Official Arduino Starter Kit [K000007] - 12 DIY Projects with Electronic Components & English Projects Book - Original Kit from Italy

This kit is awesome. I highly recommend this to anyone that has an interest in electronics and/or programming. While I am a seasoned programmer, I had no electronics experience prior to purchasing this kit. Recently I've found myself yearning to build electronic projects and figured this would be a good place to start given it's a fairly comprehensive starter kit. First, I'll start with the packaging. The packaging on this kit is very sexy, much like an Apple product. The design and style are simple and beautiful, the various items included in the kit are all nicely packaged in their individual boxes, and everything fits together very nicely. The unboxing feels like an experience. I realize some people may not care about the packaging, but if you're considering giving this kit as a gift, it makes a difference and will have an impact. As far as all the components included in the kit, I'm not an expert but it feels like a great starter kit and has a lot of very useful components in it, as well as lots of goodies and extras. There's enough in this kit to tackle a lot of projects and it feels like a solid base to start from. Some people have mentioned that you can purchase all these components cheaper if you source them out individually. I highly doubt the hours one would waste tracking down everything individually would justify the savings. After all this kit is not terribly expensive for what you get. Not to mention, one of the best things in this kit is the book. It's got lots of great projects in it that teach you both electronics and programming in the process. It's well written and easy to understand, even for a novice to electronics such as myself. As a programmer I do have to speak to the programming side of the book which in my opinion could be a bit more detailed for those who do not have experience with programming. That said, it's better than average and I do feel you'll learn to code in the process of going thru these projects. Overall, it feels like a well thought out and thurough course, with each chapter building on the next. In sum, this kit is really fun. I have no hesitation recommending this product. I guarantee you will thoroughly enjoy it, have a lot of fun, and learn some things in the process. This kit would make a fantastic gift for anyone interested in programming and/or electronics, and would also be a great thing for parents/grandparents and their kids to do together.

This kit by Arduino is aimed at an audience that has little to no electronics or programing knowledge, so it is a nice, easy and practical way to get started. It does a good job of introducing both electronics and programing. The Arduino programming interface is pretty basic, but gets the job done. The programing interface contains the code for each project in this kit, which is a definite plus. It would have been nice if the programing software had come with the kit on a disk, but it is easily available for download. I would also recommend following the getting started instructions from the Arduino web site as it has some picture links to help with the non standard driver installation. For the programmers out there, a simple search will lead you to a Visual Studio add on that gives you the extra features of a full IDE with intellisense support. There is a beta version of a debugger that is also looking pretty good. As already noted by other reviewers, the print in the book is a bit small, and the mounting board seems a bit sketchy. Since the Arduino Uno doesn't come with any kind of base, something is much better than nothing unless you want to solder up a prototyping shield. I put four small rubber feet on the bottom of my Uno before snugging it to the supplied base. Be careful when tightening down the screws as there is nothing between the wood base and the soldered component ends on the bottom of the Uno. Even with the rubber feet I used to keep it off the wood, over tightening will flex the board. Overall, this is a fun and educational kit. It has you up and doing things in very little time while still teaching the basics. In my opinion, the activities are much better than just learning different ways to blink an LED like my other kit. For me, fun projects always make learning go faster. After finishing the projects in this kit, you should have a basic grasp of how things work and have a foundation for moving on in the world of electronics and micro controllers.

I had been debating buying an Arduino kit for a while and I was back and forth about whether or not to spend the $99 on this kit or get one of the third-party kits for half the price. I ultimately decided to get this one because it's the "official" one from Arduino and I figured if there was any problems with it, I would have their tech support / customer service available. The first thing that I noticed with the kit is how well it was packaged and organized; even though it's a beginner's kit, everything had a lot of though put into it. I really liked the balsa wood platform that you attach the Uno and breadboard to, it not only provides a convenient base for everything, but also gives the electronics a little bit more protection in my opinion.All the little extras like the cardboard "panels" and wooden holders for the colored gels are nice as well, especially if you are going to be using this kit to instruct children. I've only worked through about half of the projects so far, but the book is very good at explaining concepts and expanding on previous projects. I have some previous programming experience with C and JavaScript, so picking up on the conventions and syntax used in the programming portion was pretty intuitive for me, but also is explained well enough for someone with little to know programming experience. They also include all the sketches (program code) in the Arduino IDE when you download it, so if you don't want to or aren't that interested in the programming side of things, you can just open the files that are in the book. As far as the physical portion goes, the book included both a pictorial diagram of the Arduino/breadboard and connections, as well as electrical schematics to help you understand how everything is wired and learn how to visualize circuits to help you build them in the future. Overall I think that I made the wise choice in getting this kit over a cheaper version just based on all the little extras and the great organization of the kit and I would recommend this to anyone looking to get started with Arduino and physical computing.

An excellent way to start with electronic prototyping and learning to code. The starter kit comes with all you need to get going and has a nice book that walks you through everything, step by step. Fifteen projects are included with this book and each project builds off the last and introduces you to two or three new components and programming language. The book does a pretty good job of explaining what the code does but leaves out some of the finer details of each command so you're not feeling overwhelmed. I'd highly suggest doing a project then hopping on the Arduino website and check their language reference guide for the complete details of the command you just learned. The book is good quality (Well, I've found two minor typos but now I'm just nitpicking), the components are decent in that they aren't chinese factory floor sweepings, the shorter jumper wires are great at making your breadboard tidy so it's easy to see what goes where, the kit all around is great and I've been having a blast with it. I'd recommend getting two little cheap things just for a slight quality of life improvement with this set.. They aren't required but they will just make your life a little easier. Buy some extra jumper wires with solid tip pin connectors crimped on the end. The jumpers that come with the set are just bare wire on the ends and aren't stranded so they aren't very flexible. I was worried that I might create a short when I had a bunch of things plugged in to adjacent pins on the Arduino. Also the long jumpers that come with the set are a little on the short side. Secondly, pick up another 9v battery snap. The one that comes with the kit is fine, but the wires don't have connector pins on them and the leads are so thin that it's a nightmare to strip the wires for a little extra breathing room. Still, the kit is great and has all you need! This set is a little more expensive then the other arduino-clone starter kits but everything is great quality. Lots of love when into creating the board, the program, the book, and the projects. Buy a genuine Arduino for your first board to support the Arduino project. If you get the Arduino bug and want to buy more boards then the clone boards are a cheaper option but your first board really should be genuine. Just my two cents. I'm not your real dad. I can't tell you what to do.

If you're looking to get started with Arduino, this is the kit for you! I did a lot of research on starter kits before deciding to purchase this one. It's one of the pricier kits out there, but it's totally worth it. When the box arrives, the components are organized and packed into clearly labeled boxes. Everything is pretty easy to locate and everything the website mentions is included. Be aware that this kit does not come it a 9v battery which is required in a few of the starter projects. I've already worked through most of the projects in the starter guide and everything worked accordingly. Some reviewers complain that the instructions in the starter guide are unclear and hard to read. The font is pretty small and gray colored, but anyone with decent vision should be able to read it with no problem. As to the clarity of the information itself, the guide is very clear about what goes where on the breadboard and also explains basic concepts of electricity such as Ohms Law. Don't expect to pass the AP Physics electricity and magnetism test based on this guide, but it is sufficient to get you started. I really like that they have the written code at the end of each section with commentary on the logic of each line of code. If you don't feel like typing the code out line by line, the Arduino software comes with code for all the starter projects under file > examples. Overall, this kit is a great way to introduce Arduino to kids 10+ and adults who want to start tinkering with Arduino. Get the official starter kit and you won't regret it!

First, the book is incredible. It's well written and beautifully laid out. It has CLEAR pictures, plus words describing the pictures so it is useful to more than one type of learner. The paper is thick enough and durable enough to withstand fountain pen ink, highlighter ink, and general workbench incidents. Also, with each picture of the wiring there is also a very nicely printed schematic, so beginners can start learning how schematics work as they go through the projects. Second, the projects are great. They move quickly enough that you don't get bored, but each new project has a note letting you know which previous projects the current project is based on. So you can review specifics on the previous projects that you've already completed if you have too much trouble with the newest project. However, it is not required to build all the projects in order if you don't wish to do so. The components seem to be first rate. Every component I've used has worked as expected. The LED's are bright, the tilt sensor works beautifully, the temperature sensor works, and so on. I bought a plastic case from Maker Shed for ~$10 that works better for this kind of hobby than I was able to find in any of my local stores. You will most definitely want some sort of adjustable case to keep your components safe. You may want to buy a couple spools of solid core wire and create some additional "soft" jumper wires. I find the rigid jumper wires that come with this kit difficult to use with a half-size breadboard so I just cut my own jumper wires.

I got this set because it has been a while since I had worked on a ground up micro-controller. I am a software engineer and work on embedded software everyday, so I pretty much know what I am doing. The kit include a nice collection of parts and a pretty nice looking book. I think the price of the kit is mostly the book. If you want to learn about the arduino micro-controller I probably wouldn't recommend this book. If you want to learn about circuits and basic coding to get a fun result, this book is great. Note that the age range on the kit is 10 and up, and I totally agree. For myself I will probably run through some of the chapters in the book to have some fun and show my wife and daughter, then I will dig into the base code (API) and figure out how it really works. Then I'll save the kit to teach my kids with later on. A couple details about the kit/book that I found might have been helpful: - The book's first 30 pages cover really basic circuits design including the first project which on;y uses the arduino board as a power supply for an LED - All the code design is basically just function calls to set output and such. All the coding is application level stuff, no knowledge of the driver level needed at all. - It does cover some stuff I didn't learn in college, but would have liked too. - If you are thinking about buying this and are about to through away one of those old AOL CDs, save one, it is needed for some of the projects as kind of a flywheel. - At the end of the book it recommends several books for further reading, most of which are from O'Reilly Media. Take a look at those books as well, I know I am going to. Enjoy

BOTTOM LINE: Anyone interested in computers/programming/electricity/robotics will get hours of enjoyment/education from this great little kit. I've been trying to find a new hobby lately and happened to stumble across the Arduino. I've always enjoyed programming and I vaguely recall taking a couple physics classes at the university, so I figured it was worth a shot. I opened the box and fell in love within minutes. The kit includes tons of little parts and connectors for a variety of projects. The included instruction/project book moves at a very good pace, balancing learning the basics with opening a new concept or two through each project, building upon previous lessons as you go. There enough parts to complete the varied projects included and then go create your own without investing in a ton of new parts. The included parts all came in pristine condition and seem to be of good quality. The programming language is well documented and explained throughout each example. The book doesn't attempt to be an encyclopedia of C++ syntax but will give you enough to get started. Only issue I've got with the instruction booklet is that the electrical concepts are not always well-explained for those of us who didn't keep our notes from Physics 101. A little outside research fills in the gaps quickly, however. Included breadboard has a few holes (mostly toward the top/bottom) that are pretty difficult to insert wire into and require a lot of force. Most are okay and replacement breadboards are cheap if it becomes too much of an issue. All in all, this is a great hands-on way to start down the road to any manner of lofty ambitions; personally, I'm looking forward to building my first basic robot here shortly.