The New Arduino Alternative?

A new product was launched by Texas Instruments recently that seems to be aimed at the hobby-electronics geek. The MSP430 Value Line Launchpad is a super cheap board that features a PDIP socket that allows you to use either the MSP430G2211IN14 or MSP430G2231IN14 uControllers. 

The specs of these processors aren’t phenomenal but seeing as the complete kit will set you back a whopping $4.30, you can’t really complain.  The kit comes with a whole bunch of things in the box:

• LaunchPad Development board (MSP-EXP430G2)
• Mini USB cable
• 2x MSP430 flash devices
  • MSP430G2211IN14 flash device
  • MSP430G2231IN14 flash device (preloaded with sample program)
• 10-pin PCB Connectors (2 male & 2 female)
• 32kHz crystal
• Quick Start Guide
• 2x LaunchPad stickers

I mean, all that for just $4.30? I ordered two of these kits yesterday at Mouser and was out a massive bank breaking 7.82 EUR, including shipping (which is free)! The only trouble is that the shipping date is 5 July, so I am going to have to wait a bit.

This chip can be programmed by a myriad of different environments, be sure to check out the wiki page here for all the options: [LINK]. 

A member of the NXTasy forums named LEGACY has already turned it into an NXT sensor, you can find it here: [LINK].  The program can copied from there.