I ponder for you this question....

I saw this appear for roadtesting and thought about applying. Straight away that sounds a bit undecided doesn't it?

The reason I had reservations is eluded to by Gough Lui regarding the steep learning curve. I've roadtested a few boards now and it can be quite random whether the experience is a fun, learning activity with a great outcome or something filled with trouble and plenty of investigation and nights of worry, finally ending in an embarrassing write up. Obviously I'd expect this Silicon Labs to be the former case . It is that uncertainty, even after reading the great promotional videos and literature whilst preparing an application, that has made me sit on the fence for this roadtest. Whilst sitting on the fence I ended up doing the Maxim MAX32650-EVKIT which has turned out to be a great bit of fun (roadtest report to follow soon).

Sometimes if someone from the company is available on E14 they could be on standby to say 'hello' and answer questions on the roadtest page prior to applications being submitted, I recall this does sometime happen, and appears to be greatly appreciated. In this case I could have asked about the required IDE and drivers. They could also be there should that initial critical install fail once the roadtest has been received; usually the forums are great also IMO but someone on E14 might just help. As the roadtest closing date looms they would be able to drum up additional interest if necessary by posting interesting information about their product? Another approach on some items that you suspect will be less uptake on would be to ask the sponsot to run a webinar prior to show off the unit and take questions. It could form a good basis for who to choose?

Obviously some roadtest products attract hundreds of applications and there is no need for the online mentor, but some might just benefit IMO.

I ponder for you this question....

I saw this appear for roadtesting and thought about applying. Straight away that sounds a bit undecided doesn't it?

The reason I had reservations is eluded to by Gough Lui regarding the steep learning curve. I've roadtested a few boards now and it can be quite random whether the experience is a fun, learning activity with a great outcome or something filled with trouble and plenty of investigation and nights of worry, finally ending in an embarrassing write up. Obviously I'd expect this Silicon Labs to be the former case . It is that uncertainty, even after reading the great promotional videos and literature whilst preparing an application, that has made me sit on the fence for this roadtest. Whilst sitting on the fence I ended up doing the Maxim MAX32650-EVKIT which has turned out to be a great bit of fun (roadtest report to follow soon).

Sometimes if someone from the company is available on E14 they could be on standby to say 'hello' and answer questions on the roadtest page prior to applications being submitted, I recall this does sometime happen, and appears to be greatly appreciated. In this case I could have asked about the required IDE and drivers. They could also be there should that initial critical install fail once the roadtest has been received; usually the forums are great also IMO but someone on E14 might just help. As the roadtest closing date looms they would be able to drum up additional interest if necessary by posting interesting information about their product? Another approach on some items that you suspect will be less uptake on would be to ask the sponsot to run a webinar prior to show off the unit and take questions. It could form a good basis for who to choose?

Obviously some roadtest products attract hundreds of applications and there is no need for the online mentor, but some might just benefit IMO.