I've been reading a lot about Arduino in the past few weeks and I'm itching to take the plunge and buy one (or another microcontroller), but I just don't know what to get.
I'm a programmer by day, so coding - in whatever language - shouldn't be a problem for me.
I have a couple of projects in mind, but I don't know if those should govern my purchase decision or whether I should get a plain Arduino to begin with.
I have learnt that there are quite a few Arduino clones and variants out there and I'm most-intrigued by those that comprise multiple functions on one board. The Freeduino EtherTen, for instance, has caught my eye. It has Ethernet and a memory card slot on board for only $65.
Then there is JeeLabs' JeeNode, a minimalist Arduino board with an on-board RF module to easily set up mesh networks for in-home sensor monitoring and logging.
The Redback, a tiny Arduino board with built-in Wifi is intriguing as well.
Then I've read about the Propeller from Parallax, recently they've come out with an IDE supporting C.
I just don't know what to get.
Should I stick with a classic Arduino board to get my feet wet or will I tire of that fairly soon and get a specialized board from the beginning? Perhaps I will outgrow Arduino all too soon and might want to get a completely different microcontroller?
Make a decision on your first project & go from there.
Can always add more hardware to it.
The only disadvantage to the all inclusive, all surface mount parts boards, is that you if damage something you're pretty much SOL unless you know someone that can do repairs.
If you go modular in how you build your project up, then one busted part is just that, one busted part.
I think that if you get an enhanced clone as your first board, you should get whose enhancements you understand at both the hardware and software levels, how they work and what they mean. That'll depend on what kind of programming you do in your day job, and how much hardware background you have...
In any case, a project looking at using possibly multiple $65+ boards is unlikely to be broken by having its first $30 spent on a standard UNO board used merely for gaining familiarity with the arduino environment and "playing"
Should I stick with a classic Arduino board to get my feet wet or will I tire of that fairly soon and get a specialized board from the beginning? Perhaps I will outgrow Arduino all too soon and might want to get a completely different microcontroller?
Just get the basic Arduino Uno board and get on with the task of learning. Don't over think the task of how to get started, it's more important to just get started rather then wasting time trying to make the perfect decision. The Arduino is almost a perfect introduction as the vast support and documentation avalible from this forum and other sources will make the investment pay out big dividends for your introduction to the hobby.
Get a basic unit to start. Bye the time you start doing long term projects you can go with bare atmega's onto breadbaord, perfbord, stripboard, or custom PCB and use the basic unit to put a bootloader on them.