By Jim Shimabukuro
Editor

The more time I spend with the Raspberry Pi 4, the more I’m convinced that it could stand in for a desktop for many uses. For light users and perhaps for schools and colleges, the savings would be astronomical. I decided to add a small monitor to make the unit less cumbersome and more portable. School and college faculty, techs, and administrators ought to look into this tiny computer as a possible replacement or substitute for expensive desktops for class or lab use. Experiment with it. Can it cover the functions that are needed?

Added a lightweight, portable 1920×1080 HDMI monitor¹ and some updates.

Tweaks abound. Enthusiasts and pros are sharing, via YouTube, new and exciting updates and upgrades. Here are a few that I completed in the last hour:

A. Raised the CPU speed to 512 MHz²

1. Click Raspberry Pi 4 logo on left corner of the top menu bar.
2. Click Preferences.
3. Click Raspberry Pi Configuration.
4. In the Configuration window, click the Performance tab and use the up-down arrow keys to raise (or lower) the speed. Click OK. Reboot to activate the new setting.

B. Updated/Upgraded the Raspbian OS (operating system)². One of the improvements is a cooler running temperature.

1. Click Terminal icon on left corner of the top menu bar.
2. At the prompt, type: sudo apt-get update
3. Next, when prompted, type: sudo apt-get upgrade

C. Added a CPU Temperature Gauge³ on the far right corner of the top menu bar.

1. Right click an empty spot on the top menu bar.
2. In the drop-down menu, click Add/Remove Panel Items.
3. In the new window, click Add in the right sidebar.
4. Select CPU Temperature Monitor.
5. Click Add to finish up.

D. Added a photo editing app, Gimp 4²

1. Click Terminal icon on left corner of the top menu bar.
2. At the prompt, type: sudo apt-get install gimp

See related posts:
Raspberry Pi 4 Is the Future of Desktop Computers (8/2/19)
A Palm-sized Desktop Computer for $35 – Raspberry Pi 4 (7/24/19)

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¹ SunFounder Raspberry Pi Display 13.3 Inch IPS Portable 2 HDMI Monitor 1920×1080 (Amazon $125.99 USD).
² ETA Prime, “Getting Started With The Raspberry Pi 4 – Use It As A Linux PC,” YouTube, 5 July 2019.
³ leepspvideo, “Live Temperature monitor Raspberry Pi 4 Raspbian Overclocked 2.0Ghz,” YouTube, 29 July 2019.