CanaKit Raspberry Pi 2 Complete Starter Kit with WiFi (Latest Version Raspberry Pi 2 + WiFi + Original Preloaded 8GB SD Card + Case + Power Supply + HDMI Cable) is the Kit I bought for getting started using the Pi as a desktop computer. I pick the Canakit Raspberry Pi 2 Kit because it is pretty affordable since it costs $70 which is cheaper than buying the Raspberry Pi 2 for $35 , a case for $10, USB Wifi adapter for $20, MicroUSB 2 Amp 5 Volt power adapter for $15, a high quality HDMI cable for $10, Pi 2 CPU heatsink for $5, and MicroSD 8GB Class 10 memory card for $10. If you bought all these devices separately, you will most likely spend about $100 or more if you had to pay for shipping each individual device to your home.
Every part in the kit came in one package, so I save time by just needing to wait for one package to arrive in my home, and paid only once for shipping. If you live in the US, and you bought this kit from Amazon, or another place with free shipping, you won’t need to pay for shipping because the kit cost more than $35 dollars.
Most importantly, everything which came with the Canakit Raspberry Pi 2 Starter Kit works, is easy to setup, works reliably, and the parts are all higher quality than cheaper parts like a MicroUSB power supply which maybe lower quality If I bought a cheaper generic branded MicroUSB power supply meant for charging an Google Android smartphone.
CanaKit Raspberry Pi 2 Complete Starter Kit comes bundled with a new Raspberry Pi 2 with a Quad-Core 900 MHz CPU and 1GB RAM along with all the accessories I need to use th Pi 2 as a desktop computer. It comes with a Raspberry Pi 2, 8GB MicroSD Memory Card pre-loaded with NOOBS for installing the Pi 2 operating systems, Micro-USB 2.5A power supply for powering the Pi 2, Case for protectiong the Pi 2, USB Wifi Canakit adapter, Heatsink to cool the broadcom CPU chip on the Pi 2, HDMI video cable to connect the Pi 2 to my monitor, GPIO Quick Reference Card, and simple to understand instruction manual on using the Pi 2, and Raspbian.
The whole Raspberry Pi 2 Kit from Canakit came neatly packaged and organized in a small box with smaller boxes, and bags which carried the Raspberry Pi 2, case, wifi adapter, heatsink, power supply with MicroUSB plug, HDMI cable, MicroSD 8GB memory cards, and manuals.
The Raspberry Pi 2 works great as a mini computer which is also very affordable, reliable, uses low amounts of power, and reliable. I have been using it for a few weeks with the MicroSD card, case, power supply, and heatsink which came with the kit. The Pi 2 runs pretty quickly for a $35 micro computer. The Pi 2 is fast enough to watch online videos with the default web browser, and programs like Kodi Media Center. It can also be used to play retro games like Quake 3. I like using the Raspberry Pi 2 to type out articles for my blog with FocusWriter Word Processor. The Pi 2 is very quiet, and uses very little electricity. I read on different forums and blogs about the Raspberry Pi 2 that the Pi 2 only uses about 4 Watts of electricity which is about the same amount of power as a small light bulb on a night light. The Pi 2 also starts up, and shutdowns very quickly. The Pi 2 also opens programs like web browsers, and media players like Kodi in a few seconds in Raspbian. The Pi 2 is also very reliable because I haven’t experience any random reboots, and shutdowns when using the Pi 2 for a few weeks. I like that the Pi 2 has 4 USB ports, so I can plug in a USB flash drive, or hard drive as well as a USB keyboard, and mouse. It is also great that the Pi 2 has a wired Ethernet network jack to surf the web with a more reliable, and fast wired network connection. It is also nice that the 3.5 mm audio jack on the Raspberry Pi also supports composite video, so you can use the Pi 2 on a TV with only composite video ports, and no HDMI. There are also different GPIO pins, and ports on the Raspberry Pi 2’s circuit board for installing extra parts like a camera, display, sensors, audio parts, etc on the Pi.
I like the black shiny glossy color of the case, and the plastic looks very high quality, and durable. The case does not block any of the ports like audio, HDMI video, MicroSD slot, USB ports, internal GPIO, and video ports, so you can still access all the ports on the Pi 2 when the case is on. The lid is also easy to remove to make accessing the GPIO and DSI video port easier on the Pi 2’s circuit board.Installing the Raspberry Pi 2 into the Pi 2 case which I got from the Kit was pretty simple, and only took a few minutes for me to complete. The case for the Pi 2 which comes with the Pi 2 also has good air flow for better cooling because the bottom of the case has rubber feet to lift it up a little, and the bottom has air holes for better cooling, and the top of the case has a few holes which is shaped like a Raspberry. There is also a small air gap between the case, and the cases’ removable lid. I can also install the optional aluminum metal heatsink with 4 heatsink air fins after I install the Raspberry Pi 2 into the case which comes with the Kit. The heatsink has a sticker, and wax paper to protect the sticker from drying out. I need to remove the wax paper from the sticker, and stick the heatsink on the broadcom chip on the Pi 2 after I installed the Pi 2 in the case. There is a hole on the case which is the size of the heatsink, so you can’t install the heatsink on the wrong chip or place on the Pi 2 once you installed the Pi 2 correctly into the case. The heatsink, and its 4 air fins does a pretty good job at passively cooling my Raspberry Pi 2 with the cooler air in my room without the need for a fan. I overclocked my Pi 2’s CPU to 1GHz from 900 MHz, and the RAM, and videocore to 500MHz, and I have not experience any overheating problems which can cause freezes, and random reboots.
The 2.5 Amp 5 Volt MicroUSB power supply which comes with the kit works great at powering the Pi 2. The power supply is also specially designed for the Pi 2. It has enough power to support overclocking the Raspberry Pi 2’s CPU to 1GHz, and its RAM and video chip to 500MHz in my experience. The power supply is also powerful enough to power a USB flash drives, USB Wifi adapter, and a USB keyboard, and mouse connected to the four USB ports on the Raspberry Pi 2’s Circuit board. The power adapter also does not get hot even when I use the Pi 2 for hours, or when I use the Pi 2 to watch HD video files. The power cable on the power supply is also long enough to reach the Pi 2 even when it is plugged into a power outlet which is farther away from the Pi 2. The cable is also flexible, so it is easy to move the cable around, and plug it into the Pi 2’s power port when the Pi 2 is in tight spaces.
The Kit comes with a 8GB Class 10 MicroSD Memory card made by SanDisk. I like that the MicroSD which came with the Kit is from SanDisk which is one of the best and most popular SD card makers which makes some of fastest SD cards in the world instead of a lesser known MicroSD card maker, and a lower Class like Class 2. The MicroSD card came preloaded with NOOBS which I used to install Raspbian, and OpenElec on my Pi 2’s MicroSD card. After I inserted the MicroSD card into the Pi 2’s microSD card reader slot, and turned on the Pi 2 by plugging in the power supply, the Pi 2 saw the card, and booted into NOOBS where I installed Raspbian, and OpenElec on it. The read and write speed on the card seems pretty fast, and opening files and programs on Raspbian is fast as well. OpenElec also performs pretty fast on the Raspberry Pi 2.
The Canakit USB Wifi adapter is a 802.11N 150Mbps wifi adapter which is fast enough to stream HD video from YouTube with OpenElec, or Kodi. The Canakit USB wifi adapter connects very quickly to my home’s wifi connection from my router, and it works reliably, and rarely disconnect from my home’s wifi router’s signal.
The premium quality HDMI video cable which comes with the Kit looks durable, and well made. I like that the HDMI cable comes with caps which protect the metal video connectors on the HDMI cable, so the metal connectors are less likely to get damage during shipping before I use them. The length of the HDMI cable is long enough to reach my monitor, and TV which is a few feet away from my Raspberry Pi 2.
The instruction manuals for using the Raspberry Pi 2, and Raspbian, GPIO chart, and other documentation which came in the kit is very useful to read to learn more about the Pi 2, and setting it up for the first time. There are also e-mail addresses to e-mail Canakit for more help if I need more help in setting up my Pi 2, and using Raspbian on it.
If you want to use the Pi 2 as a full desktop computer, you will need a USB keyboard, USB mouse, PC speakers with a 3.5mm audio jack if your HDMI monitor does not have speakers, and Ethernet Wired networking cable if you don’t want to use Wifi. I recommend getting a USB hub if you plan on plugging in more than 4 USB devices, or your USB plugs on your devices are larger, and block other ports since the Pi 2 only comes with 4 USB ports which are closely packed together.
I also seen online videos of people remotely logging into their Raspberry Pi with SSH remote desktop in a Windows, Linux, or Mac computer, so you can use SSH to control your Pi 2 if you do not have an extra monitor, keyboard, mouse, and speakers for using on the Pi 2. SSH is also useful for using on Pi 2 where you are using the Pi 2 as a wifi router, file server, Media server, and other type of task where a keyboard, mouse, speakers, and monitor are not needed at all for you to use the Pi 2 as a file server to serve files to other computers on your home network, or the internet.
Canakit Complete Starter Kit is one of the best kits for getting started with using the Raspberry Pi 2 since it has everything I want and need like The Raspberry Pi 2, a case, CPU heatsink, MicroSD card with NOOBS pre-installed on it, USB Wifi adapter, power supply with Micro USB cable, HDMI cable, and helpful instruction manuals for setting up my Raspberry Pi 2 as a mini desktop computer which is fast, reliable, and power efficient for a mini $35 computer. The kit also only cost $69.99 is more affordable than buying all the devices separately, and paying for shipping separately for each item.