Arduino Uno REV3 [A000066]

Board works great! The R4 WiFi does not work with Windows so we were happy to see this model be recognized. The board was sent in a bubble mailer and had damage to the box but the board itself seems to be fine. A small box instead of a bubble mailer would be great. The board is really fun and we already built a range finder!

I'm a senior nearly 70 and never touched any Arduino or anything similar. I wanted the device to reset a color printer item with an already written program. I have never written any code and boy am I learning. One simple character mistake and running the compile program will surely tell you. I am using the Arduino IDE 2.1.0 program with this Uno Rev 3. Nevertheless I am happy with this little thing and there are so many projects out there in the community, this will surely keep my mind going and my interest.Setting up was easy. I first got the Arduino IDE program (free on the net) and installed... went fine on my Windows 10 computer with no problems. Once installed, I connected the Uno Rev 3 to my computer via the USB port only (no ext power supply used). Plugged into the USB port, about 3 seconds (literally) later it already installed drivers and the thing was running. It selected Com Port 6 on my Win 10 system. On the Arduino IDE program you just have to make sure you select the Arduino Uno Rev 3 from the list... that is it, and your up and going. From beginning to end I probably spent 5 to 10 minutes doing everything to make it run.On Ease to use and Easy to learn, I gave a 4 star only because I have never done anything like this. If you are a pro or some kind of advanced user, or if I was, I would give a 5 star across the board. This is only my first day trying it, so I will update later on.I checked out Youtube video's and tried writing / typing 3 different programs on the Arduino IDE screen. I ran the compiler program on the IDE... said it was good, tested it in the simple serial monitor (included in the Arduino IDE) and was interesting to watch the board respond. I then saved my program for later.

high quality everything on it is perfect

Great device. I bought 3 of these and they are my go-to controller for some pretty sophisticated DIY projects. Do read about how not to over-drive the pins (demanding too much current from them). And, DO read about the difference in the +5v and "Vin" pins. There is a company that sells just the processor chip. They are reasonable (pkg 3) and I recommend having them on hand in case Murphy stops by for a visit. If you follow basic principles and NEVER try connecting a pin to something for "trial & error" but instead, be certain of the voltage AND current potential that you are supplying (or demanding), and this beautiful device will work like a horse. When it comes to your connection to the computer, some Windows serial "portage" issues arise but it's a matter of persistence. The Arduino IDE (programmer) has ways to let you see how things are going and which PORTs are connected and working. This is the only part that can be frustrating (other than writing software bugs. :-) Enjoy.. here's what I think about it and how I use it this week:Have fun:Keep in mind that if your project is complex and you need more pins, you can use the nice I2c bus that this UNO has available and you can connect Slave devices to expand the "pin-age". :-) I am going to add a AdaFruit Trinket Pro (powered from this UNO 5v bus) and let these two guys talk to each other over I2c; exchange info, and I get tons more PWMs and digital pins too. The cool thing is that the Trinket fits right on the back of this UNO's added shield. SWEET !!As usual, these are great. Notice that this is the R3 -- exactly what you want. I've written some great control software for controlling the RF oscillator in radio transmitters and this made the project a success. I added a stacking shield (Gikfun Prototype) for the additional hardware I needed and this UNO allows the flexibility of updating my own sketches if a new feature in my RF unit is warranted.

Regarding the board:Seems very well constructed and genuine to me.I used a spare USB cable and hooked it to a laptop with WindowsXP. Downloaded the software from [...] followed the instructions for WindowsXP and within minutes the 'Blink' sketch was up and running. Had same (smooth) experience on the iMac, in fact with less number of steps (no driver installtion step).With few LEDs, an 8 Ohm mini-speaker, few resistors and under half an hour I had couple of 'sketches' tried and tested already. My kids are now super-interested in electronics after enjoying the sweeping LEDs and interesting tones and of course the appealing Ardunio R3 board! I let my daughter change the delay intervals in a 'sketch' and she was so glad to see the effect right away.Bottom line: After running some sample sketches and my own programs - the board seems to be functioning well.Regarding the Arduino concepts:1. I absolutely love the simplicity of the development environment (IDE). You can truly jump into the interfacing and control aspects of a microcontroller device without getting bogged down by its internals, assembly instructions and potentially complex program download steps.2. This is a great learning tool to introduce yourself to the embedded software and the base hardware.Arduino R3 is probably one of the cheapest development boards out there yet very effective.Only other board I have had a chance to play with is the Atmel AVR Butterfly (which costs around $20) but the overall development setup is definitely more complex.So in case you have even a 'tiny bit' (no pun intended) of interest in the vast world of microcontrollers and electronics in general - go ahead and try this board.Note: Related purchase (from Amazon) which helped me a lot is - the book 'Programming Arduino' by Simon Monk.