Raspberry Pi 5 - Hackdot

Re:Raspberry Pi 5 by Kirby64 on Thursday September 28, 2023 @03:33PM (#37694594)

Again, this sounds overblown. Obviously the cables are somewhat fragile and you can't just be a brute with them... but the alternative is making a PCB that is much larger to accept a M.2 slot. It just isn't possible in the current footprint from what I can tell.

Also, other connectors for this type have surprisingly low durability. Most M.2 slots are rated for extremely low mating cycles. Amphenonol, who I would considered to be an high quality manufacturer, rates their M.2 slots for '25-60' mating cycles total. Less than 100. Most manufacturers do not even specify the number of mating cycles.

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Re:Raspberry Pi 5 by mlyle on Thursday September 28, 2023 @04:27PM (#37695350)

> but the alternative is making a PCB that is much larger to accept a M.2 slot. It just isn't possible in the current footprint from what I can tell.

I'm not saying they made a bad choice; they're facing a lot of constraints and have a lot of IO to get out while staying hobbyist friendly.

> Also, other connectors for this type have surprisingly low durability. Most M.2 slots are rated for extremely low mating cycles.

Sure, but I don't -need- as many mating cycles for M.2, as it'd be screwed to the board and done. Whereas if I'm dealing with a Pi stackup and coming in and out of the case, I'm likely to get through the couple dozen cycles I'm allowed with FPC. And if I'm putting it on a vibration-intensive environment like a quadcopter, I need to be pretty dang careful with mechanicals.

> Again, this sounds overblown.

Everything's a tradeoff. Flex is cheap and small and offers versatility. It's also delicate and annoying.

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