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Arduino Forum Some thoughts on the last inventor kit from SparkFun
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Related

Some thoughts on the last inventor kit from SparkFun

balearicdynamics
balearicdynamics over 10 years ago

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13271?utm_source=SparkFun+Customer+Newsletter&utm_campaign=5582a812a4-June19_newslette…

 

What shown in the link above is essentially what is shown in the image below:

image

I have done a small test about its content:

The main piece is the sort of Spark-uino image, Arduino compatible etc. with optiboot instead of the standard Arduino bootloader. It costs 19$ from Sparkfun.

Then the kit includes:

DC motor, 2$ - 3$

20 coloured LEDs, 6$ for all, average price on Farnell site

3 pushbuttons + 2 (different size) and other discrete components for about 4$ (average price on Farnell site)

I want to ignore the cables, anyway we can add another 3$ for this stuff

Servo motor, around 6$

Sound sensor and accelerometer, 10$ (just to exagerate)

A small-sized breadboard with support, around 5$

 

The total of this stuff is less than 60$, most of them IMHO is useless.

 

The kit is sold at 149$, three times more (!!!) but what leave me astonished is that after years (because are years) the new, the last updated release, the non-plus-ultra again proposes always the same soup: a list of always the same circuits, from blinking a LED up to detect acceleration, detect sound and so on. With a very poor satisfaction of the customer, I think, as he should do nothing more than copy-and-plug the circuits designed on the documentation. That is all downloadable.

 

What a well educated, really supported user can do with 150$ ? I think more and more and more. With more satisfaction and surely acquiring more knowledge.

 

Just to share a point of view.

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Top Replies

  • mcb1
    mcb1 over 10 years ago +2
    balearicdynamics Enrico you are quite right about the cost markup ... just because it's packaged. Whether they supply you with Labview is perhaps the only difference. DAB The kit makes a great gift for…
  • ipv1
    ipv1 over 10 years ago +1
    I get most of my stuff from www.seeedstudios.com which is pretty decent in terms of the price. They offer free shipping for orders above 50USD and this order may also include PCBs! I recently got a solar…
  • mcb1
    mcb1 over 10 years ago in reply to balearicdynamics +1
    It seems that Labview is either another marketing exercise or the uptake was poor. That's a hefty discount ... Diligent are selling the Labview Home Bundle for $49 https://www.digilentinc.com/Products…
Parents
  • ipv1
    ipv1 over 10 years ago

    I get most of my stuff from www.seeedstudios.com which is pretty decent in terms of the price. They offer free shipping for orders above 50USD and this order may also include PCBs!

    I recently got a solar duino kit for around 20USD with battery, duino, usb cable, solar panel and enclosure. This one was ordered during a sale and its a bargain for sure.

     

    Sparkfun and adafruit are too expensive for my pocket even though they have some great stuff.

    Two years ago, I started a student activity in our university where the students bought the DMM, pliers, soldering iron, resistor packs, caps etc etc - the full kit ... in bulk! They buy quantities of 200 or more from a single vendor at wholesale price and then distribute the kits to 1st year students at no profit. This allows for a five time cost cutting compared to the local stores and gives the parent pockets a bit of relief.

     

    Its just a matter of smart buying image

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  • ipv1
    ipv1 over 10 years ago

    I get most of my stuff from www.seeedstudios.com which is pretty decent in terms of the price. They offer free shipping for orders above 50USD and this order may also include PCBs!

    I recently got a solar duino kit for around 20USD with battery, duino, usb cable, solar panel and enclosure. This one was ordered during a sale and its a bargain for sure.

     

    Sparkfun and adafruit are too expensive for my pocket even though they have some great stuff.

    Two years ago, I started a student activity in our university where the students bought the DMM, pliers, soldering iron, resistor packs, caps etc etc - the full kit ... in bulk! They buy quantities of 200 or more from a single vendor at wholesale price and then distribute the kits to 1st year students at no profit. This allows for a five time cost cutting compared to the local stores and gives the parent pockets a bit of relief.

     

    Its just a matter of smart buying image

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  • balearicdynamics
    balearicdynamics over 10 years ago in reply to ipv1

    Inderpreet, its a good vision but this take in account at least the minimal needed knowledge for smart buying. Just as the shops like sparkfun lives on the very newbies, I complain that at least to add a minimum of added value it will be the worth, as they present themselves as a teaching supporting company,... I started this discussion in the hope that it will be useful for some new entry image

     

    Enrico

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  • ipv1
    ipv1 over 10 years ago in reply to balearicdynamics

    agreed.

    FYI I think Sparkfun offers discounts to teachers and accads but again its not 66% image

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  • balearicdynamics
    balearicdynamics over 10 years ago in reply to ipv1

    Selling some kits on Tindie, I personally experienced the costs and mechanism for very small productions. I can earn few money every unit I sell (but this is no the primary gal of the Tindie shop experiment) keeping prices a bit lower than the big companies that I suppose has dramatically lower production costs at least for the produced units, internal resources and so on.

     

    https://www.tindie.com/products/alicemirror/alphanumeric-display-arduino-kit/?pt=full_prod_search just to make an example.

     

    Enrico

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