I am curious if any one has any experience with this unit. The price seems pretty low, is there something wrong with it.
1 Like
I have no experience with that particular Uno, but I would suggest you choose a board with a 328P-PU which is 28 pin DIP. That way you can unplug and replace the 328P-pu controller chip if it fails. There are other advantages to being able to remove the 328p-pu chip, which you will discover if and when you want to flash bootloaders onto new raw 328p-pu chips.
Here is an example of one with the 328P-PU chip and it's about the same price with free shipping. There are other sellers with similar boards and prices. Lots of sellers out there if you Google a bit, but if you really want to be assured of getting top quality, spend double or a bit more and get the genuine Arduino Uno (In My Opinion). I have had the occasional problem with non-Arduino boards.
Thanks, I was concerned about the board, only because it was so cheap.
It's about the same price as all the other non_Arduino Unos out there. It might (probably will) be perfectly good, but be prepared to get a bad one now and then and returning it (postage, not to mention time) can be a real drag. I had a non-Arduino that worked perfectly for months until the 328 micro controller chip failed. It was a SMD chip, like the one you linked to and I don't have the equipment to replace these chips with those microscopic pins. That's one reason I will only buy boards with the 28 pin DIP chips that plug into sockets from now on . I only wish they would use DIP pluggable 16U2 USB chips too. They are all the microscopic SMD chips, but I guess there is only so much room on boards with this small footprint.
Buy two of them at the same time - probably the same shipping charge. Cheap insurance. If one doesn't work just dump it.
...R
sensai:
I am curious if any one has any experience with this unit.
Not I, but I have bought from DX.
sensai:
The price seems pretty low, is there something wrong with it.
I very much doubt it. It is entirely compatible, not branded as "Arduino" so it's legit (you can hardly trademark or copyright a word in the Italian language!) and it is clearly well-designed with enhancements (facilitated by the smaller chip) - extra pinouts (with pins supplied according to the description). With shorter bond-outs, SMD chips are actually better performers with the possible (but not necessarily) exception of heat dissipation. I see no reason at all why it would be less reliable than a "Genuine Arduino".
Personally, though I have swapped out 328s to check ones I bought, if I intended to do that in the future I would use a ZIF/ breadboard setup anyway and I do not expect to (and exceedingly rarely do) smoke chips, just by being careful.
Just remember - buying from Arduino supports their project (and some "green" program), so you will pay more for the "genuine article", but electronic parts are electronic parts - by and large the same ones in all your consumer appliances (which as you realise, all come from China including those that Arduino uses).
And - don't just buy one.
I haven't tested it, but I would say DX will be quite reputable about returns in the unlikely event it fails.
I get most of my stuff from dx electronics, since shipping is free in Canada,,, maybe it might be worth it to buy a couple or three,, probably get 4 for the price of a real arduino, 5 or 6 if I include shipping.
I still recommend you get a Uno with the 28 pin 328p-pu in a socket. The day might come when you want to flash a 328p-pu to put on a prototype board. It's simple, just copy the flash from your Uno, unplug it, plug in the new 328 and write the saved code to it. All you need is a USB isp programmer. They're cheap and the 328p-pu are just a little over $3.00. I use eXtreme burner-AVR software. to copy and burn bootloaders It's free and simple as falling off a log. Crystals, capacitors and resonators are just pennies at Tayda electronics and that's where I get my 328p-pu chips too.
pegwatcher:
I still recommend you get a Uno with the 28 pin 328p-pu in a socket. The day might come when you want to flash a 328p-pu to put on a prototype board. It's simple, just copy the flash from your Uno, unplug it, plug in the new 328 and write the saved code to it. All you need is a USB isp programmer. They're cheap and the 328p-pu are just a little over $3.00. I use eXtreme burner-AVR software. to copy and burn bootloaders It's free and simple as falling off a log. Crystals, capacitors and resonators are just pennies at Tayda electronics and that's where I get my 328p-pu chips too.
You are referring to this one?
Sorry i am so late replying. I was away a couple days and then this forum site was down for over a day.
That is one of the boards I was referring to. Notice the controller chip is a large 28 pin in a socket, but what you showed was the genuine Arduino Uno which will cost about 3 times as much (as others here have pointed out) and as they suggested, you might be wiser to buy 2 or 3 of the cheaper ones with the same layout (28 pin in socket) for the same price and they include the cable which will be about another 4 bucks with the genuine Arduino.
Check this one out for $10.99 with free shipping, including that cable:
.Geekcreit? Compatible UNO R3 ATmega16U2 AVR USB Development Main Board Sale - Banggood USA
It is Arduino compatible. I bought one and it works good, .
Maybe buy two, just in case, instead of one genuine Arduino that costs about 30 bucks ?
BUT...because shipping is free, I guess there is not much risk in buying just one and if it doesn't work you can always just buy another. And, if there is a problem with it, come back on this thread and I'm sure you will get lots of help.
I was thinking about this removable chip, and I saw some possibilities. If one was doing a multiple build of the same project, you could program the chip in the arduino and pull it out put it on the pcb and set to go to the next… interesting concept. Aside from like you said, if you get a busted chip, it is easy to replace.
sensai:
I was thinking about this removable chip, and I saw some possibilities. If one was doing a multiple build of the same project, you could program the chip in the Arduino and pull it out put it on the pcb and set to go to the next… interesting concept.
But there are much better ways. Get a shield - or simply make one - with a ZIF socket (like the ones I have made by "TFXTO0L" or summat) and either program by "Arduino as ISP" or - if they do have the bootloader, a USB to TTL module. Alternatively for quantity, you put pad arrays on the PCB for "pogo pins" to connect. It's not expensive to get the extra bits to make it easy.
pegwatcher:
Sorry i am so late replying. I was away a couple days and then this forum site was down for over a day.
That is one of the boards I was referring to. Notice the controller chip is a large 28 pin in a socket, but what you showed was the genuine Arduino Uno which will cost about 3 times as much (as others here have pointed out) and as they suggested, you might be wiser to buy 2 or 3 of the cheaper ones with the same layout (28 pin in socket) for the same price and they include the cable which will be about another 4 bucks with the genuine Arduino.Check this one out for $10.99 with free shipping, including that cable:
It is Arduino compatible. I bought one and it works good, .
Maybe buy two, just in case, instead of one genuine Arduino that costs about 30 bucks ?
Did the board you received look exactly like the one pictured on their site? If you look closely ant the images they use youe can see where they photoshoped the arduino logos out.
Hi
This product is assembled in a device. But the computer does not recognize.
What should I do two pins short-circuited?
Which pins
kemalwebnet:
the computer does not recognize.
You really have to explain what you mean by this.
kemalwebnet:
What should I do two pins short-circuited?
Why would you think that?