Adafruit boxes vs Dealextreme boxes...

Hand tools, soldering irons, scopes, multimeters. Talk about em HERE!

Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit

Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.
Locked
User avatar
bdurbrow
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2011 8:07 pm

Adafruit boxes vs Dealextreme boxes...

Post by bdurbrow »

A while ago, when these http://www.adafruit.com/products/432 showed up in the Adafruit store, there were some people asking about the ones from Dealextreme that looked quite similar: http://www.dealextreme.com/p/configurab ... -pack-4727

Well, I had ordered some of the boxes from Adafruit (both large and small), and as I had occasion to order some stuff from Dealextreme a few weeks ago, I thru a set of the Dealextreme version of the boxes in the cart. Part of my order from Dealextreme, including the boxes, have now just arrived... so, I can now compare them.

They are both quite similar, and cross-compatible, but not exactly the same - they may be licensed, or just outright clones (and given the patents listed, possibly infringing), I don't know. They both list most of the same patent numbers on the back of the box, except the Dealextreme version has an extra Chineese patent listed that the one from Adafruit doesn't. Also, the lettering embossed in the Adafruit box is much sharper - as if the Dealextreme version was made from a mold that was made by a casting process, instead of being directly CNC machined. Also, the Dealextreme version is lacking a few features on the dovetail that the version from Adafruit has - I believe that these will help the Adafruit boxes snap together more easily and consistently over the long run.

The plastic on the covers are slightly clearer on the Adafruit version, but not by much - the contents of either box is quite visible (however, they both are frosted, so you can't really read thru them). The Dealextreme version is embossed with "wentai", but the Adafruit lid has no text on it.

The springs on the version from Dealextreme seem to be a bit inferior - slightly rusty in a few spots, and not as nicely curved as the ones from Adafruit. However, they both work OK - I guess time will tell how well they hold up to use.

My overall impression, now that I have both of these in my hand, is that the ones from Dealextreme are OK, but the ones from Adafruit are probbably worth the extra buck, especialy if you are going to make regular use of them.

:)

adafruit
 
Posts: 12151
Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:21 pm

Re: Adafruit boxes vs Dealextreme boxes...

Post by adafruit »

thanks for the note and the review, we have had customers do the pepsi challenge and tell us the dealextreme ones broke in a matter of days - so this is all good to hear and we're pleased with ours :)

thanks,
adafruit

sparr
 
Posts: 196
Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2008 5:21 pm

Re: Adafruit boxes vs Dealextreme boxes...

Post by sparr »

I have a bunch of http://www.sureelectronics.net/goods.php?id=600 that were included for free with some bulk SMT resistor orders I made from there. I'll add a set of boxes from adafruit to my next order and compare to those as well.

User avatar
rayshobby
 
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2011 11:01 am

Re: Adafruit boxes vs Dealextreme boxes...

Post by rayshobby »

I recently bought this 144-compartment SMD box kit from eBay:
http://aidetek.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Scr ... _Code=Encl
It's pretty convenient and relatively inexpensive. The downside is that the compartment size is not as big as the reconfigurable ones. Still, it can fit many components.

User avatar
kscharf
 
Posts: 277
Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:29 am

Re: Adafruit boxes vs Dealextreme boxes...

Post by kscharf »

Whatever you buy, make sure each compartment has it's own lid. Avoid storage that has only one large lid covering all the compartments unless you want the parts re-sorting themselves!

Locked
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.

Return to “Tools Tools Tools”