[Alekanekelo]

I am new to Arduino but very interested in starting. So far I have read that the Uno R3 is the best for beginners but now that the new Due is out will this be preferable for a beginner?

From what I've read, the Due is faster and able to handle more things. But is it easier to use compared to the Uno?

[crusso]

Start with the Uno. You'll cut your teeth on all the same conceptual ground you'll encounter with the Due, but you'll have a simpler platform under you with a great deal of supporting information available on the Internet.

When you grow out of the Uno, the Due will be there waiting for you.

Personally, I'm going to avoid getting a Due until I need the extra horsepower. The simplicity of the AT family of microcontrollers is very appealing. Once you have a prototype working on the Uno, creating the deployable version using an ATTiny85 or whatever is not that difficult.

Compare hooking up an 8 pin ATTiny85 and a few supporting components vs the soldering wire-wrapping nightmare of using a AT91SAM3X8E or some near equivalent.

[Alekanekelo]

Thank you all for the answers. Yes I suspect that I was a bit quick to jump on the appeal of the faster microcontroller on the Due while I wont really need it at all, especially in the beginning.

[callmebison]

Nope.

The vast majority of libraries won't work with the new Due, and some older shields (like expansion cards you put on top) won't either.

The ATMega based boards are cheaper & are easier to get hold of.

Additionally, the Cortex I/O is 3.3V, not 5V tolerant which makes it easier to accidentally fry.

It's exciting stuff for experienced arduino users who like the ecosystem, but if you really want it I'd wait perhaps another hardware revision so the hardware & software stuff is properly in shape. I've been using arduino since the early days and, trust me, you don't want to be the first one hitting obscure preprocessor/compile bugs. You will also be amazed at the amount of performance you can get out of the little ATMegas when you don't have operating systems sucking up all your cycles!

[microtherion]

Right now, I suspect the Uno is easier, because there is so much existing infrastructure around it.

Also, one of the appeals of Arduino to me is to re-learn simplicity, and relying on hardware solutions, due to the limitations of the micro controller. With a µC as powerful as the Due, the temptation for software types like me is to brute force everything in software again, which sort of defeats the purpose of Arduino tinkering for me. I've actually started playing with the ATtiny85, to have an even more limited hardware platform.

However, as a practical device, it looks like the Due is vastly more powerful than the Uno.

[bencevans]

As you say the Due is faster however the downside to it especially for beginners at this stage is that it's new so less docs/blog posts etc. I started on an Uno with a few Shields such as an LED Driver, Motor Driver and Ethernet Shield and that worked out pretty good for me :)