Hi everyone. I'm new to the forums and did a little searching so I'm pretty sure it's possible to do but want to make sure before I put what little money I have down on this new part of the hobby.
I have found some really inexpensive 16x2 line LCD displays on e-Bay.
SparkFun has one too for about 8 times the price but it does have extra hardware on it to take serial data.
I am on a tight budget since I have so many other hobbies as well but am getting into Arduinos and want to be able to output GPS location data for a fun project I have in mind. I want to confirm if it's possible to get the cheap LCD I linked above working with an Arduino Pro or Uno and can I get it working with a GPS connected as well or do I need to go with the SparkFun LCD screen instead as it's a little more ready to go?
I do have programming experience but mostly in MATLAB. I've looked at the Arduino sketches and don't think it's really too difficult so I don't foresee any problems but it is my first microcontroller that I'm dealing with. I know a good deal about basic electronics as well so all the circuit stuff isn't an issue.
Thanks and I look forward to joining the community and hope to be able to contribute as I become more proficient over time.
Yes - assuming the LCD is a working version and not some rip-off factory second (of course, at that price - who cares!), you should be able to use the standard LCD library that comes with the Arduino, once you wire it properly and set the parameters in the library correctly. You'll need to use more wires than the SparkFun serial version, but there are plenty left on-board the Arduino that you should be able to do your project without an issue, I think. Look at the first few links on this search for more details (you should be able to work out what you need to set up in the parameters from the simple specs given by the ebay listing):
I've actually purchased one dot-matrix display that that seller. It's good quality but took about 2 weeks (US). I've bought 3 displays from this other seller, quick shipping (7 days to US) and consistent quality. Here's a link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380292774574
I'm not associated with either seller. Just sharing my experience on ebay.
My short tutorial on 16X2 LCD:
The LCD in picture in from a.....t. Quite sluggish. My colleague also has one from the same vendor and sluggish too. I'd not purchase LCDs from them.
I bought a couple (one each yellow and blue) when they went on sale a month or so ago. They arrived in the usual 2-3 week timeframe for buying direct from China, packed in a padded envelope.
I haven't hooked them up yet: I haven't started the project I bought them for, and figured I'd just wind up eating the loss if they were bad/damaged. So there was no rush.
They're a chip-on-board design, so you have to kinda trust that the chip really is "44780-compatible". The pinout is standard, which is good: a similar LCD I bought last year had the backlight + and - pins reversed. Mechanically, the quality seems "good", but not "great": there's a little visible coarseness in the silkscreen and the blobs that cover the chips, but nothing most hobbyists would complain about. If they work, they'll be a real bargain.
I'm curious about liudr's "sluggish" comment. Is there some sort of benchmark that measures response time? I could throw together a test rig in the next day or two if I don't have to write code for it.
