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

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!

Very impressed with the CanaKit Pi 5 Pro bundle. It has been running flawlessly as my home network's primary DNS server, handling both Pi-hole and Unbound. The hardware is fast, the kit is complete, and it has given me a rock-solid, self-hosted setup with zero stability issues. Highly recommended for any DIY network project!

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 Kit packs everything you need to dive straight into advanced projects. With 8GB of RAM and a 128GB card, it runs smoothly even under demanding workloads, while the turbine-style case keeps it cool and quiet. Setup is simple, components feel premium, and performance is noticeably faster than older Pi models. Whether you’re building a media center, server, or coding workstation, this kit offers serious capability in a compact, well-thought-out package.