Make: Electronics Third Edition Kit 1 Deluxe - Beginner, Intermediate, & Advanced (Teen - Adult) Component Pack That Follows The Experiments in Make: Electronics 3rd Ed by Charles Platt

Kit is great and customer service is excellent - the company quickly replaced my multimeter when it had an issue and even provided an upgraded version.

I'm extremely pleased with the service and quality of the hardware learning kit. As a beginner, I found the kit's selection of parts to be invaluable in understanding the hands-on lessons in Mr. Platt's book. The kit's careful selection of components allowed me to explore and compare different parts, which greatly improved my understanding and confidence. The kit's value and quality are well worth the price, and I appreciate the convenience of receiving all the parts at once. I would highly recommend this kit for learners of any age.

When I purchased this kit around Christmas, it was priced at $134.99, and I now see it selling for $119.99. I'd strongly suggest waiting for a sale where you can snag it with a 25% discount. At that discounted price, the expense feels much more reasonable, especially when you consider the quality of the tools and parts you receive. While the quality of the tools and parts is adequate for working through the experiments in the accompanying book, “Make: Electronics Third Edition” – you're definitely paying a premium for that convenience at the regular price. Additionally, the tools and parts case I received was damaged but thankfully didn't impact its ability to hold the contents. Ultimately, while functional, this kit is best purchased when discounted.

Ordered this kit a few weeks ago, finally found time to open it up and take a look. I previously bought the 2nd edition of the Platt book, and was just about to order the kits for that book. And then, the third edition came out! I figured if I was going to get the new book, I might as well get the parts kit for it! All of the parts come in a single plastic double sided storage tote, and, except for a few minor items, contains all of the parts needed for the projects in the book, including an Arduino board. Everything in the tote is labeled, and the smaller parts are in labeled zip-lock baggies, making it very easy to find the parts needed for a build. It's wonderful that ProTechTrader put these together for the book - save time and money not having to hunt down all the components by hand, especially considering there are very few local electronics stores left. I'm just starting through the book, and so far everything needed for the experiments are in the kit. I had a basic electronics course back in high school, and I'm using this kit as a refresher, and a chance to learn more "modern" electronics. While that course was heavy on formulas and calculations, this set is more of a hands on approach, with just enough formulas and theory to understand the topics. So far, it's been a fun journey working with the book and the kit. For me it will likely take about six months to work through all the material at the pace I'm going. I've worked with Arduino boards before, however, have not done much with additional electronics with them - can't wait! There are a couple things I recommend for this kit though. First, I would get a good pair of wire cutters / strippers - will come in very handy. And second - make sure all of the latches on the tote are properly latched before picking it up! I found that having an additional parts box to put components in while I working with them comes in handy. Overall, the combination of a suburb book combined with this well designed and stock kit makes an impressive introduction to modern electronics, and an even better refresher course.

Seems that it's a bit pricey for what you get, but it does come with a solder, multimeter, and container. I bought both kits, the 1st and the 2nd, and managed to fit everything but the two tools mentioned above into the same kit container. So there's that. It's supposed to be everything you need for the first few chapters. Mine was missing a few things, but when I contacted the company, they sent the missing items and a few others as a bonus. That was pretty cool, and enough to send it from four stars to five.Sure, there are cheaper kits out there, and I bought a few for my "outside" projects (projects outside of the book), but they are just parts, sometimes containers - and very random.Overall, I'm glad I got this set, and the book that accompanies it (or vice versa)... helps to make it easier for a procrastinator like me.

Additional update: Made it far enough to try to learn to solder. Ther soldering gun wouldn't heat up right on first use, and let put a HUGE SPARK right in my face while I was using it, and then died. Dangerous. The labels on the breadboard rub off easily. I had to remove a star again.Update: Owner sent the missing parts and extras. Added one star for that. I have to keep a star removed for the missing items, though, because of the price point of this kit. Would have been a bummer to give this as a gift to someone and have it missing critical peices.Kit is missing peices.1.5k ohm resistors missing. Diodes also appear to be missing.You will also need to go out and buy some tools like a wire strippers, wire cutters, needle nose pliers, miniature screwdrivers, 9V battery etc. You will also need to source lemons, galzanized brackets, and some pennies. With a little tweaking I think this could be a perfect beginner kit, but it feels slightly cheap for the price.The book arrived in pristine condition.The case that the components come in is a little flimsy. The clips are weak and dont inspire confidence in their closure. The case is simply not wide enough for the AC power adapter they give you, either. This means you won't be able to keep the adapter together with the rest of the components, so don't misplace it. Because the case is not wide enough for the adapter, it arrived kinda warped and half open.

I do look forward to rediscovering the world of electronics.Hands on approach is so valuable.I appreciate that a kit was developed to accompany this book authored by Charles Platt