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[on:]

I am working on a project that requires many I/O and using an Atmega1280 is the easiest way to go. Can someone explain why the Atmega1280 is not available at Sparkfun, Adafruit or the Robotshop but is easily available on Ebay for $30.
Everyone above sells the Atmega2560 for twice as much but I need something cheap with just as many I/O.

[Reply #1 on:]

Only Sparkfun, Adafruit or the Robotshop can explain why they choose not to sell the Atmega1280, but I would guess that it's a commercial decision: either there is not enough demand for the lower-spec Arduino to be worth the overhead of stocking it, or that selling the cheaper unit would detract from the sales of the more expensive one and lose money over all. These people are here to make money at the end of the day, and quite right too. If you want cheap, there's nothing to stop you buying the discrete components and making your own on a commercial PCB or protoboard or plugboard - if you don't care how it looks, you don't even need the board. You can get a chip with bootloader and the external components needed to run it very cheaply on ebay - even cheaper if you have the means to blow the bootloader yourself.

[Reply #2 on:]

Can you settle for an ATmega644?

[Reply #3 on:]

but is easily available on Ebay for $30.

 I bought one of those Asian $30 mega1280 clone boards on E-bay about 6 months ago. I seems to be very well made and I've had no problems with it so far. Free shipment (but a 10-12 day delivery time) makes this one the best bang-for-the-buck out there.

Here is one that ships from the U.S. :

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mega-1280-ATMEGA1280-54-I-O-Pin-USB-Cable-Arduino-Compatible-00916-/390366621910?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5ae3a9f0d6

Lefty