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Sunday, January 16, 2011

Arduino Buying Guide - SparkFun Electronics

Arduino Buying Guide
by Single T | September 30, 2009 | 26 comments Skill Level:

Beginner

Eeny Meeny Miny Moe... Let's pick an Arduino. Which Arduino is right for me?

While I am sure many of you have daydreamed about walking into SparkFun and sifting through all the Arduino products, we just can't figure out how to get a brick and mortar shop to work. To help you select what Arduino is best for you, let's spend some time talking about the different boards that are available. If you haven't noticed, there are tons of Arduino boards - there are Duemilanoves and Diecimilas, and Megas...oh my! There are Pros and minis, even ones with lilies. So what is the difference exactly?

Don't forget you can get all of your Arduino stuff here : SparkFun Arduino Section

Update: 9/29/2010

It's time to start talking Arduino again. It's been an exciting month for all of the Arduino developers out there. If you haven't heard, the Arduino Duemilanove and the Arduino Mega have been replaced with the latest releases from Arduino. The new boards, the Arduino Uno, and the Arduino Mega2560, arrive with a new look and revamped logos top and bottom, as well as coming with some new hardware configurations.

The largest change that you will notice is the lack of FTDI chips. They have been replaced in favor of an ATmega8U2. This allows for faster transfer rates, no drivers needed for Linux or Mac (inf file needed for Windows), and the ability to have the board show up as a keyboard, mouse, joystick, etc.

Also the Arduino Mega2560 receives an update with the addition of the ATMega2560 processor with twice as much flash memory (256k flash memory), in addition to using the ATmega8U2.

Arduino Uno: The latest board continues to be based on the ATMega328, with the major change being the replacement of the FTDI chip in favor of an ATmega8U2. The Arduino Uno board is a great workhorse board for prototyping and experimentation, which makes it ideal as a beginner's board.

A few great things about the Uno:

Uses the ATmega8U2 for USB-serial conversion. This allows for faster transfer rates, no drivers needed for Linux or Mac (inf file needed for Windows), and the ability to have the board show up as a keyboard, mouse, joystick, etc.
It is immensely popular and used as the core for many educational classes
It has both 3.3V and 5V regulated power supplies broken out
It has both USB and barrel jack ports for easy power and communication
All pins are broken out to female headers for easy connections

Go there and see Many More...
http://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/148