RaspberryPi initial steps

I initiated a new project involving low-cost micro-computer RaspberryPi.
In order to begin I ordered some basic parts (costs are in USD for Israeli market, should be cheaper elsewhere):
a RaspberryPi (55$)
5v charger with microusb adapter (10$)
8GB SD card (12$)
HDMI cable (8$)

and some extra parts:
3.5" LCD screen (45$)
micro-keyboard (62$)
micro-sd low profile adapter (11.9$)
wifi dongle (18.6$)

Not so cheap but might be worth it.

after I got a couple of RaspberryPi (model B rev2 512MB RAM) devices for a project I'm working on (details about the project will come later if it will work).
I bought a SD 8GB card and hooked it to the my desktop computer.
I downloaded the ARCLinux image unzipped it and followed the instructions:

Replacing sdX with the location of the SD card, run:
dd bs=1M if=/path/to/archlinux-hf-2013-06-15.img of=/dev/sdX

In order to increase the SD space to it's full 8GB I used gparted.

upgrade system:
> pacman -Sy pacman
> pacman-key --init
> pacman -Syu
sync (3 times):
# sync
reboot:
# reboot
Now I can add packages using pacman. to look for a package use:
> pacman -Ss <package name>
then select the one you need and install by:
> pacman -S <package name>

I am currently testing the Pi with the screen and 8 AA batteries to see how long it can work. I plan to build a case with a built-in 3.5" screen and a miniature keyboard so I can have a control unit for other RaspberryPi devices. My initial thoughts of using an old Gamboy case are now switched (with the encouragement of my electronic tec. guy David Shtibelman) to build a costume made case. Of course, David is the one to build it, since I have no skills to do that.