While reading an article on making electronic “candles” for a few bucks out of a USB power stick and some LEDs, I came across aliexpress.com.
Now, I’m used to getting cheap parts from China. The four-dollar knockoff PING)) ultrasonic range finders usually work well enough — and it’s always nice to be able to get discrete components for basically free.
But Arduino clone boards for $2.65 just shouldn’t be possible, right??
Well, they are! Free shipping from China, and all. I just picked up five of them from AliExpress — and the first two work well, once I fiddled around with the USB driver a bit. I haven’t tested all of the functionality, but they did pass the Blink sketch test at two different timings, so there’s a real microcontroller on there. I was skeptical about posting about these things (since China does kind of have a reputation) — but they actually seem like the real deal.
An Arduino Uno clone for under three bucks shipped — and it can actually be programmed and everything!
Come get ’em! (Note: I’m not affiliated with the site — just amazed.)
