Kano Screen Kit – a Pleasure to Build, Compact Display for Raspberry Pi
We are all surrounded by screens, but few of us know how they work. If you want to teach your kids how displays work (or learn for yourself!) And you need a display for your Raspberry Pi, the Kano Screen Kit is a reasonably priced portable dedicated display that you create yourself.
What is in the box
The Kano Screen Kit ($ 149.99) is a 10-inch HDMI-compatible screen built for the Raspberry Pi. Like other Kano products, the Screen Kit comes in a well-designed small cardboard box that contains all the necessary and helpful guides.
Includes a 10.1 ” LCD screen (with a 1280 x 800, 720p, 150 PPI display), a book that explains how to build a display and explains how it works, a driver board, button board, HDMI cable and Y – mini-USB splitter for power supply. Plus, you’ll also get some stickers for kids to customize the display, a protective case to mount the screen that also doubles as a case for the Pi, and a small magnifying glass for kids to take a close look at as you build it.
Screen creation
The fun of the Kano Screen Kit comes from actually building the screen, so I’m not going to spoil anything here. It’s definitely a pretty straightforward process, and when I showed it to a couple of younger kids (and non-tech adults) over the holidays, everyone was able to piece it together without guidance. The guide will show you how and why, so it’s worth keeping it handy if you’re teaching kids about screens in general. It was a fun little project, and making the kit will be a breeze for any kid already used to playing with the Raspberry Pi (or even not).
Where is it best
So, assembling the Screen Kit is quite a fun experience. Plus it’s pretty tough. Where you might think the end result is a fuzzy, offset screen, everything folds so perfectly that you can hardly tell it’s a DIY kit. Children will definitely feel a greater sense of pride and belonging if they take the time to build it themselves.
Even adults really like Screen Kit. One case alone makes life much easier for a drug addict from the organization. You always have a relatively portable Raspberry Pi system ready that doesn’t take up space in your home entertainment system or next to your PC, and it’s all neatly packaged.
As you’d expect, the Screen Kit works best with the Kano Computer Kit ($ 149.99). The Screen Kit has a dedicated slot where the Raspberry Pi case for the Computer Kit slides into (although you can easily just fasten the Velcro strap anyway), and the Kano Kit keyboard ($ 44.99) slides into the back of the screen, so it’s very portable. This compatibility is great and makes her feel like a cohesive whole, but Kano’s material is by no means required. Even the dedicated Kano operating system (which is designed to help kids learn a variety of programming skills and is configured to work with the Screen Kit out of the box) is free, even if you don’t buy the Kano Computer Kit.
Where it fails
Don’t expect the Kano Screen Kit to be as good-looking as something like an iPad. It’s just not what it should be. However, with regard to (admittedly small) market 10-inch displays, Kano Screen Kit is not inferior to other displays, and comparable to similar offerings from Adafruit (which do not have the advantages of the body).
It’s also pretty clear that the Kano Screen Kit really wants to keep you in the Kano ecosystem. It’s great if you have their stuff, but you’ll obviously have to awkwardly hack into other solutions if you don’t. Don’t worry though, several other keyboards will fit into the back of the case as perfectly as Kano’s.
If you are not using the Kano OS, you also need to adjust the video settings on your Raspberry Pi for the screen to work. I found that using Adafruit’s config settings for their 10.1-inch screen works great. However, this is not really standard support, so keep that in mind.
The presence of the Screen Kit is also a concern. The first batch sold out quickly, the second is already available for pre-order, and shipping will begin in March. Fortunately, Kano has a good track record of deliveries on time.
Bottom line: durable portable screen suitable for all ages
The Screen Kit is clearly made for kids, but it’s a solid display that will teach you a lot no matter how old you are. You can get similar screens from Adafruit for a slightly lower price , but I really love that the Kano Screen Kit is both a screen and a storage system. As a hobbyist who has (too many) Raspberry Pi sitting, it’s really nice to have a small, versatile device that’s easy to boot, test, and then put away when I’m done. A hardcore DIYer can design and 3D print a case and storage system, but the Kano Screen Kit is great for those who don’t want to go that far.