Raspberry Pi 5 Starter Kit PRO

Name: Raspberry Pi 5 Starter Kit PRO
Brand: CanaKit
SKU: B0CRSNCJ6Y
Rating: 5 (1 reviews)

(5/5)

Review by Joshua Morris on October 15, 2024

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Review

CanaKit’s Raspberry Pi 5 Starter Kit PRO has become my go-to recommendation when coworkers want to jump into Pi development without chasing parts. The bundle ships with the 8 GB Pi 5, 27 W USB-C PD supply, active-cooling case, pre-imaged 128 GB microSD, HDMI cables, and even a USB-C power switch—everything you need to boot into Raspberry Pi OS in minutes. The new active cooler is whisper quiet yet keeps the board under 65°C while I run Docker stacks or compile Rust projects, and the case exposes all headers so I can still hook up HATs. I appreciate that CanaKit includes a printed quick-start sheet plus a USB card reader for re-flashing the SD when I experiment with Ubuntu or Home Assistant. You’ll still want peripherals (keyboard, mouse, display), but as a one-box platform for tinkering with GPIO, Kubernetes, or retro emulation, it’s excellent.

✓ Pros

✓Includes Pi 5 8 GB board, 27 W PSU, active cooling, and pre-imaged storage
✓Active cooler keeps the Pi quiet and under throttle temps
✓Case exposes GPIO/CSI/DSI headers for projects
✓USB-C power switch and dual micro-HDMI cables simplify setup

✗ Cons

✗Still need external peripherals (display, keyboard, mouse)
✗Preloaded microSD is convenient but slower than premium cards

Specifications

Board	Raspberry Pi 5 (8 GB RAM)
Storage	128 GB microSD (preloaded)
Power	27 W USB-C PD supply with inline switch
Cooling	Active cooler + heatsink
Case	CanaKit ventilated case exposing GPIO
Accessories	Dual micro-HDMI cables, USB card reader
Date First Available	December 5, 2023

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