What I like and dislike with the Arduino kit’s I got

 

I think the best way to get started with something like Arduino is to get a complete Kit. I spent quite a bit of time looking over the various vendors and what kit’s they offered. It’s quite easy to see that the people putting these kits together had different backgrounds. What I looked for was a kit containing all I needed to get started + enough sensors to play with.

I really dig the Ultimate Kit that I ended up getting from MakerShed. This kit really has it all! LEDs, buttons, sensors, resistors, capasitors I soon outgrew the breadboard that came with it though, so I’ve picked up something bigger at a local shop.

In addition to the Ultimate Kit, I also got the Electronic Brick Starter Kit. Not really happy with this since using it requires a special shield that (more or less) take up all the I/O pins and have to be on top. Kits of this kind are really only good for very simple educational experiments. I much prefer a breadboard and separate components that can be easily re-used. Also very happy with the “suitcases” I’ve gotten from the Danish company Raaco. Very clever and flexible! Pretty sure I’ll soon get yet another one of these 😊