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----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Low" <stinglessbee@hotSPAMFREEmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2000 12:43 PM
Subject: Christmas at Dick Smith
> Hi everyone,
>
> The new DS catalogue has the Dark Side Developers Kit for $159,
> and what I think is the Robotics Discovery Set (the one with • the
> Insectoid wings)> for $148 (=$100 off). Both seem really good value -- I'm
> quite tempted to go for the 9735.
Repeat after me:
"I solemnly vow never to buy a 'Robotics Developer Kit' or 'Robotics
Discovery Set', without the aid of;
1. A gun to my head;
2. A child under the age of ten;
for these are terrible robotics sets."
Even at these prices, (which are good), these are really bad sets. Their
abilities is so badly constrained that you'll wish that you had saved your
money and bought a Robotics Invention System. (Which I heartily recommend to
_everyone_). These sets probably have the ability to keep anyone under ten
happy, but above that you will want the RIS.
All that being said, I'm tempted to go for the RDS at those prices, but only
as a supplemental to my RIS, and because I can't afford another RIS at this
point in time. But I don't think I'll get one. The extra hassle isn't worth
the wait. Don't even think about the Developer kit though, ever.
A refresher on the abilities of the sets;
1. The RIS is fully programmable, and has about 4 different programming
languages available for it, of different levels of difficulty / power. You
have complete control over inputs and outputs. 6 Programs can be stored at
any one time, and these programs can be quite large. The OS is upgradeable.
3 in / 3 Out, though there are webpages which show you how to double the
number of IO ports.
2. The RDS is marginally programmable. There are different actions. You can
have a 'program' which is a list of actions to undertake. RDS also has
sensor inputs, which can affect the program, though I think that you can
only have one 'reaction' for every 'action'. 2 In / 2 Out.
3. The developer's kits can only do 7 pre-programmed programs. These are
factory set, no options. The only input is a light sensor. 1 in / 1 out.
later,
David Drew
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Christmas at Dick Smith
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| Hi everyone, The new DS catalogue has <set:9754 the Dark Side Developers Kit> for $159, and what I think is <set:9735 the Robotics Discovery Set> (the one with the Insectoid wings)> for $148 (=$100 off). Both seem really good value -- I'm quite (...) (24 years ago, 1-Nov-00, to lugnet.loc.au, lugnet.org.au)
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