I wasn't actually shopping for robot parts, but I see geeks.com has the boe-bot robot kit (boe=Board of Education) for $59, in case anyone is interested:
(ObDisclaimer: I don't work for geeks.com, I've never played with this kit, and I did not order one myself).
These are rumored to be overstocks and returns from Radio Shack, who recently liquidated all their stock (along with the Vex robots). A couple people on the Parallax forums had trouble, but most report new merchandise and no problems. It's a great price while it lasts.
-- Gordon
$59 is a pretty good price, considering the kits retail for $149 directly from Parallax, and appear to have the stock BOE and BS2 module.
BTW, I see PX has done it again. As a Boebot conversion, they take the $8 Tamiya tread kit, and add 2 aluminum cutouts, and sell the package for $34.
Like all liquidated merchandise you sometimes get product returns. Apparently one purchaser got exactly that. His Boe had been assembled, then taken apart, and the BS2 had two broken pins on it. So there is that risk, but for $60 you could get two for less than the regular price of one, and then have extra parts for any occasion. (Also, take note that this is the older serial-based kit, so be sure you have a serial port on your PC.)
In any case, this sale has been going on for at least a month now, and the remaining stock is bound not to last for that much longer.
Ummmmm, like the Geeks.com Boe's, this has been out for a while, too, Dan! (Perhaps a year, if I recall.) You gotta surf more often!!
(You gotta love the markup, though. Even at full list for the treads, which they certainly don't pay, it couldn't cost Parallax more than $2 for everything else in the quantities they usually produce. I would LOVE
350% markups on my stuff! Sheesh. What line do I get in for that gravy train??...)-- Gordon
Which was my point. Parallax has some astute marketers.
"Which was my point. Parallax has some astute marketers. "
A different word comes to mind rather than "astute".....
TMT
dan michaels wrote:
Thanks for letting us know about the sale.
For a sale that has been going on for awhile, I note that you are the first to mention it here.
TMT
The pricing isn't actually bad, considering that Parallax also sells through resellers. It's standard practice for manufacturers to list a product at 4X-6X over the manufacturing cost. Considering the discounting Parallax probably gets from Tamiya (which they will NOT give to a small OEM like me), their pricing is probably on the order of 4X over cost. That leaves room for the customary 35-40% markup by resellers.
-- Gordon
I think it's been mentioned, along with the Vex kits Radio Shack has discontinued. It's all a part of the same consolidation RS has been doing lately.
For people into Boe's there's Parallax's own forums, which are actually more active than this group. Go where the action is, I guess.
-- Gordon
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