Is Buying An 6 Months Old Raspberry Pi 5 8 GB A Good Idea?
Hello everyone(TLDR in the end of you don't wish to, Read), I'm an engineering student, just completed my first year and am looking to learn Raspberry Pi. For this I've decided to buy the pi 5 8 GB version. But the current prices have skyrocketed like crazy and it costs almost twice now. And I don't feel good to pay this much all due to the RAM shortage, so I looked for used options online, found and talked to a few they're offering a good price since they're making a profit anyways; but much lower than the price of new. So my question is,
As I plan to learn, make projects and keep the Pi using for long, should I buy a new one, or a used one is okay?
A seller is offering me the whole kit for about 150$(for ref, only new pi costs $200 here); the pi, its case, charger, active cooling fan, and sd card. And surprisingly, is also offering me his SSD HAT. He has given the reason of having bought all this to explore, but doesn't need it anymore.
So what I want to know is, what things should I ask him, or what should I be cautious about while buying a used Pi? Any programs to run, booting up etc.? Anything like that, pls suggest.
And as a side note wanted to get everyone's opinion on learning the Pico 2 W before the Pi or directly Pi is also okay?(Will be following Mr. Paul McWhorter's tutorials)
TLDR questions;
Is getting used pi a good idea? What should I be asking the seller and take care of? And
Should I learn Pico 2 W first or directly the Pi also fine(taught by Mr. Paul McWhorter)?