Guess Adabox 20 contents

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michaelmeissner
 
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Guess Adabox 20 contents

Post by michaelmeissner »

One of the things I like to do is guess what will be in the next Adabox by looking at the recently launched products, skipping things that involve soldering.

According to https://www.adafruit.com/adabox/, adabox will ship in 15 days. The last 3 adaboxes shipped in the September/October tend to be based on Halloween/cosplay elements. The previous adaboxes in this time frame were:
  • Adabox 16, 10/2020, Adafruit Matrix Portal Starter Kit
  • Adabox 13, 9/2019, Monster M4SK
  • Adabox 9, 9/2018, Hallowing M0
  • Adabox 5, 9/2017, Break for Pi, not Halloween/cosplay based
  • Adabox 1, 9/2016, Welcome to the Feather infrastructure, not Halloween/cosplay based
Ok, what recent products would I consider that might appear in Adabox 20? Recent things I suspect won't be in Adabox 20: Other thoughts?

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michaelmeissner
 
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Re: Guess Adabox 20 contents

Post by michaelmeissner »

With the Adafruit LED Glasses Driver - nRF52840 Sensor Board just announced (https://www.adafruit.com/product/5217) I would expect this processor to be shipped with the LED glasses in Adabox 20.

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dpn982
 
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Re: Guess Adabox 20 contents

Post by dpn982 »

I think you might be right about the glasses as my order history is showing:

AdaBox020 - LED Glasses

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michaelmeissner
 
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Re: Guess Adabox 20 contents

Post by michaelmeissner »

Yes I now see the charge on my accounts page. I haven't gotten the email confirmation yet about the order, even though Adafruit claims it went through yesterday.

I wonder if there is anything in the Adabox that isn't in the Adafruit LED Glasses Starter Kit that was just announced?

I live in an area where UPS, FedEx, etc. routinely mis-deliver mail. So hopefully it will go to the correct address. I've used my PO box for most things, but unfortunately Adaboxes don't ship to PO boxes.

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dpn982
 
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Re: Guess Adabox 20 contents

Post by dpn982 »

Looks like the page listing the contents is up: https://www.adafruit.com/adabox020/

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SenorB
 
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Re: Guess Adabox 20 contents

Post by SenorB »

So... has anyone received their ADABOX yet?
This round has been weird for me. The first thing that happened was that two ADABOX orders got charged to my credit card back-to-back one day. By the next day, they had fixed it by voiding one of the orders and crediting my credit card back for the dollar amount of one ADABOX. Meanwhile, in my Adafruit Account information under Order History, it shows the one voided ADABOX order (showing a status of VOIDED). And below that was the remaining ADABOX order, showing a status of PREPARING FOR SHIPMENT, just as it always is just after the order was placed and before it gets shipped out. BUT that was October 19th, and today, on October 31st, it still says PREPARING FOR SHIPMENT. I get that everybody's supply chain is all kinds of messed up, so I'm not mad about it or anything, but the strange thing is, a minute ago I checked my credit card account again, and there are NO charges for an ADABOX on the account now. This ADABOX was one that I was REALLY looking forward to digging into, so I hope I'm just jumping the gun here. Anybody else have any weirdness happen with their order?

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dpn982
 
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Re: Guess Adabox 20 contents

Post by dpn982 »

Mine still shows preparing for shipment as well. I did not see the other weirdness you were talking about but mine was prepaid. I am out of prepaid ones now so we shall see what happens next time.

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ellemef
 
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Re: Guess Adabox 20 contents

Post by ellemef »

I'm curious about how other subscribers are feeling about the dollar value of the last few Adaboxes. It looks like you could get the components for $50ish plus shipping, which gets you near the $60 mark, but it doesn't feel like a discount or anything. I still really enjoy the surprise of it, and the handiness of having all the bits and pieces come together in one box, but I have to admit that I liked it better when it felt like a "deal". Don't get me wrong, I realize Adafruit is a store, not a charity - it's just that there was a certain charm to feeling like you got a good deal in addition to the electronics fun.

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bitflung
 
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Re: Guess Adabox 20 contents

Post by bitflung »

ellemef wrote:I'm curious about how other subscribers are feeling about the dollar value of the last few Adaboxes...... Don't get me wrong, I realize Adafruit is a store, not a charity - it's just that there was a certain charm to feeling like you got a good deal in addition to the electronics fun.
i'm split on this myself. part of me wants "a deal" because i'm a self diagnosed cheapskate (that might not be your reason, i'm not picking on you here!) and the other half of me feels like we are also paying for the ideation of well thought out projects... not just the raw materials but the extra collateral. and yes everyone can see that collateral eventually, but we are a major reason why it gets created - we pay for it through the subscription, and that's part of the value. so if the raw materials aren't quite equal in cost to the full subscription, that's where i look for the remainder.

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SenorB
 
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Re: Guess Adabox 20 contents

Post by SenorB »

If Adafruit IO+ isn't something you would use, I could see how you could feel that way about ADABOX 17-20 (though the 1 free year of Adafruit IO+ that came with ADABOX 18 was a $100 value), but they really blew everything up with ADABOX 16! There was probably $85 worth of stuff in that one! I imagine that all the madness of the last couple of years has made business quite a bit more difficult, so I'm just glad that they have managed to keep ADABOXs going. When the world gets back to normal, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw mind-blowing deals like that again occasionally.

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michaelmeissner
 
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Re: Guess Adabox 20 contents

Post by michaelmeissner »

Mine is still in the preparing for shipment phase.

Except for the rubber flies and the box with the wrapping paper, it looks like Adabox 20 is exactly the same as the Adafruit LED glasses starter kit (https://www.adafruit.com/product/5255), which is $0.05 cheaper (but not yet available).

I dunno, I like the LED glasses much more than Adabox 19 (which I still haven't done anything with).

I did buy the LED glasses separately, but I couldn't get the nRF52840 driver board or the glasses frame. I bought a QT PI (which has the Stemma QT port), and also used one of my Teensys to drive the product, using a simple script that just substitutes the message "Happy Halloween!" for "Adafruit". I wore on a top hat to a Halloween party, but I realized the part was turned around and you couldn't see the LEDs clearly which kind of loses the effect :-)

Later, I tried to attach the board to my normal eyeglass frames, but it didn't work because all of my frames are somewhat curved. I went to a second Halloween event, and I opted to go with the Monster M4SK instead of the LED glasses.

I live in an area where the delivery drivers sometimes mis-deliver packages. Sometimes they put them in un-obvious locations (which is a drag if the neighbors aren't home). Once or twice, they seemed to have put the packages in a puddle. I much prefer to direct all packages to my PO box. Unfortunately, Adafruit will not ship the Adaboxes to the PO box (they will ship normal orders to the PO box).

I have used the 10% discount from the previous Adaboxes, but I typically don't order that much at a single time to make the discount worth that much. Because it hasn't shipped yet, I don't yet have the discount from Adabox 20 (unless they have stopped giving out the discount).

In general, I view the Adabox as a gamble. Sometimes you win, and sometimes not. I am considering dropping it.

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dpn982
 
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Re: Guess Adabox 20 contents

Post by dpn982 »

I personally like it. I have only gotten 2 so far cause 20 has not shipped yet. I still need to find uses for them but I would never think of how to pair components together sometimes or of all the stuff I would need to make a project. So having all the components and some kind of instructions on how to start is helpful for me. Plus I like the surprise, like not knowing what the next box will be until a couple weeks before I get it. It gives me the opportunity to play with components that I would never buy separately.

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ellemef
 
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Re: Guess Adabox 20 contents

Post by ellemef »

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Thanks for the reminder that there is value in the "curation" part of the Adabox - that is important, and I think I haven't been taking that into account.

That said, I'm kinda bummed that I got the "bug" version of the glasses in this latest box. I know it was random, but I really hate bugs and I kinda don't even want to make the project at this point. Maybe I can figure out a way to remove or cover up the silkscreen image.

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dpn982
 
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Re: Guess Adabox 20 contents

Post by dpn982 »

Not even sure which one I got as mine has not shipped yet. I was hoping to have it before halloween, so I could make a costume out of it, but I understand that Adafruit is doing the best they can with the supplies that they can get.

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Adaveach
 
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Re: Guess Adabox 20 contents

Post by Adaveach »

I see two voided charges to my Adafruit account. What's up? I want my Adabox regardless of how late. I've been subscribed since Adabox003 (found the other 2 outside of subscription) and look forward to getting them.

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