[SGVHAK] Arduino Kit - recommendations?

[Akkana Peck]

Mic Chow writes:
> I am thinking about getting into Arduino when I get back to the
> states.  Regardless I am interested in getting a kit and getting
> started.  Any advice on where to get one and which kit to start
> with?

I tend to buy Arduino stuff from Adafruit.com or Sparkfun.com.
They both have great service, fast shipping and lots of tutorials.

Buy an Arduino Uno or something similar to start out.
All beginner tutorials will work, and all shields will fit.
If you're really strapped for cash, there are cheaper options,
but be careful: a lot of the cheap options need a separate FTDI
board to connect to your computer's USB, so the price will end
up not that much cheaper.

If you don't have any electronics stuff now (breadboards, wires,
LEDs, resistors, potentiometers etc.) then it'll save you some time
to start with a kit, though it costs a bit more. Otherwise you'll be
spending a lot of time hanging around your local electronics store
or Radio Shack as you're getting started. If you're counting
pennies, there's nothing extra you'll get in a kit that you couldn't
buy yourself easily enough.

Which kit, from which place? It really doesn't matter. Any of them
will come with some toys you can play with, and by the time you
exhaust whatever you get, you'll have a better idea of what projects
you want to do and what to buy next. Just make sure you have at
least one breadboard, some wire (either wire jumpers or a roll of
wire and some wire cutters and strippers), an LED and a couple of
resistors.

Some kits come with a "proto shield" and mini breadboard.  I
probably wouldn't have ordered something like that on my own, but I
happened to start with a kit that came with one, and I love it and
build almost everything on protoshields -- I've bought several more
protoshields as kits, and lots of the mini breadboards that fit on
them. Again, it depends on how much money you have -- it's
definitely not needed if you're low on cash.

Sorry to not have a definite "buy this kit here" answer. But the
real answer is, they're all good and you'll have fun with any of them.

	...Akkana