Wish I had some time for A/B testing. I'll probably keep the funnel as it is now for purity's sake and consider including this in a better approach for next time.
The sideshow was a bit technical, but it was made specifically for a tech talk event where the demo was more 20-something programmer alpha-geeks. It was a hit. But definitely not for the 18-30 low-income bracket. Agreed. Including the slideshow and movie were last ditch efforts to build (or lose?) some last-minute credibility.
* Putting the prices on the page. I hate not knowing how much something is going to cost and I think it can surprise people when they click through.
* Your linked slideshow is okay, but I think it might be beyond a lot of the audience that you want to reach. I would scrap it and...
* I think you need to add an example project or two about what you can do with the Arduino (like maybe this one - http://j4mie.org/blog/how-to-make-a-physical-gmail-notifier/). As a software guy this would "sell" me.
Good luck with it! I think you're onto a great idea and I like the "loan" option to allow people to just play with one.