Arduino Zero - is buying it a mistake?

[in0]

@ukphotoguy

the Blink sketch does not work on the Zero as the serial port is different.

Blink sketch doesn't use the serial port.

But it is true that most Arduino sketches are written for Serial, and so need adjustment to do serial communication via the "Native USB" port on the Zero. That is not usually a problem because most people use the "Programming Port" for this purpose. The "Native USB" port is mostly used when you need to do HID.

And anyway, it is really not so difficult to make this change in the sketches where necessary. If you aren't comfortable with that, then the more entry level boards like the Uno and Leonardo are probably a better choice until you get more experienced with writing code.

@ukphotoguy

Not really clear in the docs, you need to dig a bit for that.

I think it is reasonably well documented.

There is a table on the Arduino language reference page for serial communication:
https://www.arduino.cc/reference/en/language/functions/communication/serial/

and several mentions on the product page:

https://store.arduino.cc/products/arduino-zero#docs

@ukphotoguy

My solution is to use serial1 which goes to the pins 1 and 2 connected to a serial to USB board. Now I have a hardware independent serial port which seems stable and can handle the traffic.

Very cool!