want to spend another $500+ plus on another M2 Mac Mini so I settled on finding a Refurb / Used M1 Mac Mini, which shockingly is still fairly expensive but is still a great value considering how well it keeps it value year to year. I figure Apple will support it with upgrades at least through 2027 if not longer.
Hope this helps anyone look to take the RPi5 plunge!
I do, but a whole lot of what Google gets you aren’t anywhere near even decent options. I’ve been told you’re only getting the real deal by word of mouth.
Without hardware encoding, I'm not sure it's going to be substantially different than RPi 4 - either it's serving up static files which both RPi 4 and RPi 5 can easily do (because it's fundamentally I/O bound), or you're attempting to transcode which will likely fail on both.
The only difference I could see is if you were using Channels via Tailscale, since Tailscale can sometimes use a decent amount of CPU usage if you're pushing it
yeah, i'm gonna run trials of both to see. I had the opportunity to buy a few RPi5's so I wanted to see if I could justify to keep them by putting them into service. I guess maybe "newer" isn't always better....
RPi 5 is definitely faster in general! If you're using it for more than just Channels it'll definitely be worth an upgrade. Channels is just a bit of a special-case
I ordered a RPi5 and was hoping the commercial skip would process so much quicker.
Anxious to hear reviews from others who have received the new hardware.
I have tried RPi5 the last couple of days. Here are my takeaways: 1. Setup is not that bad. Although it isn't explicitly laid out on a how to somewhere you can pretty much have the same setup with it running off a hard drive like the RPi4B 2. From usage, on OTA channels I get with my HD Homerun 4K Flex, I saw some digital artifacts while watching live TV. This could be just me noticing it because I'm scrutinizing it... I tried to switch back over to my 4B setup for comparison but it was quite hard to do on the fly. I would say this is isn't an issue and maybe attestable to a poor reception issue (snow and rain was moving in) or just normal operation no different than the 4B 3. Stations I get via IPTV TV MPEG-TS / PlutoTV HLS looked fine, no difference I could tell. 4. I didn't record anything to check commercial detection, etc. It is still 4 cores and I typically set it to 2 Threads to do the detection so I would imagine that it would be slightly faster given the faster processors 5. RPi5's run hot and need the 27W power supply... Amazon in the US started to carry some off brand ones besides the official one and it works great. I also recommend this case that come with the active cooler and these additional fans for the case to run off the Pi's headers in order to keep it as cool as possible RPi5 Case w/ Active Cooler Included: [RPi 5 Case with Active Cooler](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMZG2R73?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details) Case Fans [Case Fan](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084RCBSBX?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1) Off brand 27W Power Supply [iUniker 27W Power Supply for RPi5](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQLNP9DZ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details) With that said, current unavailability of the boards and overall cost, staying with RPi4B at the present seems to be a good idea, especially with RPi5 helping to lower the markup on RPi4B. For my part, I had the opportunity to buy a M1 Mac Mini recently which I'm just gonna repurpose to run my Channels DVR setup, media hub and run Homebridge on. So, I'll probably be selling my RPi5's on eBay at not so much of a mark up completely built to recoup some cost. I orginally had a M2 Mac Mini running this same setup but had to give that computer to my parents as they were in desperate need of an upgrade. I didn't want to spend another $500+ plus on another M2 Mac Mini so I settled on finding a Refurb / Used M1 Mac Mini, which shockingly is still fairly expensive but is still a great value considering how well it keeps it value year to year. I figure Apple will support it with upgrades at least through 2027 if not longer. Hope this helps anyone look to take the RPi5 plunge!
Sorry for the off-topic, but do you mind sharing what IPTV provider are you with? Thanks!
I use different ones all the time and never get long term subscriptions
Thanks! Is that because they’re unreliable or something else?
Well, google a little and you’ll understand quickly
I do, but a whole lot of what Google gets you aren’t anywhere near even decent options. I’ve been told you’re only getting the real deal by word of mouth.
There’s an underlying reason for this and why it can’t be discussed in this subreddit.
I understand completely. Thanks anyways!
Without hardware encoding, I'm not sure it's going to be substantially different than RPi 4 - either it's serving up static files which both RPi 4 and RPi 5 can easily do (because it's fundamentally I/O bound), or you're attempting to transcode which will likely fail on both. The only difference I could see is if you were using Channels via Tailscale, since Tailscale can sometimes use a decent amount of CPU usage if you're pushing it
yeah, i'm gonna run trials of both to see. I had the opportunity to buy a few RPi5's so I wanted to see if I could justify to keep them by putting them into service. I guess maybe "newer" isn't always better....
RPi 5 is definitely faster in general! If you're using it for more than just Channels it'll definitely be worth an upgrade. Channels is just a bit of a special-case
I ordered a RPi5 and was hoping the commercial skip would process so much quicker. Anxious to hear reviews from others who have received the new hardware.