If you had ... what would you buy?

Community General Discussions
1

Hey guys,

Well, to make a long story short I have $100 in gift certificate(s) at SparkFun after I placed an order for everything that I need to get my projects back on the road. I looked through many things they have and all of it is cool but not really needed…

I was wondering if you had $100 to spend at SparkFun (excluding taxes/shipping) what would you buy!

Think I should use it to invest in a good soldering iron station, or save up a bit more and buy a hot-air + soldering station, or buy something else?

Cheers,
-robodude666

2

I was thinking soldering station. If you plan to make circuits, cables etc. it will come in handy.

3

I have to say I have only a solder Iron and sometimes burn myself because it’s only on a little stand, not in a special case that protects you a bit more. A soldering station makes it cleaner. I would invest in basics.

4

Get a little more for a little more.

Go with a hot-air + soldering station. :wink:

5

Hmmm… Seems its a 3/3 for a soldering station?

I’m thinking of getting this unit possibly:
sparkfun.com/commerce/produc … ucts_id=76

Think its worth the cost? I know its nearly impossible to soldering BGA and QFN without hot-air.

6

uhh better save up another 100$ for shipping, 12 lbs, :open_mouth:

7

I have a soldering station and it makes your life 10 times easier. Hot air would be nice, if not that a little OLED module.

8

I’d get one of those Bluetooth gizmo’s. :slight_smile:

9

Yar, I’d say a Bluesmirf, very slick little modules.

10

Its only $20-26 depending on FedEx v USPS. I’ve got to save up only $100 to buy it… and $100 for a hotair + soldering station is a nice deal. Especially such a quality one.

I have a soldering iron with a little holder and sponge. Hot Air would be nice but I won’t use it as much. I already own a 1.5" OLED w/ carrier board. I don’t need the 4Dsystems screen as I am making my own version for my project.

BlueTooth is nice, but I have no use for it now.

Hmmm…

11

You could just pick up a bunch of small parts that would be handy to have on hand.

12

I was thinking of that to but I don’t know what I could buy.

On my previous order I got 2x M/M cables, 2x F/F cables, a couple of crystals, regulators, SMD to DIP boards, USB breakout. A couple of everything that I needed with some extras in case I screw up.

13

I just want to say that the Blue SMiRF module is tie with the soldering station. The question I would ask my self is which Would I want/ need the most? Since I have a cheap Radioshack soldering iron, I would want to get the blue SMiRF. :laughing:

14

Do the certificates have an expiration date? If not, then why not hang onto them and work on your project for a while, instead of casting around for miscellaneous parts, like a solution looking for a problem? Then, next time you reach a point where you need something specific from Sparkfun, you’ve got a $100 buffer that could mean the difference between something that would work okay for your project, or something that could work really well for it.

Just my $0.02…

15

I always knew you were a smart guy :wink:

Sadly, I think the gift certificates have like a 90 day life though. I think it was made unlimited as the gift system was redesigned. I’ll have to check… But I think I will go with that. I know I will need some LEDs in the future and some other things. Always good to have some spare money just in case. If I won’t need anything within those 90 days I’ll save up $100 and buy a soldering station. Will come in handy some day as I plan on working with SMDs more.

Cheers,
-robodude666