Issues with Raspberry Pi CM4 modules, carrier boards and touch pads – PETER GAMMA (Director & Physiologist), MEDITATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE SWITZERLAND (MRIS)

Last Updated on April 29, 2023 by pg@petergamma.org

Can we buy Raspberry Pi´s in Switzerland? Yes, we can, If we look at the bidder community for Rapberry Pi´s on Ricardo Switzerland, we can see that it is one of the most active and competitive communities we have seen who is interested in SBCs. There we have seen probably the most bids we ever have seen on Ricardo Switzerland for products.
Another solution is to start bidding with Raspberry Pi stores in Switzerland to sell us Raspberry Pi products. The only Raspberry Pi SBC these stores offer is basically the Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ which can be found from starting 30 USD to up to 100 USD. But are these Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ models controlled by a marketing software who wants to find out how much money it can make out of us? If you are looking for a new Raspberry Pi SBC with 24 month warranty in Switzerland, go for it and buy a Raspberry Pi in such a store.
Another Raspberry Pi product which can be found in Switzerland is the Tofu CM4. It is a Swiss company who sells the board in their store:

But now we have seen, that the Swiss company offers the option to buy a Tufo board in combination with a CM4. If you are interested in such a device, go for it. It is the only option we found in Switzerland to buy a CM4. But we own already a Raspberry Pad 5. Should be buy another Tofu board?

We oredered a CM4 at Digitec Switzerland. But after a view month, we received a refund with the message that the CM4 is not available anymore.
You can try now the same at Conrad Switzerland. If you want to order it there a CM4, go for it.
We are now in the situation that we own a Raspberry Pi Pad 5:

What happened to the Raspberry Pi Pad 5, & is the Raspberry Pi CM4 worth buying?

we thought it is a great device, but we do not own a CM4, since it was not available anymore at Digitec Switzerland.
And then we found out, that the Raspberry Pi Pad 5 is now longer available, too. Was it a faulty product? It would have been a great device for our needs.
Should be buy now a CM4 at Aliexpress from China with no warranty, to find out that only the shown option which where demonstrated by ETA PRIME work with the Raspberry Pi Pad 5, but not the other such as SD card support, etc.
And should we buy a new Tofu CM4 board from the Swiss company, without the option to buy a CM4 in Switzerland?
Or should we wait until the CM4 is available in Switzerland? And will this happen before the universe ends?
Here is Jeff Geerlings blog project about M.2 on a Raspberry Pi – the TOFU Compute Module 4 Carrier Board:

But until better options for buyers are available, we continue to bid with the other Ricardo Raspberry Pi bitters in Switzerland. They do also stock market speculations with Raspberry Pi 4 SBC on Ricardo Switzerland, and sellers reached gains from these devices by selling them for up to 300 USD. But if we are happy, we can also buy an old Raspberry 3 for 30 USD there. But these are products which are available, many of the products we described in our journal aren´t.
Also Jeff Geerling shows us a great YouTube demo video review about M.2 on a Raspberry Pi TOFU Compute Module 4 Carrier Board. He shows us how he builts it, he shows speed tests on his blog, but he shows now application demos.
And altough the CM4 is also a great Raspberry Pi 4 alternative, it is not available, and we do not know of user reports who report that they use CM4 modules with carrier boards to work with as their daily driver.