Arduino boards for a much less price

[milan.rajik]

I found a link where Arduino boards are cheaper. It seems they are original Italian make.

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[schmitt trigger]

Have you actually ordered boards, and tested them?

There are counterfeit components and devices everywhere, specifically with popular products.

 

[milan.rajik]

I have purchased many items (electronic items especially modules like USB2RS232 , TTL converters, FTDI Converters, and many more) from MiniInTexBox and I never had any problem with them. They are of very good quality and cheaper compared to what we get in India. Also I was never charged Custom Duties when I purchased from MiniInTheBox. But it takes 10 to 20 days before it reaches you. Once I had ordered PLX2303HX USB2TTL adaptor and I made a mistake in plugging it to PC. It was not fully inserted into USB port and I thought the item is damaged and I asked for replacement and they promptly sent me the replacement which worked and later after few days I re checked the old one and found that it was actually working (earlier not plugged properly to USB port).


I love MiniInTheBox. I am getting 2 Funduino and 2 Mega 2560 + 1 FTDI Program Uploader for much less price compared to the price of one Mega2560 board at rhydolabz.com

 

[schmitt trigger]

Thanks for the information!
I will add this to my favorite websites!

The reason for my original question, is that I've been burned, more than once from certain places. You know which.
Sometimes people feel compelled to purchase from those websites because the prices are so cheap. So whenever I see a "new" place, I ask a lot of questions.

Which country are they based?

 

[milan.rajik]

They are Chinese.

 

[milan.rajik]

I received the shipment today through DHL as I had opted for Expideted Shipping instead of Free Shipping. There was an offer and both Free Shipping and Exipedeted shipping were free. So, I didn't paid shipping charges and I received the items in a week after ordering. If I had chosen Free shipping method then it would come through Govt. Postal Service and I could have saved Custom Duties. DHL charged me custom duties of approx 50% of the total value of the shipment. I had ordered Funduino X 1, Mega 2560 X 2, FTDI based USB to TTL adaptor. All are working and it seems they are Original Arduino Boards. The PCB looks like Original and on Mega 2560 boards it is printed "Made in Italy" and on Funduino board it is printed "Design in Italy".

It will be better to go for Free Shipping method (not Expedited Shipping) atleast for me as I can save custom duties if it comes through Postal Service. Only down point is it takes 10 to 20 days if it comes through Postal Service but there will be no chances of not receiving the shipment if you pay $0.99 as Insurance.

 

[alexxx]

All are working and it seems they are Original Arduino Boards. The PCB looks like Original and on Mega 2560 boards it is printed "Made in Italy" and on Funduino board it is printed "Design in Italy".

I wouldn't bet on it. Do you find it reasonable for a made in Italy product to be selled from China in 1/3 of the arduino price? All I see in the link you gave, is a product named "Funduino", with photo of an Arduino board! And that "designed in Italy" is also curious. If I copy the arduino pcb, it is still designed in Italy (in a way). I just copied it!
If you take a look at the below link, you will discover that those boards are titled as "Arduino Compatible Boards"!
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Maybe the boards are OK, but original Arduino? I don't think so.
In any case, happy coding! ;-)

 

[milan.rajik]

Maybe they are clones. Here are the actual images of the boards but they are working fine. I have original Arduino boards purchased from rhydolabz.com (Authorized Arduino Distributors in India). For the price of one Mega2560 board at rhydolabz I could get 3 boards from MiniInTheBox.com

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[bigdogguru]

The "Funduino" line is definitely a Chinese clone, not directly associated with Arduino in Italy.

I believe both the hardware designs and firmware/software of the Arduino line are "open source" released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license and LGPL, respectfully.

Even the Eagle CAD files of all the Arduino hardware/boards can be obtained from the Arduino site.

Therefore, anyone can manufacture and sell an Arduino clone as long as the product design is released under the same licensing and design credit is given to Arduino.

So, if the clone is well made there should not be any major issues with the boards performance.

The images you've posted are certainly clones, the silkscreen artwork appears to be a cross between R1/R2 and R3 artwork.

https://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardUno

https://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardMega2560

For example both ovals on the frontside containing the words Uno and Mega on an R3 board are solid white fill with the text reversed out also the artwork on the backside of R3's is significantly different.

Also every original Arduino, manufactured by SmartProjects in Italy, which I have purchased came in a well made die cut multicolor ink box with artwork on both sides, a set of Arduino stickers and a two sided accordion folded pamphlet entitled, "THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING ARDUINO" which contains a certificate of origin.

Where are the images of the "Funduino" boards?


BigDog

 

[milan.rajik]

Where are the images of the "Funduino" boards?

Here is the Funduino link but I received UNO R3 instead but I guess the price is almost same for a UNO R3 and Funduino.

While ordering I thought the image shown is not exact image of product (UNO R3 image shown instead of Funduino) and thought I would get Funduino but received UNO R3.

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alexxxs's link **broken link removed** it seems Funduino is same as UNO R3 but made by China as you mentioned.

 

[bigdogguru]

The Funduinos I've come across, actually have Funduino printed on the boards, much like the images on the link Alex provided.

The Funduino boards appeared to utilize the exact same Eagle CAD design files as the original Arduino boards, therefore the quality of the PCB and the components were the only differences.


BigDog

 

[milan.rajik]

Ok. Maybe they (MiniInTheBox) were selling UNO R3 and mentioned it as Funduino in their webpage. I will contact them and confirm about it and will update soon.

 

[alexxx]

The Funduino boards appeared to utilize the exact same Eagle CAD design files as the original Arduino boards, therefore the quality of the PCB and the components were the only differences.

No intention to be involved with nobody's pocket, but if the board is meant to be used for educational purpose only, then I cannot understand, why someone would purchase a clone. Original Arduino board costs 20-30E. A fair price I believe...

PS: When googling some weeks ago, I came upon "Diavolino" boards. Also Arduino clones, but with much more "sophisticated" appearance!

https://www.evilmadscientist.com/2010/diavolino/

 

[milan.rajik]

There are other 2 Mega 2560 boards at MiniInTheBox but they are Rev1 and not Rev 3 boards but one PCB art work looks like original but they are clones.

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[alexxx]

PCB art work looks like original but they are clones.

Yes my friend, I have seen with my own eyes a clone Arduino mega328 board, purchased from China with 3$!!! There was no possibility to understand that this was a clone, the board was identical on both sides with the original Arduino! Propably the same CAD files were used, as bigdog pointed out.

 

[milan.rajik]

Yes. In India even Indian versions of UNO R3 costs $10 or $20 and the PCB will be of poor quality. I have seen them at

ventor.co.in

embeddedmarket.com

probots.co.in


Like they have FreeDuino, Severino, RichDuino etc...

For me chinese is cheaper. For Rs.3600 I get Original Mega2560 R3 from rhydolabz and for Rs.3200 I get 4 X Mega 2560 boards from China.

When doing personal projects (not job work) it is a problem to make a SMD components based prototype. I was doing a Vehicle Tracking System for someone and I used PIC18F46K22 as I needed more ROM and RAM and to build prototype I used through hole components. It had 2 UART. But now I feel it is better to use Chinese Mega 2560 board for the VTS project as there will be no need for PCB related, soldering work etc... and it has 256 KB ROM, 8 KB RAM, 4 KB eeprom, 4 X UART. I can easily use this board for small, medium and big projects. I just have to design Mega 2560 compatible shields.

Tell me where you get UNO R3 for 3$. I will buy UNO R3 from there.

 

[alexxx]

I can easily use this board for small, medium and big projects. I just have to design Mega 2560 compatible shields.

That's why I talked about "educational purpose", I understand that it is convinient for many people to use this board in production.

Tell me where you get UNO R3 for 3$. I will buy UNO R3 from there.

I was not talking about UNO R3, but Nano Size Module Board (which does not look exactly like the original). Sorry for the misunderstanding. I asked my friend and he sent the link to me. It turns out that it costs 3E and not 3$. .

https://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-...MHz-Arduino-Compatible-Nano-Size-p-68534.html

I hope that this is suitable for you. I cannot gurantee for the quality, as I did not tested them. My friend told me that he purchased a couple of boards and worked OK.

 

[milan.rajik]

The board you mentioned is cheaper at banggood.com than at MiniInTheBox. Also the Nano. Mini doesn't have USB port. How to program it? Only ISP?

https://www.miniinthebox.com/arduin...328-5v-16m_p685134.html?pos=ultimately_buy_10

https://www.miniinthebox.com/arduino-pro-mini-atmega328-5v-16m_p508932.html?pos=ultimately_buy_8

https://www.miniinthebox.com/electr...a328-board_p340827.html?pos=ultimately_buy_11


These two look similar but there is a price difference.

https://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-...MHz-Arduino-Compatible-Nano-Size-p-68534.html

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[milan.rajik]

Funduino is here but price is high.

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Comparison of three boards, AVR, ARM, PIC32


http://www.rhydolabz.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=152_123&products_id=627

http://www.rhydolabz.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=152_123&products_id=1185

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Comparison between chipKit MAX32 and Mega 2560

http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1285165


It seems chipKit MAX32 is better and cheaper than Arduino Mega 2560 and Arduino Due (ARM Cortex M3).

It's time to buy chipKit MAX32 for my projects :grin:

 

[milan.rajik]

A new board by Arduino. Arduino Zero.

https://www.geeky-gadgets.com/arduino-zero-32-bit-board-unveiled-by-atmel-and-arduino-15-05-2014/