Subject:
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Re: Scout vs. RCX for Macintosh user
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics.scout
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Date:
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Fri, 8 Sep 2000 17:32:41 GMT
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Viewed:
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2038 times
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"Dan K. Snelson" wrote:
> Greetings:
>
> My name is Dan Snelson. I'm considering purchasing a Mindstorms set with either
> the Scout or RCX for Christmas. The set is mainly for me, but I'll let my
> nine-year-old son play with it and my other three boys just watch.
>
> I use a Macintosh and am planning on purchasing Robolab (and also trying to get
> Virtual PC to work with the patches available on the web.)
>
> I'm considering the Scout because of price, but I've read in this newsgroup and
> other that the RCX is far more powerful.
>
> I believe NQC could work for the Scout, but I'd have to buy a IR tower.
>
> My wife's concern is that I'll spend $100+ on the Scout and just end up wanting
> the RCX next year.
>
> The RCX is double in price compared to the Scout. Is it more than double in
> features / value?
>
> Your thoughts, pl
I will add to Dave's great post above.
I own 2 RCX 1.0's, a Scout & a Micro-Scout.
The main reason for getting an RCX is that it's upgradeable.
The Scout has it's firmware on a ROM and is NOT upgradeable. So it will one day
just be a slave to other projects. Daves point about sensors is VERY true. The
scout cannot use active sensors. (Sensors that require power) like the Light Sensor
and rotation sensor. Most custom sensors won't work on the Scout as well. You can
use passive light sensors and temp sensors with some programming. The Scout ->
Micro-Scout is a fun fad but gets tired quick.
On the plus side, if you have small children, is that the Scout is field
programmable. A child can program the Scout without a computer and make it do
simple things with touch sensors and motors. It's also good for quick tests of
projects that require some motor/switch interaction. Other then that, that's it and
that's all it will ever be. Also the RCX has aprox 6x the programing memory
available to it. Maybe even 10x depending on how much of the 1k RAM the Scout uses
for it's own operations.
Notes on RCX
The RCX 1.0 is the best one to get right now. If you can get that! It has a power
adapter port to save on batteries, and has a lot more pieces when you order the
~free 1.5 upgrade kit from LEGO. If you can hold out until next year wait for the
2.0. It has the power port AND the IR tower is, I believe, USB!
The 1.5 does NOT have the power adapter port meaning costly batteries forever.
sigh...
The RCX is also upgradeable, for free. The RCX 1.0 & 1.5 can be upgraded to 2.0
Firmware by downloading a file from the Mindstorms web site. It's great. Makes the
brick almost perfect.
Over all if you are having young kids playing with it as well as you, I strongly
suggest BOTH the RCX & Scout. This way you get the IR tower ($30US [GUESS]
Savings), more pieces and both you and your kids can program together.
I hope that helps.
Dean
--
Dean's Lego Workshop: http://www.akasa.bc.ca/tfm/lego_wr.html
Vancouver Lego Club: http://www.akasa.bc.ca/vlc
Coin-Op's For Sale!: http://www.akasa.bc.ca/tfm/coin-op.html
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Scout vs. RCX for Macintosh user
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| Greetings: My name is Dan Snelson. I'm considering purchasing a Mindstorms set with either the Scout or RCX for Christmas. The set is mainly for me, but I'll let my nine-year-old son play with it and my other three boys just watch. I use a Macintosh (...) (24 years ago, 8-Sep-00, to lugnet.robotics.scout)
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