“For such a little computer and such a low price, the Zero W is surprisingly good. I use it as a retro gaming PC with RetroPie, and while it took a bit of setting up (with more to do still) it is able to run the MAME games I threw at it at full speed and most NeoGeo games perfectly (usually with GnGeo). Some Playstation games even run decently! SNES mostly works at full speed other than a few titles that use the FX chip. N64 won't run though, so if you want that you should probably wait for a RetroPie release for the Pi4.
Definitely worth the price for the fun project alone. If I upgrade to a Pi3 or 4 later, I will likely turn this into a portable console, so for me it was a no-brainer investment. Just remember that you'll need all the accessories too (cables, power supply, microSD, etc).”
“I have already ordered four of these little machines. From always-on music player, trough octoprint host to LED controller it serves everything with ease. I just love these little computers and how easily they included in everyday tasks.”
“I've tried several power supplies. If I leave desktop mode enabled, after approximately 5 minutes of use the device freezes and is no longer contactable over the network. I think this is an overheating issue. With just CLI it runs reliably for days. I'm using it for an electronics project so not such an issue but I wonder if it should be supplied with a heatsink?”
“The W is the killer feature. Finally just with a battery attached the board can stay tucked away in the garden and you still can SSH in from the comfort of your house.”
“Fired it up with Wi-Fi connection details in the sd image. 1minute later SSH into it over Wi-Fi. Added servoblaster and now I’m dimming 40 channels of garden lighting across 2 Pi zeros. Not once did I have to attach a monitor or keyboard.”
