Arduino Micro from eBay - reliable?

I'm sorry if this is the wrong section - didn't know where else to put it. Anyways I'm planning on switching from Nano to Micro and I've found this one on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/ATMEGA32U4-Leonardo-Micro-With-Bootloader-Ready-For-Arduino-IDE-1-0-3-/130834359666?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e7655e572

Has anyone ordered Micro clone and how were your experiences with it?

i think the quality is good and they will just work fine. though for original ardus i think they do an extra quality check.
but i also think this destroys this community as i guess the support or this forum only get financed by buying original ardus.

It is not a real Leonardo it is a rip off. Not even a clone because it is pretending to be a real one.

For the price difference I think it is always better to support the real thing. After all it pays for a lot of things, not least of which is this forum.

all my clones work fine ,you can get a refund if not .
in fact i have more faulty parts from the big names as their QC sucks ,and they buy them from china any way .
no faulty arduinos though .

Adafruit sells a Micro for $25

knuckles:
all my clones work fine ,you can get a refund if not .

No one said that they would not.

knuckles:
in fact i have more faulty parts from the big names as their QC sucks ,and they buy them from china any way .

Illogical, if they buy from China then it is China's QC that sucks. No company buys from China and then unpacks them to to there own testing. If something doesn't work then it is up to the factory to test and rectify it.

So save a few pennies and sponge off the people who do support the Arduino and pump some money back into the project.

I thought all parts of an arduino are also made in china, isnt that true? i thought they just get assembled in italy.

http://www.pjrc.com/teensy/index.html
...Teensy 2.0

Same processor. $16. Author has made significant contributions to Arduino. Why pay $20 for a "cheap" clone?

lax123:
I thought all parts of an arduino are also made in china, isnt that true?

The Arduino folks have never stated where they source individual parts.

i thought they just get assembled in italy.

"Just"? That implies assembly contributes nothing to the final product.

In addition to being assembled in Italy, the boards are also tested there.

"Just"? That implies assembly contributes nothing to the final product

no, I said it just because of:

No company buys from China and then unpacks them to to there own testing

because i know the boards get tested even though all parts might be from china :slight_smile:

Denbo:
Adafruit sells a Micro for $25
Arduino Micro with Headers - 5V 16MHz - (ATmega32u4 - assembled) : ID 1086 : $24.95 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits

The cheapest shipping to Croatia is 15 dollars, so no thanks.

Same thing - one shipping option is 13$ and other 173 (!!!!!).

Grumpy_Mike:
It is not a real Leonardo it is a rip off. Not even a clone because it is pretending to be a real one.

For the price difference I think it is always better to support the real thing. After all it pays for a lot of things, not least of which is this forum.

How can it be a ripoff? The shematics for every Arduino board is freely available.

eBay is my only option and I'm looking for reliable Micro or Lenonardo board.

What about this one? http://www.ebay.com/itm/ATmega32u4-Microcontroller-Board-For-Arduino-Leonardo-A126-/251193358596?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a7c4a7904

kustom:
The cheapest shipping to Croatia is 15 dollars, so no thanks.

eBay is my only option and I'm looking for reliable Micro or Lenonardo board.

Surprised you cannot simply order direct from Arduino in Ivrea, Italy. You are not that far away from there. They sell Micros for €18.

kustom:

Grumpy_Mike:
It is not a real Leonardo it is a rip off. Not even a clone because it is pretending to be a real one.

For the price difference I think it is always better to support the real thing. After all it pays for a lot of things, not least of which is this forum.

How can it be a ripoff? The shematics for every Arduino board is freely available.

Yes they are but these are pretending they are real Arduinos and copying things like the trademarks and FCC markings when they have no legal right to do so. This is called passing off and is illegal. The customs in your country are within their rights to confiscate such a product. Some people have reported here that this to have happened to them. If they use the same layout and call it something different and say it is a clone then there is no issue because it in not pretending to be something it is not. They will just be using open source information to manufacturer a product, not pretending it is something else.

@lax123

because i know the boards get tested even though all parts might be from china :slight_smile:

The original comment referred to getting things made in China not getting components sourced in China. In fact there are very few fabrication plants in China for semiconductors, components are sourced from all round the world.