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[on:]

Hello, i was just wondering.. the other day i went to radioshack and they were displaying some arduinos. (i am from malaysia btw) however, tha packaging looked different. i did not have a picture of it, but it does not look like the original box ..or maybe it was a different edition? maybe...but when i saw the price, it was about 45 dollars!!! which normally cost only 30 dollars at most here. when i asked the seller why was it so expensive, he said it was brought all the way from the US.......not Itally..

so my question is...
1. why do they have different packaging? the box for the MEGA was much harder than the typical ones
2. are arduinos only manufactured in itally?

Zhank YOU!

[Reply #1 on:]

Note, radioshack rarely has the best prices.  But in the USA, they are convenient, and sometimes have reasonable stock on hand.

I was curious, and went through their US web site.  They sell 4 Arduino's:

• The Uno at US $30
• The Mega at US $60
• The Esplora at US $60
• The Micro at US $30 http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=17207736, which seems to be a Leonardo in a breadboard factor.  Now, the silk screening certainly looks like Arduino's, but it isn't listed in the arduino.cc list of official boards.  I suspect it may be a special deal where RS has an exclusive on the board for a couple of months, like the Esplora, and then it will be more available
• Radio Shack also has some Parallex's and a netduino kit.

[Reply #2 on:]

Radioshack has an operation in Malaysia?  Or are you using the term to generically mean electronics shop?

http://www.radioshack.com/uc/index.jsp?page=researchLibraryArticle&articleUrl=../graphics/uc/rsk/USContent/HTML/pages/InternationalStores.html&noBc=true

[Reply #3 on:]

The Micro at US $30 http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=17207736, which seems to be a Leonardo in a breadboard factor.  Now, the silk screening certainly looks like Arduino's, but it isn't listed in the arduino.cc list of official boards.  I suspect it may be a special deal where RS has an exclusive on the board for a couple of months, like the Esplora, and then it will be more available

http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardMicro

[Reply #4 on:]

I notice my radio shack has been carrying seed studio products, got an Ethernet shield for 20 bucks, its been a few weeks since I have been so I cant comment if the seed arduino is or would be more expensive, or maybe it was a cheaper seed mega

I will try and remember to swing by there sometime this week, thank you for the excuse to go to radio shack

their packaging is in clear blister packs with black or dark something inserts

[Reply #5 on:]

Hello thanks for the replies. I really do mean radio shack the official store. they recently opened two branches in selangor malaysia.. However the RS here dont let me open the arduino box to see the inside so i cant say anything about how it looks like. but as MichaelMeissner said, maybe it can be some special deal?

[Reply #6 on:]

Hello again, i found some pictures, the box looks something like the one bellow.. is it an official packaging?

[Reply #7 on:]

One more here

[Reply #8 on:]

Looks like official retail packages.
http://store.arduino.cc/eu/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=11_29

I think I can see a Proto Shield, Motor Shield, Proto Wifi SD and a Mega 2560 in your picture.
The price difference between retail boards and the "regular" boards in the Arduino Store is €20 for the normal Uno and €23 for the Uno with retail package so they are a little more expensive but not that much.
Which one was it that costed $45?

Unless the boxes are sealed in some way they should let you look inside. That's one of the advantages of going to a retailer to pay extra bucks compared to buying online.

[Reply #9 on:]

hello, it was the UNO that was 45 dollars..maybe they mark up the price, i dont think they can sell products at the same price as in the US.. they have to include shipping as well i guess

[Reply #10 on:]

At the local Radio Shack (California) and online, I see that the price for the Uno is now about $30, just like everywhere else.  When radioShack first started carrying the Uno, it was at a higher-than-average price ($39?)