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P**R
It's a burner PC!
This kit contains everything you need to build a basic desktop PC system except for the monitor, mouse and keyboard.Please note that I'm reviewing this as a desktop PC system, so I'll be ignoring all the cool stuff you can do by adding "hats", connecting stuff directly to the GPIO pins or installing a media centre OS.OVERVIEWThe Raspberry Pi foundation have cracked it this time! I've been playing with Pis since they first came out, and this is the first one I would happily use for day-to-day tasks like browsing the web, making spreadsheets or writing ransom notes. Yes, I'm using it to write this review.PACKAGINGAttractive, but not over the top. It would make a great gift for the nerd in your life. The Pi itself is protected within the kit by a sheet of foam.OS & SOFTWAREThe Raspberry Pi runs on an ARM CPU, which is the kind of CPU that powers smartphones, tablets and desktop boxes. This keeps down both cost and power consumption, but it comes at a price: much commercial desktop software is written for Intel-type CPUs.Happily, there is a huge ecosystem of free software out there, which the Raspbian OS takes full advantage of. You don't get Microsoft Edge, but you do get Firefox and Chrome. You don't get Microsoft Office, but you do get LibreOffice. Just click on the Start menu, select "Add/Remove software" and it's all there ready to install.Raspbian has its quirks, but the only thing I really feel I'm missing out on is certain media streaming services, including Amazon Prime video. (These services are available for the Pi, but to access them I'd have to install a second media centre OS alongside Raspbian. Easy enough to do, but I'd rather not have to keep rebooting.)SETUPWith one disappointing exception, it was pretty straightforward. Not as easy as a new iPhone, but easier than, say, configuring the speakers on my Mum's TV / HiFi system. The only tool you need is a screwdriver, which is included.Once you have it all connected and switched on, you're presented with a list of OSs and asked which one(s) you'd like to install. Easy as that.COOLINGHere's the disappointing exception I mentioned earlier. There were no instructions to install the fan, and I had to figure which pins I should use to power it myself. Easy enough for someone with even basic electronics experience, but a simple diagram would have made all the difference to a beginner.Another grumble is that, when run at 5V, the fan is noisy, and the design of the power connector makes it impossible to run the fan at 3.3V without modifications.I would have knocked a star off for this had I not found that I didn't need the fan anyway. It works just fine on passive cooling.CASEWeird but good. It appears to be designed to let you operate the Pi 4 as a camera, with all the necessary holes and brackets, but what I care about is that it offers adequate protection without interfering with cooling, and it does. The lid is easy to open and shuts securely.WARNING: before you take the Pi out of its case, CHECK THAT THE SD CARD IS OUT. It's very easy to overlook. I made that mistake, and ended up pulling loose the cover of the SD card holder. It still works, but I have to use other means to keep the card pressed against the electrical contacts.POWER SUPPLYNot all USB C power supplies are built the same, so I'm happy to report that this one is up to the task. It's 100V-240V so, with a plug adaptor, you should be able to use it wherever you travel. It even has an on/off switch built into the cable, which is useful because, once you've shut the Pi down, the only way to wake it up again is to cycle the power.HDMI CABLESI was lucky that this kit was chosen for me. If I'd chosen it myself, I'd have probably bought one without the HDMI cables, thinking I already had the kind I needed. Now I know better: HDMI mini and HDMI micro are different things.By switching to micro, the Pi 4 is able to squeeze in a second HDMI socket, making this a dual monitor PC! I haven't tested dual monitor mode, but this kit comes with two HDMI cables, so I'm sure I'll get round to it.SD CARD & ADAPTORIf you try to store your library of DVD box sets on this SD card, you'll quickly run out of space. For anything else, it's fine.The card comes with a USB adaptor which, if all goes well, you won't need at all. If it all goes pear shaped, the adaptor gives you the option of starting over.The adaptor is tiny, and connects to both standard USB A sockets and new-style USB C.*** CONCLUSIONS ***THE GOOD - Works well as a basic everyday PC, or as a low end server with a decent GUI frontend. - So cheap it's almost disposable. - Decent case. - Decent power supply. - Decent SD card with a "just enough to get you started" OS already installed. - Includes the HDMI mini cables I thought I didn't need.THE BAD - Cooling fan seems to be an afterthought. - Some 3rd party software still isn't available for ARM Linux desktop.THE UGLY - Forgetting to remove the SD card before taking the Pi out of the case.
T**E
Flexible tech with tons of ram
I've had a couple of Raspberry pi's before and they've all been a little short on ram, however after seeing the spec in this new setup I was pleasently surprised with the 4gb. Based on the rest of the spec this seems to be a decent upgrade to most previous rpi'sThe kit is complete and should be able to be assembled without any issues and even includes a micro sd card that's appropriate for the spec of the pi and includes noobs. It also comes with a heat sink and fan preventing it from overheating which should also enhance productivity. As always the rpi is massively compatible with a ton of add ons and can be adapted to a multitude of applications so I'm really happy with the upgrade and the quality of this kit and it's addons.
A**A
Good starter kit with a few buts
I have mixed views about this product mostly shaped by the fact I got it on offer for £76.49. I feel at that price it is worth it so let's take it through at a full price value.At the full price point, I would have issues with this kit. In fact, prior to buying it, I already had made an individual parts list that came out at around 90 quid for better stuff.Hardware:The Raspberry Pi 4 is a very good piece of kit moving up from a first-generation model the speed is phenomenal and could easily make a compact workhorse computer. You will have to learn how to use Linux but you can get the easy to use Ubuntu operating system as a base and just read up on how to install XFCE or KDE if you prefer a more Windows-like environment or Ubuntu's default is a bit of a hybrid which may actually be more favourable to the smartphone generation anyway. My intention is more a file server which can do a few other things too. I would say I would struggle to find a lot of uses to a 2GB model but maybe I am not imaginative. Go for the 4GB it will be more future proof and just feel nicer. Plus with 32 bit being on its deathbed now a lot of software looks more to make 4gb the minimum consideration for software, I doubt the Pi is much different in this regard.CaseThe case is my biggest issue with this kit. That case is really really nice aesthetically, too bad they decided to make a hole out for the camera. They could have left a placeholder plastic there or supplied something cheap to fit in there like a power led circuit or something to fill the gap but as it stands it is merely a hole to let dust through. I bought it knowing about the hole but still, without the reduced price tag, I think the case really makes this kit avoidable.CoolingHeat sinks, copper, evenly spaced pillars. They are well cut and come with a sticky 3M on the back, not sure about the insulative layer caused by the tape, it feels like it goes against everything I believe about layer to layer cooling but I guess it is the only real way to get them stuck down I suppose. I closed the box without really checking the heat transference of these. Again to be fair a lot of the cases that provide heat syncs do the same thing. Copper is a good material for the heat syncs too.The fan comes with instructions for a quiet or a louder cooling mode I use the quiet mode and it does keep the unit at about 45*c with a heavy KDE environment loaded doing nothing which is fine by me and it does seem to step up slightly under load. I may switch to the louder mode when I figure out where my mini server will live but it is quite noisy, so I wouldn't advise it as a media server that lives anywhere near your entertainment server a bit of advise as a lot of people seem to want to turn these into media servers.The ExtrasPOWER: What I love about kits is the fact you know you can get up and running straight away. This kit does provide everything. Sufficiently powered adaptor. You can power a Pi off a lot of things but making sure you get the right power supplied makes sure it performs at its best. There was one thing that was weird about the power supply though it is a push-to-break switch, not that that's good or bad it was just a novelty given I have not seen one of those since I was using them in electronics at school, they confuse me because with the button sticking out you kind of psychologically assume it is off.HDMI: It comes with 2 for dual monitor setup. Now I just need that second monitor. It is nice to see they ensure you can use your Pi in the maximum scenario.USB SD-CARD ADAPTOR: I was dead excited about this as it is USB flash disk sized I tend to lose the adaptors usually as they seem to make them as micro as the micro sd cards usually. Unfortunately, it caused a lot of disappointment it is a double-ended stick USB A on one side and USB C on the other. The USB C side looks fair enough, unfortunately, I do not have a USB C port on any device in my house and it seems a rather niche standard at best as it attempts to reinvent the wheel. The USB A side is one of those half plug keys which are rather dependent on the material holding them in place not to knacker your USB port. As the key is made of happy meal plastic I had to pass on this and carry on using my trusty Poundland USB card reader which is made of much more sturdy stuff.SD-CARD: 32GB SanDisk Class 10 U1. Good brand, good speed. About the right capacity for a Pi I would recommend getting a larger one if you are using this as a main computer. Don't store important files on an SD being used by a Pi.SCREWDRIVER: Ok I probably do not need to include the screwdriver as part of the review. but that screwdriver is about the right size to make it universal for around 95% of computer projects and battery replacements in toys. I get quite excited when I get a screwdriver out of a Christmas cracker dreaming up the uses in projects. Definite thumbs up.Overall though this kit is a mediocre kit for the price point they generally ask for it. At the price I paid £76.49, it is really great, but I would struggle not to regret buying individual parts over this kit at full price.
A**D
Excellent product
Really couldn't be happier, the presentation of the kit was befitting of something costing thousands of pounds, really top notch packing.Then came their excellent customer services, I was stuck with a simple problem I wanted to be able to monitor the CPU temps, a quick email to customer services and within 24 hours came a very detailed message giving all the answers I needed plus a lot more.This is a company the I HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
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