teensy not so teensy?

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pix-os

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hi all, i don't know, but it seems the teensy series are a bit overpriced compared to the competition?

as i found a cortex m3 with 80mhz cpu 512k ram, 1024k flash, wifi, which is breadboard friendly and includes a serial programmer for a total price of $5,50 (rounded upwards) excluding shipment.

the embedded module (stamp size, for custom pcb's) seperate costs 1,99$

i know it doesn't beat the teensy in size, as the setup requires interface wiring for uart programming and is a bit more difficult to set up.

it has arduino IDE support too.

this makes me wonder the extra price you pay for the great support by teensy is worth it?

i won't link the product here, unless i get approval from paul.

so, to sum it up: the teensy is great in small sized projects, but is 'bigger' in one's wallet.

question to all:
would you like the excellent support by PJRC and like to pay more for it compared to the meh support and cheap price?
 
I would gladly pay a markup for the level of interaction that Paul has with his customers. There is a limit to that, however. I believe the Teensy, all things considered, is a value. I have multiple debuggers and the ability to use more or less any micro, and I choose Teensy every time. The Teensy is also stocked locally by my Microcenter, so that makes it an obvious choice for me. When I let the magic smoke out, I just zip over to the store and buy a new one.

Now if they would only stock the OctoWS2811 boards, I would be poor and homeless. I would have an awesome, LED-interactive box to live in though.
 
true that, it also has less computational power, but it also has less power draw (the package states power: 30mA)

but the ram is twice and rom is same as a teensy 3.6
 
Have looked at many a M0/3/4 board. Many have quality problems from marginal manufacturing processes or marginal quality passive components, or may simply not be a reliably sourced widget as they are intended as a hobbyist product (no formal logistics train to support deterministic manufacturing).

To date, stuff with a Teensy 3.1 or 3.2 or 3.5 has been subject to EMC (EMCD,RED,ICES,FCC, MS461,etc), product safety(IEC60950,IEC61010,IEC62368,IEC62109), environmental(MS810,HALT/HASS, etc) and other related test methods. And last week, just for the unholy heck of it, put my AE datalogger box (incorporates T3.2) next to our UUT in a vacuum chamber (connectors on the box broke, and the T3.2 got much more warmer, but the module remained functional).

This is why myself and my employer(s) keep buying from PJRC. But suppose if we were shipping thousands of boxes per month, would be willing to take on more risk with less support and less performance margin.
 
I find it's much better to have a supported product, especially S/W support than to have the latest bells and whistles or specific needs. It's great that you can find alternatives, and if you can make them work for you awesome. But for those of us not fully involved with the micro architecture and programming to have a device that is supported so well from the S/W perspective as well as H/W questions. I would say this is a very competitive product line. It is well worth the money invested to get things working fast.
 
If you want the best specs for the lowest price than there are of course dozens of alternatives to Teensy. Just check the various stores on Aliexpress, or several Kickstarters. Want a quad-core processor capable of running a full Linux stack and having Ethernet, WiFi ánd cellular for $8? Check.

Want a platform that has good support and documented APIs and examples so you can actually use all those fancy peripherals and computing power? Well, maybe stick to Teensy then ;) .
 
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