Wow cool, so me and Geir will get the fixed version also?
Yes
Great Gus
This gets better and better :dance:
[quote]Great Gus
This gets better and better [/quote]
Indeed! thank you very very much :dance: 8)
On the JTAG connector is there any pull ups resistors need? Saw some designs have this…
It is better to have them but not necessary.
I’ll pitch in here -
As it stands, I think the current product line is pretty well differentiated (disclosure, I just ordered the Tinkerer Kit), with the exception of the Domino/Panda. As far as I can tell, the only difference is the USBizi - guys, c’mon - the USBizi144 eats what? 7mA more than the 100?
Not awfully sure why you’re bothering with the USBizi100 - build a ‘USBizi144X’ that has a fuseable link to cripple it if need be. Why maintain two sets of masks for (effectively) the same product. The RETAIL cost differential is $2 for heaven’s sake! Your manufacturing differential is probably 30 cents.
The Rhino and Cobra are positioned as OEM and ‘serious’ enthusiast hardware. The Mini, similarly has its place, especially since it’s pin compatible with the BasicStamp2, but as noted above, just relaunch it as a MiniMax with a USBizi144.
The Panda and the Domino are the Orang-utans in the room. There’s hardly any difference between the two except for the USBizi (I’ll stop now), the Domino has an RTC and microSD socket, the Panda doesn’t, the Panda exposes JTAG and the Domino doesn’t. The # of ports is down to the fact that one port is dedicated to the USB socket. Any other differences, I’m unaware of. Oh, and the Panda’s black and white (which is a nice differentiating factor). I don’t think you should try and conform with the Arduino Mega form factor, because it doesn’t seem at all popular.
So there’s some justification in my mind to (what???) dropping the Panda, or beefing it up and dropping the Domino. They’re both excellent prototyping platforms, and I’d suspect that streamlining your product range and the USBizi thing might let you consider bringing out a unified product.
The dream ticket would be an single unit with a set of pads that let you plug in an Xbee or an as yet unannounced GHI ‘WireBee’ card, offerred at exceedingly reasonable prices to your dedicated forum contributors.That’d be a tall order on an Arduino Form factor, of course - but you could build out a no-shield configuration that could take on the NetDuino Plus.
So, I ordered the Panda Tinkerer Kit, and maybe, just maybe, I should have ordered a Domino. Why did I order the kit? I’m embarassed to admit it, but I do love a good deal, and non-standard circuit board colors.
I do have to ask the question though - the price differential between the Domino and the Panda - at manufacturing time, does the cost of adding and RTC, microSD, and USB sockets (plus the USBizi upgrade) really add 70% to the manufacturing cost?
Thanks for the feedback.
When you look at products, do not only look at the raw component cost, there is much more involved that that, marketing 
GHI provides 2 chipsets, 100 and 144. You may think why not just 144 only and, in your case, this make sense but for others it may not.
GHI is very dynamic and responsive so do not be surprised with what you see and why may come in future. Looking in the FEZ history, you will see the progress and how we have the existing product line.
The good news is that the complete design files are online so it is not difficult for anyone to make the board of their choice.
It is nice to see someone with first post but have good understanding of the FEZ product line Again, thanks for the valuable feedback.
Looking forward to see what will you make with FEZ 8)
Oh, certainly didn’t intend to diss the product - those few seconds after hitting the ‘Reply’ button always are the exact moment you wished you’d rephrased something.
The Panda’s going to give me a chance to do something serious with C# (writing DVD library programs to learn a language doesn’t cut it for me nowadays). My guess is that the Tinkerer kit will end up getting deployed as an environmental monitoring kit with a web interface for the home at some point, unless I run short on RAM in which case you’ll see an order for a Cobra OEM kit come down the pike. At the very least you’ll be seeing an order for a Component and an Ethernet shield soon.
I’m getting old and myopic now, so I’m not sure how successful I’d be in soldering up LQFP’s, - I’m not sure a build-from-scratch is feasible
If you think it right, you will not run out of ram…we still want to see the Cobra order anyway 
Have fun with FEZ, like we all do
price points…
USBizi 144 = USB Host
USBizi 1000 != USB Host.
there’s a price differentiator right there.
As Gus said there’s no reason someone with the Eagle files couldn’t create a hybrid Panda/Domino with thru-hole components and USB Host and W5100 Ethernet.
We will even support you to do so!
Hi, how many soldering do we need? Includes SD connector, DB9 connector…?
Speaking of soldering, is there any chance that you could include some Xbee sockets with the Panda baseboard kit? Xbees need non-standard 2mm pitch sockets, which aren’t expensive but are kind of hard to find. You already use these sockets on your Xbee expansion board. I’d gladly pay a couple bucks more for the baseboard kit if these sockets were included. Or I’d order them separately if I could.
I don’t want to solder my Xbees to the Panda baseboard, and I doubt other customers want to either.
You can buy the headers for xbees from sparkfun (and similar online shops), digikey, farnell/newark, and mouser
No one answer me?
I don’t know the answer sorry Tzu…mine arrives tomorrow, i can post tomorrow night if nobody else has said since (i’m sure Chris or Gus can tell you if they see this post).
We’re not ignoring you, just don’t know the answer (yet).
[quote]Hi, how many soldering do we need? Includes SD connector, DB9 connector…?
[/quote]
What does this question mean? I saw it but wasn’t sure how to answer it.
If you are asking about soldering points, there are plenty. Did you see the images at teh beginging of this very post?
[url]http://www.tinyclr.com/forum/14/1221/[/url]
I hope this helps
@ MarkH: True, but it’s the convenience factor of not having to place yet another order elsewhere to get them.
It would be great if they could be included in the Tinkerer kit at least.
Ok, here goes:
On the baseboard only Panda: 88 solder joints
On the baseboard only DB9: 9 solder joints
On the baseboard only SD connector: 16 solder joints
On the baseboard only XBee socket: 40 solder joints
On the Fez Panda: 88 solder joints
In total WITHOUT the not mentioned connections: 241 solder joints
Is that what you “needed” to know?
I feel like a moron now…what does 241 solder joint tell me: consider each solder joint takes 3 secs, that makes 723 secs, or 12 minutes and 3 secs to solder the most important things… :