Which Arduino kit to purchase first?

Question

I'm looking to purchase my first Arduino Ono board with a kit. I think I want a kit??

I found this awesome community and thought it would be a great idea to join. I've watched countless videos, and I'm ready to jump in, but where do I start?

I've been to this store, the org/cc site, Amazon, and Adafruit, and all of them have different kits with different parts.

Do I even want a kit, or get the parts separately?
I thought since most of you have been in this for a while, you could recommend whether I should buy a real Arduino or a clone. A kit or the board and parts... I'm not worried about the cost, I'd just like to do it right the first time.

The name brand kit seems pricey for the parts you get compared to the clones, but I don't know.

https://store.arduino.cc/usa/arduino-starter-kit

I've seen this one on Amazon too: $34.99

Elegoo EL-KIT-003 UNO Project Super Starter Kit with Tutorial for Arduino

There are kits on Amazon with component boards like: $29.86

ELEGOO Upgraded 37 in 1 Sensor Modules Kit with Tutorial for Arduino UNO R3 MEGA 2560 Nano 2016 new version

Sorry to be a noob, but I guess everyone is at one point.

Thanks so much!

~G

EDIT: I ordered the name brand kit from Amazon and I love it. If I was not already a software developer, I's say the book does a nice job in explaining the coding aspect. My only wish is that the editor had intellisense.

Other then that, Arduino is a blast, and I'm so glad I ordered it.

Message was edited by: Gary Parkin

14rhb · Accepted Answer

Hi Gary, Some time ago I undertook a review of that Arduino Starter Kit for E14 Element14's Arduino Starter Kit Competition and from that you should get a good idea of the projects that can be built. I found it a very informative and fun kit to learn from, the provided book was very comprehensive and guided you from the very basics of electronics through a range of really useful building blocks using the Arduino Uno.....from there it is just down to your imagination. There were a few errors in the book and some parts of the kit proved awkward to use but I still recommend it if you can afford the extra cost. I cannot comment on the quality of the cheaper clone kits as I have never seen one - I would imagine the components are of lower quality and maybe you would not get the fantastic book. Happy Arduino'ing and I look forward to seeing any progress posts you make Rod

cutejupiter · Answer

Hi Gray

Just purchase the cheap Arduino will be fine, because Arduino is an open source platform anyone can make Arduino compatible boards.

I bought 3 pack of Elegoo Arduino kits on Amazon for my personal projects, there are all work well.

For beginners, I suggest you buy an Arduino starter kit. Because the starter kit includes the basic components like boards, sensors, and modules for Arduino, which can meet the needs for your project. If you purchase them separately, you need to take time to search the model, it's troublesome.

By the way, normally a starter kit will cheaper than you buy them separately.

garythomas · Answer

I woke up this morning and I got an email saying I had answers on my question. Thank you all. I'm hoping this might help others in the same boat because there are a slew of kits out there. Rod, I'm reading your review at the moment, and I'm thinking I may order an official kit from Amazon for $78.94 as I'm a Prime member. If anyone knows of a better place to get it for any reasons, please let me know. https://www.amazon.com/Arduino-Starter-Kit-English-Official/dp/B009UKZV0A/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=153615222… Gigi, Yes I was looking at the Elegoo kit, but some of the the reviews state that the instructions are poorly translated into English. It might be a nice second package to buy since it has so many parts. https://www.amazon.com/Elegoo-Project-Starter-Tutorial-Arduino/dp/B01D8KOZF4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1498801743… John that book looks great. Jeremy's videos are top shelf, among all that I have watched. Being a software developer, I like to do my research first. I started into electronics when I was in my teens about 40 years ago, and left it for programming. It's going to be hard but exciting learning all over again. Oh, I also own Arduino for Dummies by John Nussey, and the same title by Brock Craft. (I love the Dummy series and use them to teach with). EDIT: After researching several sources, I purchased the official kit from Amazon to support the developers. Reason is I wanted a clean test bed with no connection issues. Not that there is anything wrong with the other kit, in fact I plan on buying the Elegoo kit in a few months after I get my feet wet with the official kit. Gary

jw0752 · Answer

Hi Gary, More important than the kit is a good guide book to take you through some of the capabilities. Check out "Exploring Arduino" by Jeremy Blum as it is excellent. https://www.exploringarduino.com/ John

jomoenginer · Answer

cutejupiter wrote:

Hi Gray

Just purchase the cheap Arduino will be fine, because Arduino is an open source platform anyone can make Arduino compatible boards.
I bought 3 pack of Elegoo Arduino kits on Amazon for my personal projects, there are all work well.
For beginners, I suggest you buy an Arduino starter kit. Because the starter kit includes the basic components like boards, sensors, and modules for Arduino, which can meet the needs for your project. If you purchase them separately, you need to take time to search the model, it's troublesome.
By the way, normally a starter kit will cheaper than you buy them separately.

The Arduino platform is open somewhat however that does not prevent other non Arduino vendors from implementing something on their board that is not compatible with the Arduino libraries. Be cautious when purchasing boards from vendors other than Arduino especially the cheap knock offs. For a beginner, I would stick with the Arduino brand boards just to be on the safe side and eliminate any issue that might occur when programming the board.

Which Arduino kit to purchase first?

Elegoo EL-KIT-003 UNO Project Super Starter Kit with Tutorial for Arduino

ELEGOO Upgraded 37 in 1 Sensor Modules Kit with Tutorial for Arduino UNO R3 MEGA 2560 Nano 2016 new version

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