List Price: $19.00
Sale Price: $12.20
Today's Bonus: 36% Off
It's fully assembled and includes a button and two LEDs for protyping. Also includes a perfect fit (yet very small) solderless breadboard and jumper cables. Other nice features are the ground and 5v rails. But, there's a catch that I didn't notice when I looked at the pictures. The top pinouts are in one row from where they plug into the Arduino. So, while it works perfectly, you can't mount another shield on top. While this doesn't make much difference if you're using the solderless breadboard as you won't be able to stack anything anyway. It does make a difference if you're actually going to solder in the prototype area with the plan to make it into a stackable shield to be used with other shields.
In other words, this shield must always be the top shield, you can never plug another shield on top of this one. The SparkFun prototype shield also has two LEDs and a button, but the connector pins above and below line up so you can stack a shield on top of it. The SparkFun proto shield, however, doesn't have the ground and 5v rails and it comes unassembled.
The other thing wrong with the SainSmart shield is that the LEDs and buttons don't have solderless connections. They're designed for only a soldered connection. I fixed that by adding solderless connections for the LEDs and button. But, I would think they should have added that already as this is obviously designed for someone doing simple circuits on the included small solderless breadboard. BTW, it is a VERY small breadboard. Great for beginners doing simple circuits along with a manual, but not big enough to do anything with more than 3-4 components.
Overall, it will do it's job now that I added the solderless pins for the LEDs and button. But, I think version 6 should give the LEDs and button a solderless connection as well as change the placement for the connectors so the shield can be stacked like the SparkFun.
Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>
I bought this over the competition mainly because of the included jumper wires. Everything worked perfectly, and my project was up and running within an hour. One thing i noticed, though, is that the headers on the top of the board are inset slightly, meaning that they wouldn't line up if i tried to stack another shield on top of it. Since i'm using it with the included breadboard, this isn't a problem, but if you decided to buy one of these with the intent of soldering your components to it, you will not be able to stack another shield on top of it without desoldering both sets of headers and moving them.Best Deals for SainSmart Prototyping Prototype Shield Mini Breadboard for arduino
Thought I'd give this protoshield a try even though it does have that "has to be the top shield because of the offset headers" issue. Sometimes I just want to do some quick prototyping and this shield does the trick for that. The included prototyping board has two sets of 17 x 5 grids configured in the normal breadboard manner.The included jumper wires are a bit stinky kind of a diesel/petroleum smell. I'm guessing the odor will go away after a while. I've got them sitting outside now to let them air out a bit...
Overall I'm happy with the purchase. 4 stars instead of 5 because of the smelly jumper wires that made my eyes water a little.
Honest reviews on SainSmart Prototyping Prototype Shield Mini Breadboard for arduino
The Sain Smart proto shield is fully assembled. No need to solder the headers/sockets in yourself, and worry about pin alignment. It includes an adhesive tape backed breadboard so you can develop your circuit without ever soldering. Also included is a generous bundle of jumper wires that have nice molded ends. I'll be buying more of this type as I build more projects.Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for SainSmart Prototyping Prototype Shield Mini Breadboard for arduino
This is exactly what we are using in class, and therefore exactly what I wanted (as opposed to the other arduino breadboard kits).
No comments:
Post a Comment