Any value in an RPi 1?

[MikeK]

I have the opportunity to get a used RPi 1 from someone for $20.  Not sure if it's A, A+ or B.  I don't think the owner knows which one either.  Are these still useful for anything?  I've never used one before so I guess the price could get me acquainted.  Matthias Wandel on YouTube has used one of the newer ones to run experiments and collect data from load sensors and cameras and such...Would the RPi1 be able to do that?  Should I throw my money elsewhere?

[ledtester]

It'll work as Matthias uses it. He uses the I2C and SPI interfaces to talk to ADC modules for the data collection. The RPi doesn't have any built-in ADC units so those will be an additional cost.

Microcontroller boards like the Arduino or the various ESP32 offerings can be a cheaper way to get into data acquisition. For camera data, though, the RPi is better as it has more CPU power.

[MikeK]

I have an ESP32, but I though it might be nice (and useful) to have something with an OS.  And RPi can run Python and shell scripts, so that might be good as well.

[Ian.M]

Pi (1 to 3)  A models are rather less useful due to the lack of connectivity.  B models give you an onboard USB hub + Ethernet.  OTOH an A (or Pi Zero) can be programmed to be a USB slave device.

The original Pi had the same processor and RAM as the Pi Zero, and 70% of the performance, so if you aren't using the extra I/O pins can be used for similar stuff.

[wraper]

It's more than for what Pi 1 model B sells on ebay, model A is worth even less. It's useable for a lot of things but compared with more recent models totally sucks if you need to use UI.

[MikeK]

Thanks guys.