****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
This Raspberry Pi 4 B kit from Vilros has absolutely everything you need to build your Raspberry Pi 4 included. I highly recommend getting a kit that has a case with fan, as the RaspberryPi 4 B runs hot because of its increased performance. The kit overall is great, anyone who has built a computer or RaspberryPi before will feel right at home and breeze through installation of the heatsinks, the chipset inside the case, and plugging the fan in. This is actually my first Raspberry Pi, but I have built many a desktop computer previously, but the fact that these kits are available without any markup is fantastic, it removes the guesswork from piecing together what you need to start. Installing Raspbian is a breeze, NOOBS pops up right as you boot for the first time. The performance of this little guy is impressive, I purchased the 2GB model while on sale from its normal $89.99 price to $69.99(cheaper at the time then the 1GB model which was $79.99, and significantly less then the 4GB model at $99.99). For the $69.99 price tag you really cant beat it, thats only a few dollars more then the standalone 2GB Raspberry Pi 4 B normally costs!I will say, the default fan settings puts it on high, which makes a kind of whining high pitched noise because its going so fast, some people can find it annoying, but honestly the cooling it does is impressive. I did some research prior to purchasing and the heat output these Pi4’s push out is high, especially under any higher level processing so for me it was a no brainer to get a case with fan. The clear case is a nice touch for any nerd or anyone who appreciates the architecture of a well put together chipset.I am NOT good at computer science/coding, and some of those skills are necessary to an extent for many of the applications of RaspberryPi’s. That being said, it is a relatively inexpensive, forgiving device and a great one to learn on. The Raspbian OS if you do the full install, will look somewhat familiar no matter what normal OS youre used to, as it has a desktop, start menu, file explorer and trash can.I do regret not getting the 4GB model to some extent, while my device is very quick all things considered, I wonder how much the extra 2GB of RAM would have made a difference, my suggestion to others would be at MINIMUM purchase the 2GB model(esp if on sale obviously), but I would strongly recommend purchasing the 4GB model so you can demand more of it moving forward as it will age better.Another thing I am doing to see if I can boost the performance at all is getting a better MicroSD card. Dont get me wrong, the MicroSD card that ships with this kit is quite sufficient for almost everything and everyone, but I wanted a 64gb card so I went for a Sandisk Extreme Pro which is supposed to have some of the best performance in a Pi4(benchmarks available on Pi’s website). Hopefully this will make it just a bit faster.All in all, this kit is fantastic, and I cannot recommend it enough. It arrived the same day as I ordered it, was well put together, well thought out, well designed and functions great. Its very nice that there is no guesswork if you will have everything you need, as long as you have a keyboard/mouse and monitor your all set. You will be hard pressed to find a device with performance you find in this kit in the same price range, so if youre on the fence, just pull the trigger. And if youve never purchased a Pi before, like myself...just do it, the uses for them are truly endless!
