EEVblog #96 - The TI LaunchPad MSP430 Development Board

[poorchava]

I'm using a PCI expansion card with 2xCOM 1xLPT and it does work with Atmel's STK200 driven by PonyProg and AVRDude. I'm actually using it, because I've got a printer connected to the motherboard LPT (and by the way i'm not risking pulling the DB25 out of the motherboard by accident).

[kd7eir]

Note that there is a new version of the launchpad kit that ships with a 20pin 8kb flash chip, rather than the 14pin 2kb chip that was shipped originally.  I've been a bit surprised that there hasn't been a bit more noise about this in hobbyist forums; it makes the launchpad much more comparable to "competitors" than it used to be.

OTOH, note that distributors are (may be) still shipping the older version.  I added a couple to a recent Mouser order explicitly to get updated, and got old boards :-(

I ordered mine directly from TI in March and I got the two 20 pin chips with it.

[Bored@Work]

I've been a bit surprised that there hasn't been a bit more noise about this in hobbyist forums;

Because the novelty has worn off. The initial rush is long over and TI didn't manage to establish itself as a go-to brand in the "maker" (i.e. the loudmouth showoff) community. It ain't no longer be cool to get a Launchpad. TI's initial screwup and their mishandling of the situation then didn't help to establish them as a DIY brand.

I would guess that something like 90% of all sold Launchpads never saw use beyond running the preprogrammed demo application, if at all.

What was once the Launchpad crowd is today the Raspberry Pi crowd. Lots of people struggling to get one and making big noise about it, the PI foundation repeating TI's mistakes of not being able to deliver and miscommunication, and in the end 90% of all Raspberry Pis will end up in a dark corner fetching dust once the novelty wears off.

[caroper]

Note that there is a new version of the launchpad kit that ships with a 20pin 8kb flash chip, rather than the 14pin 2kb chip that was shipped originally.  I've been a bit surprised that there hasn't been a bit more noise about this in hobbyist forums; it makes the launchpad much more comparable to "competitors" than it used to be.

OTOH, note that distributors are (may be) still shipping the older version.  I added a couple to a recent Mouser order explicitly to get updated, and got old boards :-(

I ordered mine directly from TI in March and I got the two 20 pin chips with it.

The one I received last week came with 2 20 pin Chips, one being an 8K Flash 256Byte ram, the second is even better at 16K Flash and 512Byte RAM. A good deal for $4.30 especially as it can program and debug any spy by wire part including the TI Chronos.