Even more low prices, now on SoMs and FEZ Cobra II!

In a recent news post, https://www.ghielectronics.com/community/forum/topic?id=15888, we dropped the price on many of the Gadgeteer modules and we are now doing the same for the System on Modules (SoM). With these new prices, any company can afford to have a powerful .NET Micro Framework base for their design. For example G120 is under $30 in at only 100pcs, EMX is near $50 and G400 is near $60! We even dropped the price on the FEZ Cerb40 II to only $24.95! Note that the Cerb40, part of the Cerb-family now includes our GHI extended libraries (formerly known as premium), so it is a lot more powerful at a lower price.

As for FEZ Cobra II, instead of offering four different versions from stock, we will only offer FEZ Cobra II (Eco) from stock. Developers needing WiFi or Ethernet can simply add these modules, thanks to .NET Gadgeteer. This is a very good option for low volumes. If 100 or more units are needed, we will continue to offer the FEZ Cobra II Ethernet and WiFi versions, as special orders. Typical lead time is 4 to 6 weeks on these boards.

Lately there have been some discussions about longevity of products and we would like to cover this here but we are always a phone call away. Our business at GHI Electronics is entirely reliant upon the faith of our customers in us and our offerings. They use our products to create new products and update existing ones. This means any quality issues will reflect on our customer’s products as well. We also understand that discontinuing products can be very bad for our customers. For the reasons above, we take quality and longevity very seriously, especially on our SoM offers. Those changes occur very rarely and come with very long notices. And even after the change, we continue to offer the old products on demand. Over the last ten years of business, we have had many occasions where customers have contacted us about building a product that was discontinued a long time ago and we still revived it and made it available to them. As long as it is physically possible (the raw components are still available) we will always work with you on recreating any discontinued product.

In contrast to the SoMs, the rules are a bit softer on breakout boards of the SoMs. For example, FEZ Cobra II is based on G120 and it is simply a breakout for G120 with few connectors and a power supply. Due to its simplicity, it is very easy for us to manufacture this board at any time. In this case, changes can happen but we can always manufacture the older version if requested.

Lastly, we would like to mention that we have also lowered the prices on the Gadgeteer cables.

As always, we are here to listen and improve. We hope you will enjoy all the great new prices on our SoMs and look forward to seeing your future inventions.

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I have to admit I am very impressed by GHI’s commitment to making sure their customers can get the products they need even if they dont manufacture them regularly.

Most other companies would tell you to take a hike or buy another product. I know there are some are unhappy with the changes (I am too new to understand all the issues) but you guys really seem to be trying to make everyone happy. Very rare these days, so good on you guys.

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We would also like to mention that the Gadgeteer cables also have lower prices! ;D I modified the original post to reflect this.

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@ khalilm - Thank you very much. These kind words will only make us work harder and be more creative. We have a lot of good things to come, we are just getting started :slight_smile:

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That is a great news!!! No… GREAT NEWS with a capital letter!!! Thank you for your work!!! :clap:

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Finally! You’re on the right track. Now, fix the shipping, and it will be perfect.

@ Simon from Vilnius - That is on the list, we are setting up meetings with all of our reps to determine the difference in rates.

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Will you finally use bubble envelopes? :clap:

@ Simon from Vilnius - I can’t give away too many secrets right now, just know that we are working on it. 8)

Bubble envelopes!!! :dance: The invisible packaging! :dance:

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Amazing news !

I hope to be able to start series production by 2015 on my G120 based boxes, and this will make a serious difference in what we can be more competitive with those lower prices !

Thanks guys and do not stop here !

Yeah, I must admit - too many great news in one day. I feel like dreaming. :dance:

I admit I am impressed with GHI commitment to listening and supporting their customers.

Just my opinion that GHI has missed a trick with not returning the Cobra II WiFi back to production. Especially with the hype around the “internet of things”. As an example I had the proposal with a client to use these as data loggers connected to a wcf web service. Currently 5 devices are installed and running logging data from simple customized sensors. The devices add some intelligence to the data. They were looking to add another 10-15 devices as part of their trial. The device configuration is stored on the sd card that the device reads to configure itself. The idea was for the client could buy and deploy the devices themselves without soldering (using tb10 breakouts). All they needed was board, 3 tb10 breakouts, sd card, custom enclosure and power source.

Actually I have increased interest with “internet of things” devices doing similar to what I described above.

At the moment I have very small volume requirement so will not be doing a minimum order and the client doing the trial seem to got cold feet now after they informed me the boards were no longer in production and has got all concerned about hardware. I do not have time to modify the Cobra II eco board and will add cost. It has not been a great experience in the last few days.

I am watching the space that the Cobra II WiFi used to fill, as I believe new options will appear in the coming months.

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@ kiwi_stu - maybe GHI has some other plans? :slight_smile:

Of course you can always add the wifi module.

That is my conclusion.

That adds additional cost. Cobra II WiFi versus Cobra II Eco & WiFi module. Also working the custom enclosure.

IMO, longevity is still an issue. Many people need access to the “bread and butter” devices like Cobra and Panda. If they can be ordered reasonably priced in Qty 100, would it be that difficult to keep both around and have them remade when another 100 are needed?

Panda (USBizi based) is no longer supported in later frameworks, with 4.1 being it’s end-of-life offering. I have several in their original bags I can sell you if you want (seriously, if you want them, say - personal message me). From when that would have been last discussed, the GHI team are intending to offer turnkey manufacturing which means they no longer would need to stock assembled/tested devices in their premises, and it’s likely to be more cost effective to manufacture in quantities less than 100, so the expectation is that if someone wants one (or 5, or whatever) the cobra 2’s or any of the modules no longer offered as stock can be short-turned to order. But the chances of that including Panda are pretty low, but hey you never know, there may be a few USBizi 100 chips in stock at GHI they may want to offload.

What lowering the price of the fez rapter board? ;D