CanaKit Raspberry Pi 5 Starter Kit - Turbine Black (128GB Edition) (8GB RAM)

I picked up the Raspberry Pi 5 (8 GB) to run a few always-on home services, and it's been fantastic. It's fast enough for real work and the 8 GB of RAM gives plenty of headroom for a web app, a database client, and background jobs all at once. It sips power, makes no noise with the official cooler, and has been rock solid running 24/7. Setup was painless and it just works. If you want a tiny always-on Linux box that can actually pull its weight, this is an easy recommendation.

I was so happy with this and still am. I bought it cause I wanted to create a reliable offline HomeAssistant os smart home and I wanted to experience pi for the first time but was scared Id get the wrong fan or case or something and I had it together in like 5 mins and putting the operating system on it was soon quick, no issues seams to stay cool enough, I really don't have any complaints

Kit arrived with a mismatch of components and not as advertised. No assembly instructions or documentation. False advertising. Very disappointing.

This is a great kit. It has everything you need to get the Pi up and running. The case is my least favorite part, but it’s serviceable. My biggest issue is that it’s glossy, making it a fingerprint magnet. Also, the power button leaves much to be desired. But, it will work until I get a better case. The little fan spins up sometimes, but it’s not super loud. The heat sink is solid and has what looks like nice thermal pads correctly placed to make contact with the chips. The microSD card, reader, power supply and HDMI cables do their job. The Pi itself is great. I have an older Pi, but it’s nowhere near as powerful. I didn’t bother with the included OS, I downloaded Batocera Linux for the Pi 5 and wrote that to the card so I could set up an emulation system. The Pi is powerful enough to run games up to the Dreamcast, which is the most powerful system emulator included in Batocera. Though, it does struggle with some N64 games, but that’s just the nature of N64 emulation. All said and done, this is a nice kit and a decent value for what you get. I follow tech and prices on PC components are skyrocketing, particularly RAM, but storage and other components are also going up. So, getting all of this for $160 wasn’t bad.

This has been such a great purchase for my home! I've set it up as a pihole using AdGuard Home, with a combination of Tailscale and Wireguard/Proton VPN to encrypt my DNS traffic, move it through private channels, and even keep my ISP out of my business. Creating my own blocklist on GitHub has also helped me perfectly control how much of the unwanted Internet ends up in my private network. Tailscale lets me keep the filtering going, even on my mobile phone, while I am away from home. Best off, the Pi doesn't lag, complain, or even stutter. It just stays green-light on and runs the whole show without a peep! I'm even looking to use it for home control and my security grid, given how versatile this little box of dreams has become. If you don't have one... get one. Seriously! Worth every penny!