If you’re searching for a easy and cheap approach to flip your Raspberry Pi 5 right into a extra sensible laptop for every day use, then Waveshare’s new PCIe To M.2 Multifunctional Adapter is likely to be simply what you’re searching for. For ten bucks, this little board removes two of the Pi’s most annoying quirks.
First, the adapter turns the tiny onboard micro HDMI ports right into a pair of superb, full-sized HDMI ports. No extra looking for adapters, and no extra cable administration nightmares — simply good outdated HDMI cables. Typically the little issues do make an enormous distinction.
The underside of the board (📷: Waveshare)
Maybe extra importantly, the board gives easy accessibility to an M.2 slot. It helps PCIe NVMe SSDs and different M.2 add-ons. With this, including an SSD to the Pi is as straightforward as may be. And which means you may boot from an actual disk, somewhat than an SD card. If you will be utilizing your Pi as a every day driver, that is hardly non-obligatory. Underneath heavy use, that SD card can be spitting out errors very quickly.
The board sits alongside the Pi, linked to its micro HDMI and USB-C ports. The 16-pin PCIe port can also be linked to the board by way of a flat ribbon cable. Energy may be provided both by way of USB-C, or by way of screw terminals.
Take a look at the board’s product web page for the remainder of the small print.
