Hi, I am a little confused on the arduino mini and uno. what exactly does one gain from using the mini? I mean is there a significant advantage aside from being breadboard friendly? is it preference or something else? It would seem a little bit easier at that point to whip out an atmega328p with opti boot and use that instead of a arduino? Sorry for the trouble 
thanks
If you are talking about a Pro Mini, size is a plus and price.
The UNO has more robust regulator and 3.3v and USB interface.
Pulling the 328 means you have to have a crystal/capacitor. . .
Your, preference and application and skill.
ilovearduinosomuch:
what exactly does one gain from using the mini?
If it isn't immediately apparent to you, the answer is nothing.
The Uno and Mega are the standard. That's where the talk is, and where the best support is. A breadboard is always a temporary lashup and a Uno can be easily connected to one, it just can't sit on one. That isn't a good reason for not getting one.
I believe a Mini is more appropriate as an Arduino that is incorporated into something else, i.e. a small part of the greater whole - which is more or less in line with what you are thinking.
Hi, I am a little confused on the arduino mini and uno. what exactly does one gain from using the mini?
Well, that depends . Is money no object . Pro-Mini's are available for $3 to $3.50 , UNO's are about $30,
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=arduino+uno+board&tag=mh0b-20&index=aps&hvadid=3527195614&ref=pd_sl_3hmmrmqbed_bb
so you can get almost 10 Pro-Mini's for the price of 1 Uno. Breadboard friendly feature depends on your application. Also, you have to keep in mind the Pro-Mini does NOT have an on-board FTDI chip like the UNO so you would need to purchase an FTDI breakout
board for communicaiton with the PC (about $20) but after you load the sketch you can remove it unless you need serial communication. If you buy a Pro-Mini, the headers are almost never pre-installed so you have to make sure you install the long headers facing down, the A4 & A5 two pin header facing up and the RIGHT-ANGLE interface header facing out so you can plug your FTDI breakout into it. In addition, if you buy a GENUINE arduino Pro-Mini, the FTDI plugs in rightside up. If you buy a clone the PCB layout is rarely the same and you will more than likely need to plug the FTDI in upside down. Also , if you have a GENUINE
Pro-Mini, the Sparkfun FTDI breakout can plug directly into the Pro-Mini. Also, both the FTDI BASIC and the Pro-Mini, come in TWO FLAVORS (3.3V & 5V). If you are buying the FTDI for one SPECIFIC Pro-Mini, you can solder the pad on the FTDI for the voltage you need to the Vcc pad in the middle. If you have both a 3.3V Pro-Mini AND a 5V Pro-Mini (like I do) , you can't do that.
You have to make a cable the connects all the pins EXCEPT VCC and the provide power to the Pro-Mini from the breadboard whereas if you solder the pad for the voltage of the Pro-Mini you have , the FTDI BASIC will provide Vcc to the Pro-Mini and you
can run it off USB power. I can't do that because one day I am connecting to the 3.3V Pro-Mini and the next to the 5V and sometimes both in the same day. (see attached image). On the other hand the UNO has the HUGE advantage of being able to accomodate almost all the shields out there, whereas the Pro-Mini has no headers for the shields to plug into. If you had to connect a shield to a Pro-Mini, it would have to be a 5V Pro-Mini and you would have to make ribbon cables to connect to it.
Saturday, March 29th is Arduino Day
Sparkfun is selling the mini for $3 in either 5V or 3.3V versions - One Day Only Sale.
Discounts on other Arduino Models, so a good time to buy.
haha mr. b thats why I asked
haha mr. b thats why I asked
Thought maybe so...
So, here is the bottom-line... the Uno is larger and does more with the USB interface on the board. It accepts standard size shields (daughter card that stack) and is generally reusable.
I program and test on only official hardware so that if I get into a bind, I can be assured that others in the world have similar hardware! Then when I get it working, I port it over to the cheap stuff - especially if it will be embedded in the project.
The mini's are nice but you wind up having to solder to them... either wires or pins. Some folks do not like to solder directly to their precious little boards. I say, at $3 what the heck? Which leads to my second rule... always buy 2 of everything Arduino. If you have code that will not work, you can move it over to the other board and make sure you do not (have not damaged) the Arduino or clone. Trying to work through a hardware problem online is a pain in the butt.
Ray
Mr. B,
Do you work for Sparkfun ?
Mr. B,
Do you work for Sparkfun ?