[ashark]

I recently bought a Raspberry Pi 2, a nicer case than I really needed, a 64GB sdhc card, and a good power supply for not more than one of these cost. Going with a smaller SD card and a less-nice case you'd easily save enough to cover a breakout breadboard for the GPIO and maybe a couple of sensors.

Judging from its performance I suspect the original Pi would have disappointed me and been nearly useless for anything I might wanted to do with it, but the Pi2's a nice little device. It's silent and it sips power. The support and software ecosystem around it is well worth a few extra bucks over similar devices (the first time it saves you even 30 minutes of hair-pulling frustration, which likely won't be long after you open the box, you'll be glad you went with a Pi)

[kolev]

That's what I did, too. I want to create a Pi 2 blade server and use it for local docker PaaS (for builds, running tests, etc.), but can't find a good case for that. The dog bone one takes too much space and is too generic.

[ashark]

You mean the stackable dog bone-shaped ones? They don't look that big to me, but maybe the pictures don't do them justice.

I'm not sure whether it'd be appropriate for what you want, but this is the case I bought:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ME5XUAG/

I'm happy with it, and I can't really imagine a case being any smaller and still protecting the Pi while providing access to its various ports (including the SD card). I'm not really into the see-through case thing, but I couldn't find an opaque case I liked better for the same amount of money or less.

[kolev]

I mean something like this [0], but more efficient as you need an outer enclosure only. Blade-server like would be idea (where the Pis are vertical) with some more efficient Ethernet cabling to connect them to a switch.

[0] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MYFAAPO/?tag=nikolay-20