BB830 Solderless Plug-in BreadBoard, 830 tie-points, 4 power rails Review

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I've been using breadboards a long time. My first breadboards were the dual-rail, all-white x-y types, so I really dig the quad-rail red-blue things that are popular these days. I have a bunch of breadboards currently, and they all have projects on them, so I needed to get some more.

I originally found this board on amazon, and added it to my cart. Then I found the Elenco 9830C for 5 cents cheaper (although, at time of writing this the Elenco boards are 7.11 instead of 7.95). So I ordered 2 Elenco boards and one BB830. I got the Elenco boards a day earlier, and was immediately disappointed to find that the backing was 1) mostly non-adhered (though fixable with some thumb-action) and b) didn't have a double-sided backing. Not a big deal, really, but perhaps notable.

A day later (today) I got the BB830. I have them side-by-side right now, and the quality difference is actually significant.

1) The Elenco board is warped where the BB830 is straight. The rails on the Elenco board curve inwards rather flimsily, whereas the BB830 is flat and solid.

2) The print quality of the numbers and letters on the Elenco board is dark, blotchy and still somehow washed out, with whole character segments missing or run together. The same printing on the BB830 is really crisp and clear. It's like a typewriter versus a laser printer.

3) This is not really a quality difference but more of a preference: on the Elenco boards, the letters are lowercase, while on the BB830, they are uppercase. Oddly, I think I prefer the uppercase, although it may be the obvious difference in print quality that is swaying me.

4) The BB830 comes with a padded, double-sided backing. This isn't really a huge deal on its own, but most of the breadboards I already own have this same feature, and it feels better somehow. If the Elenco boards had even the thin adhesive backing fully in place and sealed, I probably wouldn't even bring it up.

5) This should have probably been number one. There is a VERY noticeable difference when plugging in leads (using "premium" jumpers to test, I think 22 gauge). The BB830 has a light-but-firm feeling on entry and then a clean, secure tug. Very smooth. The Elenco boards are tougher to insert leads into and have an almost "rusty", grating feeling when inserting the lead. I've never paid specific attention to these things before, but it makes a huge difference.

All told, they both do the job that needs doing, but I already know the BusBoard (distributor? mfgr?) breadboards will last longer and be more pleasant to use.

Nitpicks: Elenco has better packaging, although I recommend that it not be a selling point. Elenco also spells breadboard as "bredboard." Um, whatever.

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I've owned many of these breadboards over the years. Even though they are all listed as BB830 boards, they are not all the same. The board I got from wosang_pro is unusable. Most of the connections were so tight that I could not insert resistors or capacitors even when using pliers. The center (IC) rails would not accept any chips without bending the leads. I would strongly suggest that you order your boards from another vendor.

In fairness to wosang_pro, I returned the board and got my refund in a matter of just a few days.

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The side tracks for power are normal however the middle board is too tight to insert jumper pin unless it is real thin and strong. The problem is, you will experience same difficulty repeatedly and everytime. I had to give up.

I initially bought it from Amazon for $2.60 + $4.99 S/H. Not impressed. After searched customer review and value/cost ratio I bought 2 more breadboards from Amazon and are very happy with them: BB830T Transparent Solderless Plug-in BreadBoard, 830 tie-points, 4 power rails, 6.5 x 2.2 x 0.3 inches-165 x 55 x 9mm by BusBoard Prototype Systems ($8.00 + free shipping); 9483WK Breadboard-Prototype Design Aid by Elenco ($19.34 + free shipping).

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Component leads bend while trying to insert them by hand into this breadboard. The insertion starting force is just too high and I was getting frustrated with the leads bending. I bought two of these boards so the problem isn't just one poorly manufactured board, its a poor designed board

The only way to get the leads to stop bending was to grab a lead with small needle nose pliers close to the end and jam them into the hole. Once started the lead would slide in without issue. This worked until the component density started to increase then the pliers would start bending nearby conponents and causing other problems

IC insertion was not a problem.

Radio Shack bread boards have much lower starting insertion force but are slightly more costly, I'll pay the extra to avoid the headaches of BB830.

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I have three of these boards connected together and really like them for what they are.

The print on them is high quality and easy to read

The manufacturing quality is high enough that multiple boards snap together tightly and firmly. Have not had an instance where the boards dislodge from one another

The contacts are tight and hold the smallest components firmly.

I have bought several and will buy more in the future.