We're in the final stages of making a PCB shield that will control a pump for our river models (see www.emriver.com).
I'd like to use a regular Arduino UNO form factor, but we're having enclosure space problems. My second choice is the Arduino Pro.
Big question: Are there other non-Sparkfun boards with the same form factor, especially mounting holes, as the Sparkfun Pro unit? I'm reluctant to design a PCB and enclosure based on a single board that might be discontinued.
I'd love to use the straight up UNO board, but it's just too bulky -- when will they get rid of that dumb USB jack?
If you are doing this as a commercial project, I would suggest you integrate the Arduino into the PCB you are designing. There really isn't much to them, and you can even buy atmega chips pre-programmed with the bootloader from sparkfun.
If this is a 10 off project, I really wouldn't worry about it too much. Most Arduinos (and variants) have their output pins at the same spacing so shields are compatible. Sparkfun has vested interest in keeping it this way too, as they would need to re-do a pile of their pcb's if the spacing changed.
for the most part they can start by thinking more along the lines of QUALITY vs QUANTITY.
and using better components with a longer life.
QUALITY wins ever time !!! They just have to use it on the right components.
