Looking at an arduino

[bigone5500]

I am looking at buying an arduino and have found this on amazon. For a beginner, would this be ok or should I go with a micro?

http://www.amazon.com/SunFounder-Pr...e=UTF8&qid=undefined&sr=1-54&keywords=arduino

 

[bigone5500]

Ok. After looking at these things a bit more, I am somewhat confused as to what I am looking at. Some say SunFounder, others say sainsmart and newsite.

Which one is which? They look somewhat the same but I don't want to get one that is cheapy...

Thanks ...

 

[Gryd3]

Bigone5500.
Arduino is simply a popular pre-made microprocessor development board. Many Arduino products use Atmel's AVR micro.
There are pros and cons to going with Arduino, or going to PIC, AVR, etc. I will not get into this, and you should not worry about 'which one is better'.

I am unsure on your electronic or programming skills, but Arduino has a rather large following that has seemed to pop up lately. You can find tutorials and all sorts of other goodies everywhere online.
Many arduino are programmed with a standard USB cable and do not need a programmer. (This has the drawback of using a little memory in the Arduino for the 'Bootloader'. If you corrupt the bootloader, you will need some more advanced skills to revive your Arduino.)
Going to other micros, like PIC or AVR will require a 'programmer' which is an additional piece of hardware that you connect to you microprocessor in order to upload your program to it.

AVR and PIC tend to be much cheaper than Arduino. There is very little you can't do by choosing one path over another.

Also, the Arduino boards are starting to pop up in some retail outlets. Do you best to make sure it's a legit Arduino product if you are wanting to invest in the product.

 

[(*steve*)]

AVR and PIC tend to be much cheaper than Arduino.

Arduino is simply a name given to a class of development boards based on certain AVR processors and compatible with the Arduino software development environment (which is essentially a C++ compiler, a set of libraries and a programmer). I use the Arduino ERW environment.

There are many clones of the original Arduino's avaialble (this actually looks like a clone). You have mentioned a few places where clones are available. This is the genuine original, and here is a list of many of the places you can get them. There is not necessarily a tight correlation between price and quality, although you're probably not going to get much better quality than an original. I don't recall having a problem with a clone that wasn't my own fault

The price for the one you have linked to isn't exorbitant, especially if it can be shipped quickly. You could shop around and find this stuff cheaper, but it might be more hassle than it's worth.

 

[bigone5500]

Thanks for the input. I like to use amazon when possible as I have a prime account and get free two day shipping. The price for this board along with the extras is cheaper than my local radio shack for an original arduino uno. Given what has been said, I think I can rest easy with this purchase.

Thanks again.

 

[BobK]

What is an "original" Arduino? I thought the platform was open-source, which means anyone can make it, and, assuming they did not change the design they would all be as "original" as any other.

Bob

 

[bigone5500]

I guess I meant it has the inscription "arduino"

 

[Gryd3]

The product may be open source, but just because you buy an 'arduino' clone from a third party does not mean it is built to the same specs.

 

[BobK]

The product may be open source, but just because you buy an 'arduino' clone from a third party does not mean it is built to the same specs.

No, it doesn't, but they would be lying if they called it Arduino.

Bob

 

[KrisBlueNZ]

No, it doesn't, but they would be lying if they called it Arduino.

I assumed he was referring to quality specs, not functional specs. That's the usual difference between an original and a clone. Of course, if it doesn't function as an Arduino it shouldn't be described as one.

 

[bigone5500]

Well I made the plunge. I got this kit on Amazon. I think it was an ok deal. Should be at my house this Thursday!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D9NQDAG/ref=ox_ya_os_product_refresh_T1

 

[Gryd3]

Well I made the plunge. I got this kit on Amazon. I think it was an ok deal. Should be at my house this Thursday!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D9NQDAG/ref=ox_ya_os_product_refresh_T1

I'd call that a fair deal.
Experiment and enjoy!

 

[bigone5500]

Enjoying my new UNO! So much possibility with this thing.