Was looking to buy an official Arduino to help support Arduino development and to use as a baseli...

[G+_Tyler Pearson]

Was looking to buy an official Arduino to help support Arduino development and to use as a baseline for comparison if I have issues with any clones i eventually buy. Arduino.cc sells them but also has official resellers and builders in the US like Sparkfun which seems to have the best price & shipping. Does purchasing from them still help support or should i just suck it up and pay the $10 shipping from Arduino.cc.

 

Also...is there anything i should consider when buying a Clone. Dip vs SMD CH430 vs ATmega16U2. Or is it really just the cheapest you can find.

 

Are there any good test sketches to test clones to make sure its working properly. I will probably buy 5-10 at once since it take about 1-2months shipping and i wont be using them all right away.