Arduino

Duemilenove

Running with an ATMEGA 328P this has given me no troubles at all after 10 years of infrequent use.

Uno (Clone)

UNO R3 CH340G+MEGA328P Chip 16Mhz UNO R3 for Arduino.

~4.00NZD per device. One limitation is that the chip is in a quad flat pack form (The 328p-AU?). This means you can't remove it to use on breadboard prototypes or as a pass-through to upload sketches to a breadboarded chip.

It uses the CH340G chipset for the USB connection.

Nano Mini USB (Clone)

Nano Mini USB with the bootloader compatible Nano 3.0 controller for Arduino CH340 USB driver 16Mhz Nano v3.0 ATMEGA328P

~3.00NZD per device. Shipped with headers to solder on your self. One small issue is the USB connectors are USB mini which is nowhere near as common as the newer USB micro plugs all the Android phones use.

CAUTION Triple check your wiring before turning on this device. I managed to burn out the USB driver on mine by shorting it out. I think the model I'm using is missing a diode on the power line that would have helped.

It uses the CH340G chipset for the USB connection.

ATMEGA328P (Standalone Chip)

ATMEGA328P MCU IC with Arduino UNO Bootloader and 16MHz Crystal

~15.00NZD for the chip and a 16Mhz crystal for a local electronics shop.

This came with a bootloader already installed on it but I kept running into communication errors when trying to upload sketches.

I ending up using the Arduino to breadboard guide to reflash the bootloader. Then used a Duemilenove with its ATMEGA chip removed at a dedicated programmer.