Review on 🍓 CanaKit Raspberry Pi 4 Starter PRO 64 Kit - Upgraded Aluminum Edition (4GB RAM) by Jeremy Meyer

If you want to see what these inexpensive little computers can do and don't want to fiddle with all the mechanical parts of the build then this kit is for you! This isn't new, having built dozens of computers in 40+ years, I've had personal computers, but I think it entitles me to comment on what's right and wrong with this class of machines (Raspberry Pis). I chose this kit. because I didn't want to put in a lot of effort to plug something in to interface with my Sovol SV01 3D printer and didn't want to dedicate one of my other computers just to this task. So I was looking for the easiest and most complete kit I could buy at the cheapest price. And this kit fits the bill. It comes with the cables you need, a housing for the Raspberry Pi board, a power supply and a great guide to get you up and running in no time. However, you must provide a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, albeit temporarily, to set up the device and install software before you can use it as intended. In fact, it's a general purpose computer that can do most of what any Linux or Android computer can do, since at its core it's just another UNIX Linux Android system and to those already accustomed to such systems , will seem very familiar. It features USB ports, HDMI ports, an Ethernet port, and a standard Raspberry Pi universal connector for connecting to various Raspberry Pi/Arduino interfaces. In my case, all I needed was a USB port and an Ethernet port, so I could connect to the Raspberry Pi through the Ethernet port and to the printer through the USB port. When used, this block does not require its own keyboard and display as I access it through a VNC application on one of my PCs. To do this, you need to enable the VNC server on your Raspberry Pi and VNC Client on your PC. Instructions are available on YouTube and the web in general. Easy to implement and will take an hour of your time using it this way. Or you can give the machine its own display via the HDMI port and connect the keyboard and mouse to the USB ports. By the way, 2 USB 2.0 ports and two more USB 3.0 ports. Documentation is complete, professional, and written by native English speakers from Canada or the US (they have facilities in British Columbia and Oregon). You will need an internet connection to update the information, but the system comes with an SD card with the necessary initial software. If there's one downside to this kit, it's that they've opted for fanless convection cooling. for the Raspberry Pi board is based on the direct contact of the case with the top of the CPU to dissipate the working heat. I found the case to be getting quite warm instead of hot and decided to print a case with a fan and put a heatsink on top of the CPU. If you plan on using this kit in a place where the room can get hot, you should probably buy the kit without the convection case or modify the case that came with it to improve cooling by drilling holes and adding a fan . Anyway I'm a big fan of this kit because it's complete and well documented and made my first foray into the world of Raspberry Pis very easy and convenient. Anyone familiar with Linux systems or modern GUI systems should feel comfortable with this easy-to-use complete set. And the machine is powerful enough to use as a sole computer if you don't like high-definition gaming. It has a good display and can play high-definition movies, but it's not a slot machine! I've attached two images: one of a custom case I printed to house the Raspberry Pi instead of the case that came with this kit, and another example of what the machine's desktop looks like via a VNC client. I use Octoprint to control my 3D printer and for that purpose it's perfect and very inexpensive. And if your needs are similar to mine and you don't think you need a Canakit case, check out the custom kit option to get everything but the case.