[huuu]

Agree. I bought a better than Arduino clone for $5. The Chinese even sell cheaper ones but you must have some luck with the soldering.

[Tempest1981]

I also remember needing a non-standard USB driver, for a CH340 -- a bit scary to install: http://0xcf.com/2015/03/13/chinese-arduinos-with-ch340-ch341...

[huuu]

On Windows that is. On Linux they work out of the box.

[god_bless_texas]

I would do that but I'm afraid of the ftdi clones that can get bricked