Subject:
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RE: Tempted in buying my first Mindstorms invention kit - 1.5 vs 2.0 ?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Mon, 16 Dec 2002 22:58:09 GMT
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Original-From:
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Rob Limbaugh <rlimbaugh@greenfieldgroup.STOPSPAMcom>
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Viewed:
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1291 times
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The major differences between RIS 1.5 and 2.0 are the RIS software and the IR
Tower. The software upgrade from RIS 1.5 to 2.0 is $19.99 (#3805) from LEGO's
website. A USB IR Tower can be purchased from pldstore.com (W979783) for
$29.00.
There was no mention of your current computer hardware, operating system, or any
future plans with respect to other LEGO products or computer upgrades. So, keep
in mind the following factors as they pertain to you -
1) USB is unavailable on older versions of Windows 95. If this is your
situation, you'll need a new OS. Check here for more information:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;253756
2) RIS 2.0 installs "out of the box" on Windows 95/98/Me/XP/2000 (minus the
registry entry that auto-starts the RIS menu every time the computer starts).
RIS 1.0 and 1.5 need to be slightly adjusted to work properly on XP. I don't
recall having any problems installing RIS 1.0 or 1.5 on Windows 2000.
3) If you plan to purchase Vision Command and run it on a Windows 2000 or XP
system, then you'll need the RIS 2.0 software.
4) Number of open USB and serial ports. The camera for Vision Command has a USB
connection. Spybotics uses a serial cable. It's rather annoying to buy
something and find out you don't have enough serial ports or need to buy a USB
hub.
5) RIS doesn't work natively on a Mac. RoboLab 2.5 (W900054, pldstore.com,
$59.00) supports the USB hardware. (NOTE: There is a Windows emulator for the
Mac, but I believe there are issues with RIS 2.0 working within the emulator
when using a USB tower, but the serial tower supposedly works just fine. The
emulator alone costs as much or more than a suitable Windows PC.)
In my case, I need both IR towers and RIS 2.0 software to run Vision Command on
2000. The USB tower is always connected to my desktop and I use a serial IR
tower with my laptop (which has one USB port and one serial port). My purchase
would be based on what the cheapest outcome for everything I needed was: Cost
of RIS 1.5 + Upgrade + USB + S&H verses RIS 2.0 + Serial + S&H.
I hope all this information helps.
- Rob
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Stephane Simard [mailto:plague@videotron.ca]
> Sent: Monday, December 16, 2002 3:23 PM
> To: lego-robotics@crynwr.com
> Subject: Tempted in buying my first Mindstorms invention kit - 1.5 vs
> 2.0 ?
>
>
> Currently debating in my head whether of these versions is
> the best to buy.
>
> I've checked the inventory with Peeron, all RIS kits appear
> more or less
> identical in their supply of parts.
>
> Does 1.5 come with ANYTHING that isn't included in 2.0 ? I
> would be more
> tempted to buy 2.0 due to upgraded RCX and software.
>
> Does 1.5 come with plans/instructions that don't come with 2.0?
>
>
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
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