Raspberry Pi or something else?

[noahsheldon]

Hello, I was thinking about buying a Raspberry Pi 2 but then I was talking to a friend and he said not to and to get a Beagle Board or something else. I was wondering what your thoughts on it were? Would you recommend a Pi or something else? I am trying to keep it $45 USD or less.
Thanks,
Noah

 

[yeticorn]

What is the intended use of the system?

 

[noahsheldon]

What is the intended use of the system?

Just messing around in Linux, running a server, having access to documents in the cloud, fun projects, stuff like that. Might try to overclock with fans on it.

 

[yeticorn]

If the intent is simply to learn, you can do that on any platform though I will say that Raspberry Pi seems to have a broader community which may help with troubleshooting if necessary.

 

[kyzarvs]

Pi has almost full Debian, so is extremely flexible - I have 3 and love 'em

 

[Eximo]

Zero cost would be VirtualBox and a Linux Distro on a PC (or Mac)