Soldering Kits

I've been lurking around various electronic sites and have found alternatives to the kit you  get with Make: Electronics through MakerShed.   (Shown to the left) If you bought the kit alone without the book, it would cost a $114.

Here are a couple of different choices.

Spark Electronics
Tool Kit - Intermediate
$69.95

I like this one because it has a Third hand with a magnifier and a nicer set of wire strippers.  Both items I bought shortly after starting this whole electronics thing.

I'm thinking for the $30 you save, you could buy the spools of wire, a set of screwdrivers and a Panvise and still come in around $100.

They also had two other packages available. One cheaper.  One more expensive.

Adafruit Industries
Ladyada's Electronic Toolkit
$100

 This setup is very similar to the MakerShed kit.  Has a small breadboard and parts to build a power supply.  Doesn't have the screwdrivers and Maker's log.  It's $14 cheaper.

(Note: The multimeter shown here is not the one that comes with the kit)



I saw lots of kits that included a soldering iron and minimal tools in the 15-25 dollar range.  I tried to find a list somewhere of the essential tools every beginner should have, but to no avail.  If anyone has a link to such an animal, let me know. Or links to other beginners start-up kits.

[Image: MakerShed Kit: Captured from Makershedsite: http://www.makershed.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MKEE1]

[Image: Spark Kit: Captured from Spark site: http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=9466]