Mega 2560 Starter Kit, Compatible with Arduino, Electronics Learning Kit, the Most Detailed Explained 50+ Lessons, Plus 40+ Background Knowledge Articles (Ultimate Kit)

Robust kit for the Mega r3. What makes this one stand out is the riser board that allows you to plug most components directly into the mega without the need to fuss with a breadboard and or wires. You can also still wire things up manually, so you are only gaining here, nothing lost. Tons of functional parts, sensors, and bits to keep you busy. A huge repository specific to this kit is accessible online using the included username/password. Plus you can still use other sources of information. This kit is priced fairly for a Mega clone based kit. It is packed well in a reusable box with removable and adjustable trays. Very happy with this one.

The bad news is that there's no paper documentation. There is a login in the corner of the sheet that pictures all the hardware it comes with. This documentation is OK, and relatively complete, as long as you don't mind figuring out comical misspellings of common English words. The board itself and the code examples are good, where exact spelling counts, and the documentation tries to explain why you use the functions you do and what they're for. I'm not new to electronics or coding and was able to take their examples and modify them from the get go to account for my being too lazy not to use the included breakout board or to move parts around. If you're totally new to electronics, though, you can get decent descriptions of the electronic parts, how they're constructed, and how they operate. You might not care how a buzzer is constructed, but you could always just skip that part of the documentation if you don't care and get on with the projects. Some of the lessons won't apply if those parts are not included. The matrix button pad was not included with my set but the lessons are still present. Good if you just want to look at it, bad if you are wondering if you've lost some parts you were supposed to have. The site, at least for me, was a bit confusing. The images highlight when you mouse over them, but they don't do anything unless you click the tiny icon in the center. The Arduino IDE seems to work perfectly with this. The only hitches (aside from no paper, and questionable English) is that you'll need a 9v battery if you want to power your board away from a USB port, you need a 2025 button cell for the remote, and the parts inserted directly into the board are loose and may not make good contact. If a project seems correct but doesn't work as expected, try wiggling the parts to see if that's the problem. Also, these are 'real' electronic parts. Fail to follow the instructions and you can damage them. LEDs need inline resistors so they don't burn out and whatnot. I'm pretty happy with it. Even the provided storage box is not terrible, though a very tight fit. If you know someone who would like to experiment with the Arduino or electronic circuits and programming in general, this could be an excellent kit to acquaint yourself (or your child) with both. I still prefer physical paper documentation and who knows if that website will last forever, but the parts are pretty standard and you will probably be able to dig up other tutorials if it ever does go defunct.

This starter kit is really fantastic. For $10 more than the typical starters, you get an extensive selection of actually useful sensors and modules, not to mention the Mega, which has oodles of IO pins and significantly improved power delivery when compared to a standard Uno. The parts are nicely arranged in an organizer with dividers and a removable tray, and individually (by part type) bagged. Instructions are available online through a link printed on a sticker inside the cover of the kit (a sticker provides an individual login). The tutorials are technically detailed, though it may well come across as somewhat dense to someone that has no background in electronics or Arduino development. All told, if you're debating between this and other slightly less expensive kits, GET THIS ONE. For some context, I've been dabbling in hobby robotics for a few months with my 10 yr old daughter, who wanted to build a robot from scratch. This kit is exactly what you want to up your game from 'dipping toes in the water' to 'let's get this hobby started'. While it's definitely oriented toward giving you a taste of a wide variety of components and techniques, the modules in this kit are exactly what you'll find in the more expensive robot car kits (e.g., the 28BJY48 stepper motor + driver, SG90 servo, HC-SR04 ultrasonic transceiver, joystick, etc...). The advanced kits will contain yet more things, but what you learn here will translate directly to more advanced projects.

If only I had this kit when I was a young kid! It contains an amazing assortment of components and costs just a small fraction of the (in comparison barebones) MCU developer kit we had to buy for my college digital logic course. It come packed in a nice plastic storage box—inside the lid, there is a photo of all the included bits—don’t overlook the login credentials (bottom left) for the associated tutorial/instructional site. Speaking of the site, it does a nice job of getting one up and running, stepping one through a graduated progression of projects. Oddly, this “Ultimate” kit, isn’t the best one ePalZoneXP sells—that would be the “Professional” kit, which has everything in this one and more. [Disclosure: I received this product for “free”—in quotes because the IRS considers the item’s retail value as taxable income for federal income tax purposes. This review is my personally written—not AI generated—honest opinion, and is uncensored by the seller.]

ELECTRONICS has been always a magic thing to me. We are surrounded by it and it is sad to me that I don't know anything about it. I want to learn some basic electronic concepts. I am following the instructions step by step because I do not know many things in this field. It is great that with the provided site you can follow at your own time and convenience and learn basic concepts in the electronic world. Initially, it was overwhelming to see all the kit’s parts, all the instructions, etc. I had a lot to read, but once I decided to start by doing the first lesson, this Arduino Kit became more interesting with all the possibilities, and I got more comfortable handling all the electronic parts. The detailed description of the DIY board (the Arduino Mega 2560 R3) taught me computer hardware terms like USB port, I/O ports, microcontrollers, etc. I was able to download and install the software “Arduino IDE 2.x and I learned a little bit of computer programming. I wrote a small code, that I compiled, uploaded, and gave me the correct result. I completed the first lesson. I am looking forward to all the learning I will be doing with the next lessons on the provided Learning Site.