Here is a surprise we had set a side for everyone 
You can always order any modes that were discontinued! Even better, you can make changes on the design and get a module to fit your exact needs.
How can you do all this? Here is the announcement https://www.ghielectronics.com/community/forum/topic?id=15906
Please leave any questions related to the new website announcement in the above thread.
I understand the appeal of plugging in modules, but I think that a lot of people are unduly afraid of the soldering iron. It just isnât that hard, and if youâve never tried surface mount, you should, itâs even easier.
@ godefroi - I agree whole heartedly. Soldering is easyâŚreally easy. Get a cheap temperature controlled iron, a wet sponge and some solder and oh yeah a solder sucker.
In fact most of the electronics required to build most of these modules is easy stuff. Just get the datasheet and impliment one of the example circuits and 9 times out of 10 it will just work. Itâs normally not much more than a couple of decoupling capacitors and an IC.
Check out on eBay for the ATTEN 8586 as this is a bargain. You get a very nice temp controller soldering iron and a hot air pencil for the price you can pay for a normal temp controlled iron.
The hot air pencil will be great when you get into SMD and reworking those is so simple once you have one and I can tell you that it saved me a lot of money when I fitted the wrong SODIMM socket for a G400D (oops) and had to remove it. The hot air tool made it easy and no damage to the PCB so I was able to re-use it. Phewww.
It also doubles great as a hot air tool for heat shrink
I got mine from one of the Chinese suppliers on eBay (surelectronics I think it was) very good service and quick too.
If youâre on a budget, SparkFun has a quite nice soldering station for under $50.
We like to add to this post that, very sadly, Cobra II is no only available through special order. Some Cobra II are still in stock if you need couple quickly. We apologize this was not communicated earlier. We are going through some major changes and some changes maybe liked by some and other changes will be liked by other users. We understand if this decision is not someoneâs favorite but we also just announced FEZ Hydra for under $25! Over all, we hope we can only offer you with a better service and you will still have faith in us, that we are taking all customers feedback very seriously.
A quick note here, G120, the heart of Cobra II, will be available for long years to come and Cobra II is simply a breakout for G120. Anyone can have any board-house build cobra II for you at any time. We are also available to create as many as you need. But like I said, we still have some stock if you need some quickly so just contact us directly please.
Gus, I assume youâve fallen foul to the iPhone spelling and you meantâŚ
now only available through special orderâŚ
The other thing that is still available is the G120HDR, another way to get the capability of the G120 at the heart of the Cobra II and a heap of IO connections you can leverage how you need.
Where is everyone seeing the discontinued / legacy items in the catalog? When I look at the catalog all I see are the items that are not discontinued.
Honestly the Cobra II had more functionality than the G120HDR for prototyping.
I thought the Cobra II boards were the best product GHI made! Much better value than the hydra even @ $24. Also it is stable too, and felt a completed product.
Is the G400 HDR be discontinued too shortly?
I totally agree with kiwi_stu, Cobra II was a very nice solution. You cannot compare G120HDR with Cobra II. Cobra has on-board DC-DC converter, SD card slot, USB Host, optionally WiFi/Network (you donât need separate modules for that). Moreover, Gadgeteer sockets are much more usable on G120HDR.
I am basing my 4 newest design on the Cobra II. I would love to see it continued. But maybe this is a chance for turnkey solutions to show how well they can perform. ???
For me the worrying thing is the Cobra wifi board was the perfect solution for the âinternet of thingsâ in a competitive package. It worked and can quickly be deployed. It should have been marketed as that too.
Guess it opens up a new opportunity in this spaceâŚ
njbuch, based on this Gus response ( https://www.ghielectronics.com/community/forum/topic?id=15921&page=2#msg157960 ) I think that service wonât be running any time soon.
To everyone, If the Cobra II effects you, please post here https://www.ghielectronics.com/community/forum/topic?id=15936
I am curious, why Gadgeteer cables still remain highly priced. For example, these two modules come with a cable and each of them costs $3:
https://www.ghielectronics.com/catalog/product/270
https://www.ghielectronics.com/catalog/product/274
If I want to buy cables alone, I get $2.5 per cable. It is almost worth buying those modules to take a cable and to solder out Gadgeteer socket : .
@ iamin - you should buy a real of ribbon cable and a bulk bag of connectors from digikey or similar. I can assemble one in less than 2 minutes using a small vice. That way you can get the exact right lengths.
hagster, interesting idea! Could you tell me whatâs the part number of Gadgeteer plug? Do you need any special tool to assemble that cable?
@ iamin - havenât got them to hand, but Iâll look later. You just need a small vice. You just slide the cable in and clamp it closed. It automatically cuts through the insulation to grip the wire. There are special tools to get the exact right compression but there not essential.
Unfortunately, the connectors are frickinâ expensive.
Here are some of the parts. You can do the math to see if the savings are worth the effort.
Surface mount IDC BOX HEADER 0.050 10 POS
http://www.digikey.co.uk/product-search/en?x=0&y=0&KeyWords=1175-1629
Ribbon connector IDC SOCKET 0.050 10 POS
http://www.digikey.co.uk/product-detail/en/3230-10-0101-00/1175-1645-ND/3883465
Ribbon Cable - This doesnât seem to be a stocked item in Digikey so you may need to search elsewhere. You need an 10 way 0.035" pitch, stranded, unsheilded ribbon. You can even get a 20 way cable and slice it in half.
http://www.digikey.co.uk/product-detail/en/3754%2F10/3754%2F10-ND/3867646