Hi collegues reviewers,
I received the device about 3 weeks ago, but I had the time to try it only now. I'm sorry for the delay :)
Package:
Surprisingly big compared to the 2 boards contained:
- the KIT3808MMA7660FC DIP board;
- the RD3803MMA7660FCRD3803MMA7660FC Evaluation Kit board;
- a USB cable;
- the warranty;
- the quick start guide;
- a CD.
CD contents:
The CD that comes along with the device contains all what is needed to get immediately started:
- the USB driver;
- the quick start guide (the same already found in the package);
- the application to connect the board to the pc and to test various operational modes;
- the video demonstration of the application;
- all documents needed to understand how the device works and all the possible applications in which it can be used;
- the schematics of both boards;
Installation:
I installed the demo application on a pc running WindowsXP SP2.
Just following the instruction in the quick start guide, in less than 5 minutes I had been able to test the board.
Luckily I had no problems at all during the installation.
My opinion:
The applications allows the user to use all the functionalities of the accelerometer (detect orientation, shake, pulse,...) in a simple way and to see the scope with the values of the acceleration for each of the axes.
The scope has a really high response time, I can see a variation in the scope only about 7 to 13 seconds after that I moved the board. I don't know where to look for the problem, it may be in the software inside the freescale microcontroller on the board or in the application, but I cannot exclude that my computer is the cause (in fact, it seems to me that no one wrote this in the review, therefore maybe it's really my pc fault).
Everything else works fine, and the board is perfect (if the scope problem is only mine) to be shown to a manager in order to convince him to buy the accelerometer.
But for us? We are not manager (at least, I'm not), why should a user buy this evaluation board for 119 dollars?
There isn't any application that shows the raw data coming from the board, and no documentation about the transmission protocol. What does the board sends to the pc??
At least in the schematics of the board it is possible to see that the BDM is connected, therefore with a BDM programmer it should be possible to download new code on the microcontroller and to use the board also for other applications. Maybe in the future I will try to do something (and to use the four LEDs (D1, D2, D3 and D4) that I never saw on while using the provided application).
Very nice the idea of leaving the accelerometer on a separate board. If I will not reprogram the microcontroller, I will sure use the daughter board for other projects (and I will use the biggest board to check if my hand-soldered accelerometer boards work 
).
).Summarizing, I know that this is only an evaluation board and not a development board, and for that purpose it works fine, but I think that for 119 dollars they could at least add in the CD the code running on the microcontroller and the source code of the application (in this way it would be easier to create new code and to use all the capabilities of the board).
And they should pay more attention to the quality of the video (not said yet, but as other reviewers pointed out, the video is really awful! )!!
)!!Cheers,
Davide