Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I was hesitant to purchase this kit because of what other people said about the price. So, I tried assembling the set myself using the cheapest versions of the same items listed in this kit. I figured out that it IS NOT CHEAPER TO MAKE THIS KIT YOURSELF unless you buy all the parts from one company and pay for shipping only once. (Or, go in person to buy the things you can.) When I gathered all of the information from AMAZON, this is what I found: 1) Raspberry Pi ($35, new) 2) Hard case ($10-15 if you get a cheap one, $20 for a Tibow brand) 3) SD card ($5-20 depending on the size. I would choose a 16GB 10 class. This kit came with 8GB, pre-loaded with software) 4) Wi-Fi Dongle ($6 for a used one, $11 for new) 5) HDMI cable (We all have these, but if you had to buy one you can find them for $2) 6) Breadboard ($1 for a cheap-o one) 7) GPIO Ribbon Cable ($0.01, okay no biggie) 8) GPIO to Breadboard Interface Board ($8) 9) Pack of LEDs ($6) 10) 180 ohm resistors set ($1 for a 10 pack) 11) 10K ohm resistors ($1 for a 25 pack) 11) Push-button switches ($4 for a pack of 10, or $1 for a pack of 4) So, that is $77.01 for the cheapest versions of the listed items NOT INCLUDING SHIPPING. Shipping is really why I decided to purchase this pack. Not only did I not have to leave my house to go find these pieces in person, but I only had to pay one shipping charge. In addition, the pieces came in one box on the same day so I could start messing with the Pi as soon as I got it. Also important is the fact that this kit comes with a pre-loaded new-out-of-box-software (NOOBS) SD card. I honestly wouldn't have cared if I had to transfer the disk image myself, BUT for people who aren't comfortable doing that I would recommend getting this set. (It's honestly not hard to load a blank SD card. Just Google the instructions if you want to assemble your own kit. If you're buying a Pi, you are probably already a bit tech-savvy.) Good luck!