Scratch

I think it looks worth it. Ask Chalkmarrow to find out about how it works.

This thread answers a lot of questions on the Sensor Board:

http://scratch.mit.edu/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=44854#p44854

Whether it's worth it or not depends on how badly you want to hook Scratch up to the real world!

I definitely think it's worth it. Paddle2See's post has a link to more info about how it works, etc.

chalkmarrow wrote:

I definitely think it's worth it. Paddle2See's post has a link to more info about how it works, etc.

I hope you're right, because my dad just said I could get one

Paddle2See wrote:

Cyclone103 wrote:

Paddle2See wrote:

This thread answers a lot of questions on the Sensor Board:

http://scratch.mit.edu/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=44854#p44854

Whether it's worth it or not depends on how badly you want to hook Scratch up to the real world!

I would love to hook Scratch up to the real world, but I would only buy it if they drop the price back down. I was actually planning on getting one, but I changed my mind as soon as they raised the price.

What was was.  What is is.  The past is gone.  Deal with the present, live in the moment.  If you had not known that it used to be cheaper, would you have thought the price too high?  The value of something really has no relationship with what it's price used to be.  I have come to that conclusion when thinking about gas prices.  Yes, they are twice as high as they used to be only a short time ago.  But it is still worth it to me to drive 10 miles...if the alternative is to walk.

Thank you, Yoda...

I'd agree that the cost of the PICOboard is high. But the PICO board lets you connect Scratch to the real world. That means that you can now connect ( or even build ) sensors and switches that let you connect to changes in light, motion and sound all around you.
- Also another way to look at the cost of the PICOboard is to think about what you've already been given: Scratch and the Scratch website.
For free.

Orange20 wrote:

I just bought one recently, and I think they are definatly worth it.

Agreed. So fun to make a scrolling game using entirely the sensor board

Paddle2See wrote:

What was was.  What is is.  The past is gone.  Deal with the present, live in the moment.  If you had not known that it used to be cheaper, would you have thought the price too high?  The value of something really has no relationship with what it's price used to be.  I have come to that conclusion when thinking about gas prices.  Yes, they are twice as high as they used to be only a short time ago.  But it is still worth it to me to drive 10 miles...if the alternative is to walk.

I see your point but what does driving and walking have to do with Scratch/Pico boards?

Paddle2See wrote:

Cyclone103 wrote:

Paddle2See wrote:

This thread answers a lot of questions on the Sensor Board:

http://scratch.mit.edu/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=44854#p44854

Whether it's worth it or not depends on how badly you want to hook Scratch up to the real world!

I would love to hook Scratch up to the real world, but I would only buy it if they drop the price back down. I was actually planning on getting one, but I changed my mind as soon as they raised the price.

What was was.  What is is.  The past is gone.  Deal with the present, live in the moment.  If you had not known that it used to be cheaper, would you have thought the price too high?  The value of something really has no relationship with what it's price used to be.  I have come to that conclusion when thinking about gas prices.  Yes, they are twice as high as they used to be only a short time ago.  But it is still worth it to me to drive 10 miles...if the alternative is to walk.

If you think about the processes gas has to go through its a miricle its still so low in pplaces like the US. Over here its roughly 10cents a liter :p. Anyways sory for going off topic

hmnwilson wrote:

I bought a scratch board while they were still being made. Sure the price was lower then, but I definitely thought it was worth it... until it broke.    I'm not allowed to get a new one (especially since they raised the price) but it was fun while it lasted.

How did it break? Do some parts of it work, while others do not work? Or does it no longer talk to your computer or something...

hmnwilson wrote:

chalkmarrow wrote:

hmnwilson wrote:

I bought a scratch board while they were still being made. Sure the price was lower then, but I definitely thought it was worth it... until it broke.    I'm not allowed to get a new one (especially since they raised the price) but it was fun while it lasted.

How did it break? Do some parts of it work, while others do not work? Or does it no longer talk to your computer or something...

Hard to say. It used to work fine, but somehow it got damaged and never worked again. I tried to find what was damaged, and on the bottom I saw a pretty deep scratch (no pun intended) along some orange wires and seemed to cut right through them. (It's a drawback to having no covering.) Aaaaand, needless to say, my parents never forgave it, but I guess that's the reaction you get when you buy something for $30 (the price at the time) that lasts only a week.

Yeah. The orange lines on the bottom correspond to thin metal traces interconnecting various parts of the board. If you cut through one of those it could brick the board by creating an open circuit. On the other hand, depending upon how handy you are with a soldering iron, it's really not impossible to fix. If you scrape away the orange covering carefully enough to expose the metal underneath on both sides of the scratch, you might be able to interconnect them with a bit of melted solder (though it will likely not "stick" too well to what is probably aluminum traces, so you would need to play with it), and you would need to prevent contact with any adjacent traces. It would be a pain in the butt to do, but you really have nothing to lose...