[Review] The cheapest Arduino Uno R3 compatible: VISduino

I liked it a lot with the curry powder. But then I read the curry powder should be cooked.

Peter_n:
At this very moment, this Uno R3 compatible is the cheapest on Ebay.com and it also ships to Australia : http://www.ebay.com/itm/361106955862

The Arduino boards come in many flavors:

I notice from that ad that it doesn't ship to the UK.
Does anyone know why not?

See reply #16. Crazy import laws, maybe?

A while ago when I wanted to buy a processor board from the UK (I don't remember which, but something like an Atmega2560) I had to fill out a declaration form that it wasn't going to be used for terrorism.

Quite apart from the fact that genuine terrorists might be tempted to, ah, lie on such a form, I can easily buy equally powerful processors in Australia, on eBay, from the USA, etc.

So I'm not sure what useful purpose this document served.

[quote author=Nick Gammon date=1423016188 link=msg=2074703]
See reply #16. Crazy import laws, maybe? [/quote]
But I've bought an Arduino Mega clone from China and loads of other stuff.
In fact, a packet of 5 hook probes arrived from there today.
The only explanation I can think of is that the supplier has had trouble sending stuff here previously.
It may be because it isn't marked with the WEEE* mark, but that would apply in every EC country.

  • EC Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment regulations mark. Just a waste bin with a cross over it, indicating that it shouldn't be put in with general waste.

Maybe it didn't have the "don't cut the wire with scissors" warning, which we all need to be reminded about from time to time:

[quote author=Nick Gammon date=1423017944 link=msg=2074736]
Maybe it didn't have the "don't cut the wire with scissors" warning, which we all need to be reminded about from time to time:[/quote]
It'll blunt the scissors...

I bought this board to try out if this is something for me. But I can't seem to connect the board to my PC. Nothing happens in Windows when I connect it. The board lights "On" and the "L"-led blinks when I connect it, but nothing happens on the computer, there is nothing to see in the device manager. I have tried to install the CH340G driver, but as the board is not at all seen by the computer, this does no difference.

Is it a faulty board? I know I can't expect much for 3£, but I wanted to try it out. Is there something i missed, or is it simply a bad copy?

LauH:
I bought this board to try out if this is something for me. But I can't seem to connect the board to my PC. Nothing happens in Windows when I connect it. The board lights "On" and the "L"-led blinks when I connect it, but nothing happens on the computer, there is nothing to see in the device manager. I have tried to install the CH340G driver, but as the board is not at all seen by the computer, this does no difference.

Is it a faulty board? I know I can't expect much for 3£, but I wanted to try it out. Is there something i missed, or is it simply a bad copy?

Have you downloaded the Arduino IDE software?

Henry_Best:
Have you downloaded the Arduino IDE software?

Yep. Just got another board today, with a 328p-pu and a 16u2-chip. It worked right away and was easily seen by windows. I guess my Visduino was just a bad copy. I will try to use it anyways using an external programmer or using the other board as programmer.

Hi,

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/UNO-R3-Development-Board-MEGA328P-ATMEGA16U2-Compatible-USB-Cable-For-Arduino-/171530116928?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item27effddf40

I can buy it, even has description of how its different, except for the crystal/resonator.

Tom......Australia.... :slight_smile:

After getting burned by two official UNO boards (org vs cc) I ordered some ebay Chinese boards via this way (from Peter) -->

Search on Ebay for : arduino uno r3
Select: buy it now
Sort for lowest price for item plus shipping.

I then looked at feedback and went through about 10 sellers until I found a 99% feedback. It cost about $.50 US more than the cheapest, but I wanted to reward the seller. It was the last UNO they had.

My suggestion - do not pick the worst seller - it just rewards them not to care about the buyers. Spend a few cents and reward a better seller.

Never will I buy an official board again!! Probably for years I will not know if there will be more problems with it (drivers today - what tomorrow). So ebay Chinese boards for me from now on.

First, I have this board, and I am making a similar board using the CH340G chip as for right now. This chip is much better than the ft232r which the nano is using: 1, price; 2, size (it's sop16 vs SSOP-28) the uno is using an even smaller usb-ttl. The only problem is the Chinese made CH340G chip. It's very well-known chip in China, while it's an unknown elsewhere. The other con about the trace is simply not true. The thinnest traces are 5mil and is more than enough to carry 40 mA which the pins can supply. and thinner traces are even a good idea. Think about it, if you are not smart, and hook up the pins incorrectly, then you will burn out the traces instead of the 328 chip. those thin traces are mini fuses for every pins!!! micro-USB is actually better than mini. most cell phone these days uses it. There are reason about it, and not all about size. Google about it.

My conclusion: it's not a perfect board, but it's at least twice better than the original, and I am loving it. and ignorance is not good.

The real con: pins are not aligned (see photo). Quality control is the last thing those Chinese sellers case about; if you are using this uno board with a shield, think twice before buying this cheap board.

The real real con: the design of this uno board is simply dumb. it's too large and too old. it will works, but it's not very artistic design in my point of view.

Last but not least. I got mine directly from the manufacturer, at least that is what they called themselves, for 2 dollars USD/ 12 RMB; Cheap as in price, the overall quality of the board is great! If I am going to make these in thousands, I probably can't buy all the component on the board with 2 USD. These people are working very hard to earn few cents from making these board. Calling it cheapest is simply inappropriate in my humble opinion.

Last word: when choosing the board, pick NANO instead of UNO, because the it's using the same 32pins IC as the NANO. The UNO uses a 28 pins dip package. The extra A6, A7 on this board is just extra from the 32pins IC; It will probably won't work if the bootloader is burned as an UNO; In that case, you need to burn the Nano bootloader to this board via the ISCP board in order to use those 2 extra analog pins;

LauH:
I bought this board to try out if this is something for me. But I can't seem to connect the board to my PC. Nothing happens in Windows when I connect it. The board lights "On" and the "L"-led blinks when I connect it, but nothing happens on the computer, there is nothing to see in the device manager. I have tried to install the CH340G driver, but as the board is not at all seen by the computer, this does no difference.

Is it a faulty board? I know I can't expect much for 3£, but I wanted to try it out. Is there something i missed, or is it simply a bad copy?

I bought a VISduino but it's not showing on the serial port (COM) either. The red led ON is light and the green led L is blinking.
I have several other arduino clones that work perfectly. Have you got yours working yet?

Did you install the CH341 driver ?

I have the same problem mentioned above, installed the CH341 driver, Arduino IDE, rebooted the computer and hooked up the Arduino to the USB. It isn't listed in the Device Manager after repeating the install a few times. I'm looking to build my own electronic bike shifting setup, it's a shame this is holding me back!

This is straying from being Bar Sport. If you want to ask a technical question I suggest you do it in the appropriate part of the forum, like Project Guidance.

Aprod:
I have the same problem mentioned above, installed the CH341 driver, Arduino IDE, rebooted the computer and hooked up the Arduino to the USB. It isn't listed in the Device Manager after repeating the install a few times. I'm looking to build my own electronic bike shifting setup, it's a shame this is holding me back!

Hi guys, did you solve problem with programing of VIS duino Uno r3?
I have the win7 x64 with the new CH341 driver ver. 3.4.2014.8.
If I choose the board UNO, COM3 (correct for me), I have the message:
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 10 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x8c
Do I have to select the programmer? Which one? Or do something else?

Maybe the problem is with bootloader? If I follow the procedure from troubleshooting page and reset the board “The built-in L LED (which is connected to pin 13) should blink. If it doesn't, there may not be a bootloader on your board.” It doesn’t blink.

The watchdog works, low is blinking.

Hi. If I choose the Leonardo instead of UNO it looks better. I haven’t the red messages. :wink:

Try uploading as a Nano.