I've only supported one: Gadget Factory's Papilio DUO FPGA development board. This was a low-risk campaign. I already had a Gadget Factory Papilio One, which I still recommend as an excellent FPGA development board, particularly for beginners. So I already knew Gadget Factory was for real.
It was also low-risk because Gadget Factory had already launched several boards and knew what problems to expect. The board design was already solid and had been prototyped by the time the Kickstarter began. Basically, Gadget Factory needed the Kickstarter to get enough up-front money to build a large number of boards. The schedule was realistic and only slipped by a month. I backed the DUO because I didn't have a Spartan-6 board yet and it was clear that the Spartan-3E and -3A were no longer the "sweet spot" in Xilinx's offerings. I figured I'd better get some experience with Spartan-6, and Papilio DUO was a way to get a Spartan-6 board at a discount (I got the early-bird price) and support Gadget Factory, which has a very nice open-source business model.
The DUO I received is of excellent quality and works perfectly. However, other Kickstarters haven't gone as well. Be careful if they haven't completed the prototype and if they've never manufactured product in quantity. You'll be paying for their learning experience and the finished product may have problems.
I may back another Kickstarter in the future if I really like the product. I'll even consider backing a high-risk product if the idea is so compelling that I feel it's worthy of support even if I never receive an actual reward.
I've only supported one: Gadget Factory's Papilio DUO FPGA development board. This was a low-risk campaign. I already had a Gadget Factory Papilio One, which I still recommend as an excellent FPGA development board, particularly for beginners. So I already knew Gadget Factory was for real.
It was also low-risk because Gadget Factory had already launched several boards and knew what problems to expect. The board design was already solid and had been prototyped by the time the Kickstarter began. Basically, Gadget Factory needed the Kickstarter to get enough up-front money to build a large number of boards. The schedule was realistic and only slipped by a month. I backed the DUO because I didn't have a Spartan-6 board yet and it was clear that the Spartan-3E and -3A were no longer the "sweet spot" in Xilinx's offerings. I figured I'd better get some experience with Spartan-6, and Papilio DUO was a way to get a Spartan-6 board at a discount (I got the early-bird price) and support Gadget Factory, which has a very nice open-source business model.
The DUO I received is of excellent quality and works perfectly. However, other Kickstarters haven't gone as well. Be careful if they haven't completed the prototype and if they've never manufactured product in quantity. You'll be paying for their learning experience and the finished product may have problems.
I may back another Kickstarter in the future if I really like the product. I'll even consider backing a high-risk product if the idea is so compelling that I feel it's worthy of support even if I never receive an actual reward.
