By "another" are you implying that RPi is also a really badly designed product? (I have no experience of Arduino - I use AVRs, but on their own or integrated into my own hardware so have to get the power supplies right, and haven't ever managed to fry one despite not being all that careful in my handling - so won't comment). Your first para read as a critique of relying on the charger standard on its own. Clearly RPi also has no reverse polarity or overvoltage protection and is far more reliant on a strict voltage input level than I imagine Arduino is - also plenty of interface pins available to touch, which are not only directly connected to the processor, but aren't even 5V tolerant (which I would imagine is the most common reason for cooked pi). Yet I don't see anything wrong with that - and nor is it the fault of RPi that it doesn't work with many USB power supplies. The power supply specs are given and from my experience are actually conservative. I've not got that involved with the RPi community, but I don't see many reports of fried pis, suggesting it's not a huge issue for typical users - maybe RPi owners treat the kit with more respect than you're suggesting Arduino users do (presumably despite being more cheaper the RPi is seen more as a proper computer and less as a toy). Personally I usually power my RPi using the GPIO connector which I'm sure isn't recommended! Chris On Fri, Dec 27, 2013 at 6:52 PM, Peter wrote: > Imho the Rpi is an excellent example on how not to rely on external power > supplies of the 'standard' kind. 5V charge USB standard for today is 1A, > not > 2A, regardless of what a certain company claims. > > The duino is another example of a really badly 'designed' product which > caught on. No reverse voltage, high voltage, or overload on regulated > output > protection whatsoever, and 20 odd MCU pins connected to pins people touch= , > with no current limiting whasoever. It is a cash cow because the average > dude fries about 3 in a row before he gets anything working, if at all. A= t > 27EUR each for a 'free' product, which contains a $1 mcu and a usb adapte= r > which should be externally plugged on, the sales certainly support the > 'ecosystem' (their phraseology here, just quoting). Yes, duinos and their > 'master' users are one of my pet peeves. I am sure a lot of people make > them > work great but the averages are what they are and I have my experiences. > > -- Peter > > -- > http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > --=20 http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .