What should I look for in a breadboard to buy one?

[Genecks]

I'm a newb to electronics, besides that I'm looking to buy a breadboard on ebay.
From what I understand, a breadboard is a good first step in the world of electronics.
Although my experience is nada (lightbulb to a battery) I'm hoping to excel very quickly in the next few months.

So here's my question, what should I look for when I decide to buy a breadboard?
I assume that a basic breadboard should be adequate for a beginner, yet I don't know what to choose in a breadboard.

I was recently looking at a breadboard online selling on ebay, but I didn't know wheter or not to buy it. It seems like a good deal. I compared with radioshack and I save money buying this.

However, I probably won't have a use for it right away, and I have no understanding of what the V jacks are for.

So what is the lowdown in choosing a breadboard?
I looked for some websites on google, but my searching terms must not have been good enough.

 

[gogo2520]

Welcome to the form Genecks
          I looked at the breadboard you had posted, Its not bad for the price, heres a smiular one http://store.yahoo.com/webtronics/wb-108-j.html
    Whats nice about this one is that it comes with jumpers. Also its coming from a good company that you can trust.
                                            gogo

 

[jstevenperry]

Breadboards are fairly cheap, so you can look in a lot of places. I have two. One I bought at radio shack for about $23, and another (twice as big as the one from Radio Shack) that I got from Jameco that was twice as big, and a few bucks less. Throw in a set of really nice jumper wires, and you're good to go. Here are some links.

Board:
http://jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&productId=20773

Jumper Wire Kit:
http://jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&productId=19289

One thing I forgot to mention: if you're a cheapskate (like me) you can use 22AWG solid wire to make your own jumpers. Jameco sells it in 100' sections for about 5.50.

http://jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&productId=36855

HTH

 

[Genecks]

Yes, but what are the principles to choosing a breadboard?

 

[gogo2520]

  Heres something to give you an idea of what a breadboard is and how it works. There all about the same just  remember if the price is cheap you get what you payed for.

http://www-ece.rice.edu/~jdw/unilab/breadboard.html
                                        gogo

 

[jstevenperry]

1. Size of the board (number of 5x rows of holes, and the number of +/- bus holes)
2. Price
3. Number of power connections

Other than that, I don't know really what else to tell you. Breadboards pretty much are all the same except for the above 3 things.

 

[cynicmonster]

Something else to consider with a board is if it is modular. i.e. you could start with a small board and over time add extra modules to give you a larger board.

 

[Genecks]

Choosing a breadboard seemed complicated at first but I knew that it had a lot to do with adding things and ICs along with prototype work. I know a bit more than load+power source

Ok, more about these modules. When I start out a hobby/project/science I like to make sure that I get the best beginning so I don't spend lots of cash. I'm one of those shoestring budget people since I'm broke a good amount of the time and don't suppose I'll be having a job because I'm a full-time college student. I've got the money now and I plan on doing a lot of prototype work and it was suggested that this be one of the things I get. I'm one of those (assemble/ take apart/ rebuild something) with the parts type of person.
I like going on to larger projects with things, so I believe having something that allows me to expand (such as these module breadboards) would be a good idea.

What would be the best brand/company to get these modules from?
I currently have some money to buy some electronics stuff, so I'm determined on buying electronics material. I'm sure there's a way to look for stuff on ebay, so if you've done that before, any input would be appreciated.

I'm looking for something solderless.
I figure solderless would be the best, right?
What's the point of getting those prototypes that make you solder?
I'm assuming those type of breadboards are a lot cheaper, but wouldn't it be a nag to use them and desolder?

Thanks for the input so far.

 

[ante1]

Hi Genecks,

Just a small caution, if you are planning to go into high frequency RF circuits a breadboard is not what you need.

 

[carve42]

I looked at the breadboards at Webtronics that Gogo linked to.

What is the difference between

"Solderless Breadboards", e.g.
http://store.yahoo.com/webtronics/wb-102-j.html

and

"Solderless Proto-Board System", e.g.
http://store.yahoo.com/webtronics/pbprp.html

apart from the price?

Thanks.

 

[gogo2520]

  There about the same except the expensive one looks more pro but the cheaper one has more advanteges. 1st it comes with jumpers 2nd you can clip on more more boards and make it bigger. I would buy the less expensive one myself. better yet the  way I use breadboard I would buy 10 of them and save even more.
        No kidding I have two powered breadboards and about 6 other regular breadboards with something on em and if I had more boards that would make my life  or hobby much easier
                              have fun gogo

 

[MP1]

The PB-10 is just a breadboard mounted on a metal plate with double sided sticky tape. The plate has binding posts for powering things but the posts are not connected to anything. You must connect wires from the binding posts to the breadboard.
I hope this helps.
Quite frankly, I hate breadboards. They are not very reliable for connections.

MP

 

[Mike11298]

Try making your own - this saves money (not time) but it also is exactly how u want it 

 

[napster_team]

some breadboard selection and troubleshooting ideas are available on my book


MY EXPERIENCE IN AUTONOMOUS ROBOTICS

It is a free book. You can get it from yahoo group-booksbybibin

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/booksbybibin/

Bibin John
www.bibinjohn.tk