The $35 dollar price point was a lie, much like the price of nearly any small/"portable" piece of hardware.

I thought they were pretty clear about what the $35 gives you.

You pretty much have to buy a case if you want this thing to last, and that's at the very least $10.

Depends on how you treat it. If you don't abuse it you really don't need a case.

Then there's the micro USB power supply which requires 5v at about 500mah. I dunno what makes anyone think that a charger like that would be laying around. I have a micro USB phone charger, but it maxes at 250mah. So that was another $10.

Really? I can power it through my micro USB phone cable just fine... Besides, in USB 2.0 a unit can draw 500 mA of power just fine, at least as specified by USB 2.0 (and assuming Wikipedia isn't lying). If you just use a standard USB 2.0 connection you're fine, and I'd say most people have such a connection readily available.

Then there's the SD card, which ranges between 10 and 30 dollars. We'll call it $15 to be fair.

I've got spare SD cards laying around. Sure, you may not, but many people do, and if you don't you can get a dirt cheap 4GB one for under $10.

Altogether that's around $70 for this "computer" that's completely painful to use from the start.

I'm not sure how to say this, but if you're expecting something fancy for $70, it's not gonna happen.

I think people get their hopes up too high for the Pi. It wasn't ever meant to be a "here's a pretty tutorial on how to get into Linux and computer stuff;" it's more of a "here's a cheap little thing you can tinker the heck out of." Additionally, as has been mentioned, a lot of the beginners that are targeted are beginners in a classroom, with an instructor to guide them. I understand it may not have been what you expected (and maybe it was marketed to you in a less-than-ideal way), which is unfortunate.

I don't know what doubts I'd have about the Pi. What exactly are you doubting? Frustrations I can understand, but I'm not sure about doubts.

The $35 dollar price point was a lie, much like the price of nearly any small/"portable" piece of hardware.

I thought they were pretty clear about what the $35 gives you.

You pretty much have to buy a case if you want this thing to last, and that's at the very least $10.

Depends on how you treat it. If you don't abuse it you really don't need a case.

Then there's the micro USB power supply which requires 5v at about 500mah. I dunno what makes anyone think that a charger like that would be laying around. I have a micro USB phone charger, but it maxes at 250mah. So that was another $10.

Really? I can power it through my micro USB phone cable just fine... Besides, in USB 2.0 a unit can draw 500 mA of power just fine, at least as specified by USB 2.0 (and assuming Wikipedia isn't lying). If you just use a standard USB 2.0 connection you're fine, and I'd say most people have such a connection readily available.

Then there's the SD card, which ranges between 10 and 30 dollars. We'll call it $15 to be fair.

I've got spare SD cards laying around. Sure, you may not, but many people do, and if you don't you can get a dirt cheap 4GB one for under $10.

Altogether that's around $70 for this "computer" that's completely painful to use from the start.

I'm not sure how to say this, but if you're expecting something fancy for $70, it's not gonna happen.

I think people get their hopes up to high for the Pi. It wasn't ever meant to be a "here's a pretty tutorial on how to get into Linux and computer stuff;" it's more of a "here's a cheap little thing you can tinker the heck out of." Additionally, as has been mentioned, a lot of the beginners that are targeted are beginners in a classroom, with an instructor to guide them. I understand it may not have been what you expected (and maybe it was marketed to you in a less-than-ideal way), which is unfortunate.

I don't know what doubts I'd have about the Pi. What exactly are you doubting? Frustrations I can understand, but I'm not sure about doubts.

The $35 dollar price point was a lie, much like the price of nearly any small/"portable" piece of hardware.

I thought they were pretty clear about what the $35 gives you.

You pretty much have to buy a case if you want this thing to last, and that's at the very least $10.

Depends on how you treat it. If you don't abuse it you really don't need a case.

Then there's the micro USB power supply which requires 5v at about 500mah. I dunno what makes anyone think that a charger like that would be laying around. I have a micro USB phone charger, but it maxes at 250mah. So that was another $10.

Really? I can power it through my micro USB phone cable just fine... Besides, in USB 2.0 a unit can draw 500 mA of power just fine, at least as specified by USB 2.0 (and assuming Wikipedia isn't lying).

Then there's the SD card, which ranges between 10 and 30 dollars. We'll call it $15 to be fair.

I've got spare SD cards laying around. Sure, you may not, but many people do, and if you don't you can get a dirt cheap 4GB one for under $10.

Altogether that's around $70 for this "computer" that's completely painful to use from the start.

I'm not sure how to say this, but if you're expecting something fancy for $70, it's not gonna happen.

I think people get their hopes up to high for the Pi. It wasn't ever meant to be a "here's a pretty tutorial on how to get into Linux and computer stuff;" it's more of a "here's a cheap little thing you can tinker the heck out of." Additionally, as has been mentioned, a lot of the beginners that are targeted are beginners in a classroom, with an instructor to guide them. I understand it may not have been what you expected (and maybe it was marketed to you in a less-than-ideal way), which is unfortunate.

I don't know what doubts I'd have about the Pi. What exactly are you doubting? Frustrations I can understand, but I'm not sure about doubts.