Features:

  • Includes Raspberry Pi 3 (RPi3) Model B Quad-Core 1.2 GHz 1 GB RAM
  • On-board WiFi and Bluetooth Connectivity
  • CanaKit 2.5A USB Power Supply with Micro USB Cable and Noise Filter - Specially designed for the Raspberry Pi 3 (UL Listed)
  • Premium Clear Raspberry Pi 3 Case
  • Set of 2 Heat Sinks and CanaKit Quick-Start Guide
It works with 1 minor power issue

It's been awhile since I used Unix and command line, but I did get the unit working. After a few weeks, I noticed the power LED flickering. Troubleshooting indicated an intermittent connection either on the Pi board to Micro USB power connector or between the board and power supply connectors themselves. After troubleshooting (moving ps connector), the flickering stopped so rIght now it's working - solid power LED, so I leave it alone.

Size doesn't matter

About the size of a pack of cigarettes, this little computer works really good. Very fast and fun for web surfing. I'm using it as an email server and it works great. One suggestion, software download took about 2 hours. If you are in a hurry, I suggest ordering one with the OS installed on the chip. Plugged into an empty HDMI input on the TV and hooked up the sound to our bluetooth bose speaker. Had some fun with it, then started the email software, unplugged the keyboard and mouse, set it on the shelf and will check it about every 90 days to make sure all is ok. Oh, the wifi and cat6 network connections work great. This should help lower my electric bill because my current server was using about 180 watts where this one should use less that 20.

Working well, everything is good.

Pros: Good board, and everything is as advertised. Even the little heat sinks went on well and are working fine (they are cute!) Cons: More of a concern, you might want to put the heat sinks on after the board is mounted in the case. I put them on first and lucked out as they were in good position, so they fit ok once I put it in the case. just an fyi. Also, the board snaps into place in the case. The retaining clips are a bit stiff, and if you like to take it out of the case frequently, just be careful not to break the clips, or chip the board (could happen). Thoughts: Using this with an existing flash card for gaming. It is wonderful! Next use is to see how a Linux distro works, then maybe as a mini firewall. These things are so cute!

A great way to get your first Pi.

I highly recommend getting this kit for at least your first Pi. It has everything you need (except the SD card) to get you going. Just having everything all together makes getting started a breeze. I also like the idea of not including the SD card so you can get a larger one for the same price as the pre-loaded one. Downloading the NOOBS software and copying it to the SD card is so easy I cannot figure out why someone would want the pre-loaded version. (Unless, of course, you do not have an internet connection.) Just be aware that there is a huge difference in the load options available to you when you are connected to the internet versus what you will just see on the card itself. I highly recommend doing a wired internet connection when you are doing an initial load. The only down-side I see to this kit is the case. The top does not close completely for air circulation, but it also does not "snap" in the "closed" position so the top can come off far too easily. But, now that I have had it for a while I realize that you really don't touch it much so this seems less of a concern than when I first set it up. This is a bit difficult to review since the "product" here is the CanaKit and not the Raspberry Pi itself which clearly deserves 8 stars on a 5-star scale. If Linux worked this smoothly on all other platforms it would have a far larger audience than it does today. My main reason for getting this unit was that I needed to replaced a failed print server and the two units I tried for replacements failed miserably as well. My Pi has been a rock-solid print server since the day I loaded it up. And, what a kick being able to use it as a full-fledged LAMP server as well. This whole experience has been way beyond my expectations. (Just be aware that the current Raspbian release is Jessie, so only use web articles that specifically reference Jessie in their instructions. Many articles reference older releases and there have been definite changes to Jessie. This is especially true for setting a static IP address for the Pi.) But again, I highly recommend the CanaKit as a convenient well priced way to get your first (or replacement) Pi units.

FORGET NES/SNES CLASSICS, THIS CHEAPER AND CAN EMULATE MORE SYSTEMS!!!!!

Bought this awhile ago (4-4-17) to be exact. Way before these NES/SNES classic, to make a retro gamming system. At that time "emulation station" was your only choice, but now we have "lakka" , and I dug my pi out and started over with my retro gamming setup. Luv lakka's interface (like ps3) and very easy/streamed line unlike emulation station. I don't see the craze ppl are having about the classic editions, but hey, to each is own. You go ahead and spend 60-100 dollars and play your classic edition, and I'll spend aprox 50 dollars and play games you can't without hacking it, even then I bet you can't run all systems pi can!!!!!! Get one if you want to play retro games and you can buy NES/SNES cases for it. Threw in a 128gb SanDisk micro SD card, and have all the games I want!!! I Guess this is classic edition KILLER, SORRY NINTENDO, ppl get more with the "PI"

Perfect Retro Gaming / Kodi Streaming Platform.

Purchased this to make a retro game system. After seeing the new Mini NES and how fast it sold out and how limited it was, I figured Pi was the way to go. 32gig microsd card, PS3 controller and about 30 minutes later, I have a fully functional retro game system that can run every game I ever played growing up and all the games I could never afford to play. It is a very versatile device. It runs everything from old C64 games all the way up to PSX without any issues. It also runs Kodi flawlessly. So in addition to having all my favorite old school games, I can watch streaming movies and tv with Kodi and even control it with my cell phone. I purchased this one with the case just because I wasn't sure that the 3D printed case I made was going to fit. 3D case fit like a glove, so if you have access to a 3D printer, there are hundreds of different case designs out on the internet that you can put together and save yourself about 10 bucks and add some style to this little device. To sum it up, for the cost of this, plus an sd card of whatever size you want, you get every game system from 1970 to around 1998 and Kodi which can stream Youtube, Amazon, Netflix and anything else you can find an app to stream. I'd say in total, this sub $100.00 purchase is worth every bit of over $1000.00 worth of entertainment equipment.

Best Raspberry Pi case I've tried yet

I'm very happy with this case and kit. This is my fourth raspberry pi, and the first one I've bought through cana kit. The board is standard, the heatsinks are fine, and the power supply works. Nothing exciting there. But the case? I'm very happy with the case. The other ones I've had didn't have good GPIO access. One case has the pins always exposed, which I didn't like. And the other kept them always covered, with a small slot to feed a ribbon cable through. I wasn't thrilled with that either. This one, however, has the best of both worlds - an outer cover covers the GPIO pins but is easily removable for access. And when it's off, the rest of the board is still covered by another piece of plastic. I'm quite happy. Getting the board in the case was a little tricky, since it's a tight fit, but that's typical for raspberry cases, so nothing out of the ordinary. I highly recommend it.

Fun kit for tinkering nerds like me

I'm a total Raspberry Pi newbie but I'm loving it so far. I bought this so that I could turn it into a Plex media server. I also set it up to work as a network attached storage (NAS) device so that I could backup all my files from all my computers and still be able to access them from any computer in the house. There's been a bit of a learning curve but I was actually excited to learn about the platform and how I could use it. This kit came with everything I needed, power supply, heat sinks, case, etc and it's all good quality. I already had a microSD card for the OS. Setup was really a snap. Like seriously, everything snapped together like Legos. For the purposes I wanted this, the Raspberry Pi is almost ideal. It's perfect for use as a NAS device. You can attach whatever size spinning hard drive to this and get all the space you need. For the purposes of being a Plex server, the Pi is not quite as ideal. This is low power hardware with low memory (with correspondent low power consumption which is one of my important considerations). While it can serve the purpose, I have to be careful about the resolution of videos I try to serve from this device. It just cannot handle HD video over the Plex server, but it serves DVD quality video (or even slightly better) just fine. To me, convenience trumps fidelity so I'm not complaining.

Great product for projects.

I've been researching various Pi kits for a while to pick the one that fits my needs, and this turned out to be the perfect version. The Pi 3 is a fast little device. I'm working with a friend in order to re-learn Linux, and he was extremely impressed by its performance vs the 2. I was impressed by how very easy it was to get started. Between the included information and the website, I was up and running and browsing the web in no time. The version of the kit that I chose for myself is pretty basic: device, simple case, heat sinks, power supply, and paperwork. This little thing is not only a great basic computer (a killer little web machine), but it's also a great learning tool. There are many projects that can be done with the Pi 3 and I can't wait to put it through its paces.

Great Linux computer!

This is a great machine, comparable to a Mintbox Mini. Granted my Mintbox Mini has 8 G of main memory, and a 64 GB card in it, the Raspberry Pi is faster at doing all the common stuff I do- read email, surf the web, do moderate file maintenance, etc.. Plus Raspbian Linux has a beautiful desktop, and is a full blown Linux OS! I downloaded Raspbian and used Etcher on a Windows computer to load Raspbian to a 32 GB micros card. Then simply inserted the card into the slot on the bottom of the board, enclosed it in the 3 part case, connected HDMI, USB mouse and keyboard, plugged it in, and away I went! If you have some particular performance needs, this may not be the right hardware for you. But as a basic Linux computer, it’s great. Update 11/18/2018- My initial assessment of the speed of running common apps was somewhat optimistic, and I’ve since dropped back to using the Mintbox Mini. I systemctl isolate multi-user.target, and just log into this box with termius. I now use it primarily as a client for a ZFS mirrored vdev on the Mintbox Mini via NFS. Works great. I still strongly feel it’s a terrific Linux system, low power consumption, no spinning disk, works wirelessly over my network to provide file redundancy. Bravo!

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