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1341 Review
53 Karma

Review on πŸ”₯ CanaKit Raspberry Pi 4 4GB Basic Starter Kit with Fan: Ultimate Versatility and Enhanced Performance by Marcus Hargrave

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Great set but note the following details:

This is a great set and other reviews cover most of the important ones points off. Here's what I'd like to add that isn't mentioned anywhere else: 1) As far as fan complaints go, it doesn't matter. Yes, you can hear it, it's not quiet, but it's not loud either. When the room is quiet, you notice it. The moment other noises appear (music, TV, conversations, etc.), the fan disappears into the background and is forgotten. The fan stays on when the Pi is powered off. My big complaint is that the "logo" shaped fan hole is very small and doesn't look like it can deliver much airflow. Most of the fan is actually blocked by the plastic case and won't open. This doesn't seem to be a detriment though, as my Pi4 peaks at around 55C during "normal" heavy CPU usage (software installation, image processing, etc.) and around 45C when idle, like all my other older Pis. 2) The kit includes Micro(male) to normal(female) HDMI adapters, not complete cables. I really like this option and that is the main reason I bought this kit. I often use older VGA displays and can connect my HDMI to VGA adapters to these adapters. If they plugged in micro-to-regular (male-male) HDMI cables, I wouldn't be able to do this. 3) The case is not the prettiest in my opinion, but very functional. It's mostly transparent, but a bit like a matte plastic (not fully transparent). The "top" is easily removed (perfect friction) to access GPIO, camera port, etc. while the Pi remains in the rest of the case. It's nice. In other cases, it's either impossible to do without unscrewing something, or the friction fit is too tight and you'll break your nails trying to unscrew it. 4) There is no "convenient" opening on the top of the case for camera cables, GPIO connectors etc. Instead there is a thin 1mm gap between the top of the case and the case that almost completely wraps around when the top is on , and you need to route the cables through that 1mm gap on the sides. It's "functional" but looks ugly. But maybe that's good for your application, since nothing comes out of the top of the case, just the sides, and you have a lot of control over which side it comes out of. 5) The power button is also a separate adapter. This is good because then you can use the power button on other USB-C cables, or use other power adapters and "give" them a power button. Yet another reason I got this kit. 6) I got the 4GB RAM version because you never know how you might reuse your Pi later. However, for most normal tasks I tend to stay under 2GB (actually under 1GB most of the time, unless I'm running heavier applications). So if you're really on a tight budget, I think 2GB would be a way to save some money without sacrificing anything. With all the other Pi4 improvements, I'd probably avoid the 1GB if you really want to take advantage of those improvements (two 4k displays, etc.). If you think you'll only ever need 1GB, you're probably better off just using one of the Pi3Bs, or even sooner unless you have a specific, precise need for the Pi 4 (eg. headless operation of USB 3 ports or whatever something just as specific). I mainly use the Pi4 for prototyping projects mainly because of its speed, which I then port to my old Pi 1, 2 or 3 anyway. but it doesn't seem huge compared to 3B+). etc.), they are full of click artifacts (several per second). That wasn't a problem with my other Pis. I suspect it's just an issue with the Pi4 being so new the media software isn't optimized for it yet. I don't often listen to music on my Pi anyway, so I don't really care. Think again. 8) Pi4 seems easier to set up some software (especially CUPS and Samba). You install it and bam! he is ready to go. I didn't have to worry about it for it to work properly. Maybe it's just because the new version of Raspbian Buster is better, I don't know. I haven't run Buster on any of my other Pis. Hope this review helps!

Pros
  • Micro HDMI to HDMI Cable - 1.8m (supports up to 4K 60p)
Cons
  • Off fashion