@FaheemMitha Yeah, it is pretty quiet. And yes, chat would be a good place to ask that, as shopping requests are considered off-topic as questions.
As for purchasing the Raspberry Pi in India I'm guessing RS Components or Farnell would be your best guess, though most online sites will ship world-wide.
@RPiAwesomeness Ok, thanks for replying. I might go with element14. Which is Farnells local partner. I'm currently pulling my hair over what peripherals to buy.
I tried calling their office in Bangalore, and predictably got someone quite useless. I'm considering calling the UK. Maybe I can get someone who I actually have a conversation wtih.
@RPiAwesomeness Ok. Would you recommend going with the element14 combo? And apart from a case, what else should I get for playing video hooked up to a TV? Or should I just buy the other stuff locally? I live in Bombay.
NOOBs stands for New Out Of the Box Software. It comes with 2-3 of the most common OSes and allows you to multi-boot and switch between them all whenever you want to.
It's really easy to use and quite useful. I've yet to use it, but that's just because I started using the Pi before NOOBS became really useful or even existed.
As for the way to get video connected, do you have HDMI?
Yes, that is another feature, so long as you can connect it to your router via Ethernet or have a WiFi adapter. I quite like that and that's mainly how I run my Pi.
Yes, an enclosure is definitely a good thing, as you don't want to accidentally short-circuit your Pi.
You need a USB power supply to provide power to the Pi. You can power the Pi via a hub, but that provides a bunch more wires and bulk to the Pi's setup that you won't need all of the time. I would suggest getting the power supply and the hub.
No, you would use the power supply to power the Pi and then connect USB devices through the hub. I only use my USB ports on the Pi for connecting the USB hub to the Pi and then connect all of the USB devices (WiFi, Keyboard, Mouse) into the hub.
You also need to make sure the hub is powered, because otherwise it'll just pull power from the Pi and then you might as well not even have a hub.
If you aren't planning to use an HDD, you don't really need a hub, as the Model B+'s power circuit has increased useable power by ~.5-1A which can be used via the USB.
@FaheemMitha Yes.
As for why the power supply is needed, that's how you would power the Pi.
Yes, it can, but if you ever want to use the Pi for something other than media box, you'll want to be able to disconnect the hub and be more independent, with the B+ having 4 usb ports.
@RPiAwesomeness do you reckon the USB power supply + powered hub would be reasonable things to buy locally? They sound pretty generic. Or should I get it from elt14?
@RPiAwesomeness Ok
And as for a micro-wireless keyboard or a remote, are they also things that it is reasonable to buy locally?
You probably could get them locally, just make sure they are from a reputable seller and the specs match. Making sure the power supply is high quality is very crucial, otherwise you risk crashing your Pi and not getting enough power.
@RPiAwesomeness Ok. I guess getting it from element14 might be reasonable. Only thing is that I couldn't get any warranty coverage, but that is probably not that useful, anyway, in India.