“Got my order quick and without problems, but the box I received my Pi in made me wonder how it arrived in full to begin with. It was just a paper box (which I definitely prefer of blister) only held together by its folding.”
“I was a little surprised that there was no manual but if all of them come without it now it's not really a bad thing. If you're unsure of anything, search youtube or google (this is a rule for life, anyway).
The CPU runs a little toasty with demanding applications, so don't touch. A cheap heatsink isn't a bad idea if you're enclosing it in a case that will have less than amazing ventilation.
The biggest problem with the pi is the built-in sound. It's bad, but it's probably best for them to leave it as it is (compatibility, cost) and for people who want decent sound to get a usb sound dongle (cheap ones work as well as the expensive ones) - preferably one with a short cord so it doesn't block other usb sockets.”
“I particularly love the better CPU, although the I/O (and thus the ethernet port) is still not very fast, but it's doable for almost any use you can find for your Pi.”
“The CPU upgrade is a major step up from the Pi 1 Model B, and is now a worthy contender to those other more powerful but also more expensive Pi clones.”
“I'm using mine for osmc and it's brilliant. I have a tvheadend server running on it as well using a couple of usb tuners and it's nearly a perfect htpc solution. I have a home media server running on a rpi2 with an external hard drive tucked away in another room with my music and films on. I can also stream games from my pc to the rpi3 in the living room. A lot of trial and error went into this but that's the whole point of these little computers. A bit of effort on my part, but I've now got a scalable, efficient, low cost media system up and running and in the process I learnt loads about linux, networking etc. I've only scratched the surface!”
