Raspberry Pi for a beginner

[NotMostPeople]

I'd like to get some sort of starter kit for my FIL who is into computers, but am completely confused by the aray of kits out there. Can anyone help? Budget would be £60 - £70 - ish.

I'd go for the maplin one as they are everywhere. BUT:

1. he will need to have a display that will accept an HDMI connection
2. if he is 'into computers' he may have some or all of the hardware in the kit lying around already (or prefer other items - I use a wireless keyboard and mouse with mine but don't use a USB hub or WiFi, and because SD card storage is slow I use a USB memory stick), and may be quite capable of downloading the software himself
3. you really need a case - the PiBow one is excellent but takes you out of your budget if you are buying the whole kit

... so I'd talk to him if I were you

If you do go for a kit, note that the latest operating system (which will be supplied on an SD card as part of the kit) is Raspbian "wheezy", I would not recommend the older "lenny" distribution. Of course he can always download the latest version, but that rather obviates the idea of the kit!

Probably worth adding a quick question - "into computers" in what way ?

Whether he builds or buys, he might not really be into what could be classed as a "programming toolkit" device, which is the primary design of the R Pi.

Yes, you can download different images to provide 'plug-in-and-go' application specific R Pi systems, or you can go into learning programming to do something in particular of your own design, but unless he's a Linux experimenter, he may not necessarily be interested (unless I'm waffling and you already know he has been thinking about getting one, in which case, apologies).

Definitely worth talking to him, despite it spoiling the surprise, just in case he'd put on a polite 'front' and it would never get used.

Thanks for the advice. He is into building computers, I'm not sure he ever done any programming but I think he would enjoy tinkering. I really really don't want to spoil the surprise. The Maplin one is sold out

I'm getting dh a raspberry pi for his birthday but decided against getting him a any extra kit for it as I'm not sure exactly what he would want and don't want to double up on stuff he's already got. I'll just tell him he's ok to spend a bit getting what he needs for it. How about just getting the raspberry pi for fil plus a maplin voucher to get what extras he wants?

Dh had most of the extras lying around too, so definitely worth just getting a voucher or something for any extras.

I can reccommend this seller for cases. Have got dh one as a surprise for Xmas. www.etsy.com/shop/bitcrafts

Great idea Greensnail, thanks

Sorry to hijack your thread NotMostPeople, but I am looking at getting a raspberry pi for my Dh for Christmas. I have decided not to get any extras, as I'm sure he'll have all the necessary bits anyway, but I was wondering if I will at least need to buy a power supply for it? I'm not techy, so I have no idea what is the minimum he will need to be able to use it straight away.

Dreamy afaik Dh already had a suitable power supply but he does keep tons of cable junk