The Best Electronics Starter Kits

Getting into a new hobby like DIY electronics is an expensive endeavor. Sometimes the cheapest point of entry is a starter kit that perfectly combines a group of items you need with items that teach you about your new hobby. It's a delicate balance though, and not all starter kits are equal, so let's build a list of the best.

We've talked before about getting started with electronics and there are a ton of ways to do it. For some, picking a project (our electronics tag is a good place to start) that you're interested in, buying the parts, and building it is the best way to start, but that doesn't work for everyone. For that reason, starter kits exist, and in these kits is everything you'll need to take different projects from start to finish while learning the basics. There are way too many different kits out there for a variety of components, so we want to know which ones you've used, the ones you've bought for your kids, or kits you've found the most helpful for teaching others the basics.

Let us know your favorite kits in the discussions below like this:

  1. Include a picture: You don't need to hunt down your own kit, a regular old product shot will do.
  2. Include a link and a price: Starter kits are all named about the same, so include a link to the kit you're talking about so we can buy it for ourselves.
  3. One kit per comments: To keep it simple, let's keep it so you only recommend one kit per comment. If you want to suggest multiple, make multiple comments.
  4. Don't repeat suggestions: Before you list your favorite kit, go through and see if someone else already has. If so, click the star and reply to their comment with anything you'd like to add.
  5. Tell us about your experience: Starter kits are great because they usually have all kinds of different project possibilities, so feel free to talk about what you did with yours, what components you really liked, or what you think you'll never use again.

With that, let's get started! We'll kick it off with a few suggestions of our own, but we're more interested in yours.

Photo by jensbrynildsen.