r/arduino • u/Status-Poem9358 • 9d ago
Elegoo uno r3 or Mega2560?
Hi, I wanted to ask if one is better for me as a first year electrical engineering student. On Amazon, the price difference is only 4 dollars. But I heard there are more tutorials for the uno and it's more beginner friendly. I also heard the mega is superior. Thanks!
(edit) There is the super starter kit as an option too, I'm just not sure what would be best suited for my level and as a beginner.
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u/QueasyEngineering419 9d ago
Uno is the right call for a beginner. The Mega has more pins but almost all beginner tutorials use Uno. The Elegoo Super Starter Kit bundles the board with components for real projects. Good starting point for EE.
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u/Shoddy-Return-680 9d ago
I like the mega, it gives you more room to connect and I generally like the layout.
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u/Status-Poem9358 9d ago
Yeah I hear a lot that the mega's extra space is nice for more advanced projects.
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u/Shoddy-Return-680 9d ago
I like the 5/3.3 options and the extra ground pins. Im a big fan of 2.54mm connectors multi pin casings
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u/Shoddy-Return-680 9d ago
I probably should have said something earlier, but you should check out the nano as well with how cheap they are in addition to whichever you decide to go with.
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u/Rayzwave 9d ago
While thinking about this question I came across the DFR version of the Mega2560 board which from my preferred supplier was cheaper. It has a different input power circuit and was wondering if anyone had any reasons why it might not be a better choice than the official Arduino version? I like the idea of being able to power it from a 3.7V LiPo Battery.
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u/adderalpowered 8d ago
Does it have 5v data? Or are all the pins 3.5 as well. That is a next-level situation. Level shifting from 5v to 3.3 can be a huge pain. People do it all the time especially in esp32 but it is another hurdle in design.
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u/Rayzwave 8d ago
I/O logic is generally 5V or 3.3V on Arduino boards but the DFR version is 5V because the uC is powered by a 5V DC/DC Converter. There is also a 3.3V regulator on board too. The DC/DC converter allows your project to work off lower voltages but it still has the USB 5V supply route for program development.
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u/Rayzwave 9d ago
Do you have any experience using Arduino boards or other uC boards prior to your EE course?
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u/gm310509 400K , 500K , 600K , 640K , 750K 9d ago
You should get a starter kit if you don't already have one.
What makes arduino interesting is the stuff you hook up to it. Just an Arduino by itself isn't terribly exciting it won't be able to do anything that you can't already do on your PC.
So definitely get a starter kit and learn how to use the stuff in it.
As for Mega vs Uno R3, you are right, there are more examples for Uno R3 than Mega. But, if you learn the concepts taught in the starter kit it is fairly straightforward to adapt an uno r3 guide if you need to. Most of the time, an Uno R3 project will work the same on a Mega with no modifications needed - and you can ultimately do more with the Mega.
Welcome to the club.
Do you have any projects in mind or just wanting to figure it all out first and then decide what to do?
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u/Enlightenment777 9d ago
Get the cheapest Uno R3 or Mega 2560 R3 (AVR-based) board, learn it; then get an Uno R4 (ARM-based), then do it again. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arduino_Uno#Arduino_board_comparison
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u/Delta_G_Robotics 8d ago
Anything you can do with the UNO you can do with the Mega. For most of the basic tutorials they are equivalent. When you get into things like timers and interrupt pins there are some differences.
Probably the biggest plus is that the Mega has extra serial ports so you don't have to use SoftwareSerial in a lot of those tutorials. That makes a lot of shields and other hardware work a lot better.
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u/UsernameTaken1701 7d ago
Mega. The only difference from Uno will be pin numbers, which are easy to adapt for if you have pinout diagrams on hand for each board.
Edit: For leaving the board embedded in a project you want something cheaper so, like another comment says, look at Nanos. Pins are basically the same as Uno so tutorials work directly.
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u/DoingMyCivicDuty 9d ago
Tutorials for the Uno will also work with the Mega. I'd recommend getting a kit with a Mega since you can run out of pins (places to plug in sensors, buttons, etc.) pretty quickly on an Uno. Elegoo has the Ultimate Starter Kit which has more than enough to keep you busy for a while, and it comes with a Mega.