Heya, I've never really done anything with electronics or hardware before. I was thinking of picking up something like this, just to have fun with it: http://www.hobbytron.com/electronics-lab-learning.html It seems a little young for me, but since I'm totally new to this stuff, I still think I'd like it. A coworker of mine told me about something that might be a bit more appropriate for my age level, which is a sort of kit that comes with a breadboard, some chips, wires, power supply, logic probe, and a booklet of projects. I guess Radio Shack used to sell something like this, but the product he was looking for was discontinued. Does anyone know of any products like this? I suppose I could buy these components separately, but I'd need a lot more help in terms of figuring out what components to buy, and what projects can be done with them. [Edited by - Ravuya on November 19, 2009 11:40:08 AM]

Ah good memories with that thing..

If you want a multiple project kit then go for the N-in-1's but personally i would choose a specific, single project.

Check out spark fun, there are all kinds of kits if you want to practice soldering.

A more interesting idea would be to get a microprocessor on an evaluation board. It's practically the same as a 300 in 1. it's got buttons, led graph, speakers, servo drivers, and usually a small bread board. But it has a microprocessor at the center.

You're going to have a lot more fun programming a board than wiring components together. IMO.

Come up with a project and strive for that.

Alrighty, well maybe I'll just pick up the 300-in-1 since it seems like the easiest to get into. Then I'll move on to the other stuff. One thing that attracted me about the breadboards is that most of them seem to be solderless. One problem I have is that I know literally nothing about electronics. In 6th grade I made a light bulb light up using wire and a battery. That's about all I remember, lol. So having something reusable that I can assemble a lot of different things out of really appeals to me.

Don't worry about getting a kit for kids if you are an absolute beginner. Anything with chips (if you mean computer chips) is going to be quite advanced. You need the basics first, and one of those Kids' 300=in-1 kits will do the trick just fine. You will make alarm clocks, burglar alarms, crystal radios, etc. Do those types of projects before trying anything with CPUs and other computer parts.

If you'd like to buy a collection of components to get started then you may find one of the kits on this page cheaper - not being in the UK may make buying them from that site tricky, but there's a component list underneath that you could use to put together your own kit. The Electronics Club site has some interesting beginner projects on it.

I second bzroom's suggestion that a microcontroller starter/demo/evaluation kit might be more fun if you're a programmer looking to get into electronics. The PICAXE series of microcontrollers are aimed at the education market and so are easy to use (programmed in a dialect of BASIC), have loads of good documentation and excellent community support. The first manual describes the PICAXE itself and how to get started, the second manual explains all of the BASIC commands and the third shows you how to connect it to a variety of input and output devices.

That is awesome, thanks very much guys! I'm excited.

I'd gotten into programming PIC microcontrollers awhile back. They're lots of fun to work with and you can do as much with them as your imagination allows. They're also very cheap. The low end chips run about $2 or $3 a piece. I got a programmer on eBay that worked just fine for about $20.

You'll also need a breadboard, a crystal (though I think some chips have one built in), capacitors, resistors, LEDS, and something to power the board with (I just hooked up 4 rechargeable AA batteries and it worked great).

Anyway, I highly recommend them.