Elegoo Arduino R3 Project Most Starter Kit - Review

In conjunction with my first foray into learning Arduino, I wanted to offer a review of the physical kid with which I started; the Elegoo Uno R3 Project Most Complete Starter Kit ($54), with the best alternative being the slightly condensed Super Starter Kit ($37). In short, it's not perfect, but it does exactly what it claims to do.

This kit offers a wide breadth of base-level electronics components, a nice big instruction pdf, and can independently offer a pretty thorough introduction into the electronics realm. While my personal interest lies a little more in the realm of programming than the maker space, this kit gave me the tangible products and learning experience to which I believe my learning style is best-suited. (I learn best, even in a digital space, by interacting with physical components/proxies/models.) It's well-worth the price, even if in hindsight I probably would have been just fine purchasing the cheaper, smaller variant.

I do have two negative notes. First, the components feel cheap; experienced breadboarders probably have better components already (as well as minimal expectations for the low quality), but less-experienced persons such as myself may often think they're doing something wrong, when in reality a poor connection is the culprit. I'm willing to overlook this, though, as I've grown to understand that even higher-quality and/or higher-priced components still suffer from similar issues. Second, the instruction manual is neither well-written nor extremely clear, and is not in and of itself a teaching tool. The documentation provided is closer to an introduction to individual components and with which libraries they're associated. I'm willing to overlook this too, though, as it gives you the minimum (the bare minimum) knowledge needed to at least get started, and also points you toward additional Arduino resources to help. As I mentioned in in my previous post, you might be better off combining multiple programs and tutorials if you're taking the free-online-resources route, like I am.

So, while it's not perfect, the Elegoo Arduino R3 Project Most Starter Kit isn't perfect, but it does what it promises and delivers a baseline from which to grow your electronics and/or programming experience. It offers a strong value for the price (as well as the Super Starter Kit), and is easy to recommend. If you're watching any online tutorials, you might look out for a promotional link; Paul McWhorter (my current YouTube tutorial host) for example, gets a small kick-back if you use his link to purchase the product.