Talk:Comparison of DIY Boards

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Phil questioned the cost values for the Ren-T and I double checked my BOM and I had both transformers listed. Took out the Tamura and that drops all parts in the BOM to about $20 and a typical Case 3 build down to about $18.75. Now of course anybody who decides to leave off the power entry module and AC cable can also save another $9 but that is not what I intended for the chart. The chart shows an estimate of what the listed BOM will run at Mouser.
Also, I tilted the estimate a little high so that when someone actually went to buy the parts and it came in cheaper than the chart they would be happier than if their total was higher. I also didn't consider shipping directly into the numbers but it definitely would also push the number up.

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Are you considering the PCB as part of the price? Maybe that's part of my difficulties, I was considering just the parts. The price that I was thinking was perhaps about $3.00 for the connectors, $.25 or so for the diodes, and using a surplus transformer that I bought for $3. So I was leaving off the power entry module (I used a pair of wire nuts), and the end of an old extension cord that I had laying around.

Maybe the best thing to do is to say what the basis of the prices is (one-off ordering from mouser, not including shipping), and that the prices may vary quite a bit.

--Phil Short 17:48, 8 December 2007 (MST)

By the way, the little icon with the scrawl inside it just above the edit window puts your signature and date stamp on your edits.

--Phil Short 17:50, 8 December 2007 (MST)

The cost of the Renard8 should be essentially identical to the Ren-C, so I changed the numbers for the Renard8 to agree with Ren-C. Also, I think that the Renard64 numbers are about twice what they should be, but I haven't had time to check it out carefully yet.

--Phil Short 18:18, 8 December 2007 (MST)

This is why I took the time to make this as a table in the wiki and not just a screen shot of the table I made in MS Word, so it can be changed if needed. I only ask that if numbers get changed that it is based on what a new user would have to spend, not based on one's ability to scrounge parts. New users will be going off of the BOMs and if they are wrong or have too many options they may order too many parts. Thats what happened with the Ren-T and apparently the Ren8, I didn't remove some of the optional/duplicated parts (Ren8 BOM has 3 different RJ45 connectors listed). But the Renard64 BOM with LEDs and ZC opt1 (I believe the most common build) comes in at about $75 with Mouser.

--Ravinglunatic 21:41, 8 December 2007 (MST)

I haven't looked into it yet, and it may be a while before I get to it. But it still seems quite high, unless mouser has drastically increased the price of something or other.

BTW, do those prices include the PCB, or not?

--Phil Short 22:35, 8 December 2007 (MST)

I didn't factor in the PCBs. I fudged the number high because I know that the Mouser part prices went up about 10% from January (first time I checked prices for 595 & SSR parts) to July (when I finally order parts) this year. The prices seem to continue to climb as the dollar weakens internationally. So since I don't intend to continually update this chart, I have price increase room built in.

On the Renard64, the PICs are almost 1/2 price when you order 25 than when you only order 8, so quantity buys you savings. Also, the vertical RJ45 jacks are a large part of the cost at $28 for 16. I seem to recall seeing a post that you were gonna consider some mods to the Renard64 after the holidays (and when wjohn depletes his supply of boards), if so then a new connector might be found. But I'll put my inputs about that in the appropiate DIY forum when that discussion gets going.


--Ravinglunatic 23:39, 8 December 2007 (MST)

That looks like a huge chunk of the price difference. The previous connector (the ROHS replacement of 571-5564161, the one that doesn't fit very well) is $.57 in qty 10, as compared with $1.79 for the current connector). I'll look into this more later on.

--Phil Short 10:12, 9 December 2007 (MST)

It might be useful to add a column to the tables for the board dimensions. The downside is that the charts become wider, perhaps a problem for smaller screens.

Phil Short 12:05, 14 January 2008 (MST)

Personally I would have left that off, I doubt that board size is a major consideration for very many members. At some point you have to draw a line at how much info you can squeeze into a table. I believe that there was enough info to get members the vital info to help them zero-in on which board to use. The member would then need to do some research of their own about the factors that matter to them. (There is a limit to how big of a spoon you can feed people with)

But thats just my opinion and it is a wiki open for editing to suit the needs of the community.

--Ravinglunatic 13:00, 14 January 2008 (MST)