Hello led users! I have a question about the nano arduino vs teensy 3.1. Nano is cheaper than the other. What is the benefit for fast led libraries out there? What is pro and con? I think nano should be ok because they are arduino compatible 328 IC. I dont understand why teensy 3.1 is popular. And its pricy. I m curious, Which is your best recommended?
Nano is great for small to medium projects (I own ~15 of them).
Teensy is great for larger projects as it has a LOT more of everything, namely CPU, RAM and Flash (I only have 1 of these).
That being said, I’m looking to migrate FROM the Nano to the Pro Micro. The reason is that the Nano:
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Uses mini-USB connectors, which are not as common as Micro USB connectors that cell phones use.
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Uses FTDI chips for serial connection. Some of these are clones and there are serious driver issues with them (Google ftdi rant).
Nano and Teensy 3.1 are my gotos actually, i like them for their size.
Nano is fine for basic projects, all my LED stickman suits and furniture items use them.
for my large projects I use teensy 3.1
There’s also the $12 Teensy LC, which is cheaper but not as powerful as a Teensy 3.1, but still has higher specs than the Nano: https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/teensyLC.html
Also, don’t forget the constant reminders from Daniel: often the microcontroller is one of the lower expenses of a build. After spending money on LEDs, batteries, etc, why skimp on the microcontroller?
Don’t overlook the $8 Beetle http://www.dfrobot.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1075&search=Beetle&description=true&category_id=48
(Also available with Bluetooth for $15! http://www.dfrobot.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1259)
Just be aware that the teensy lc is not yet fully supported. I want to burn all cortex m0 based devices to the ground sometimes.