I'm guessing the $3 price is in volume (10k or 100k+). There are a number of eBay listings under $3 [ebay.com], but I wouldn't rely on eBay as a steady supply stream or for good documentation and support.
Digikey has them with some minor volume discounts [digikey.com] for 10 units.
Ebay, banggood or alibaba have them dirt cheap. A got a couple boards this way, and they're perfectly fine and well made. In particular on alibaba there are a bunch of $1/unit suppliers, though that's the FOB price and then you're on your own.
DX.com ( http://www.dx.com/s/esp8266 [dx.com] ) also has a good selection of the ESP8266 -- both bare chips and proper devboards. I got the Nodemcu - compatible devboard ( http://www.dx.com/p/esp8266-es... [dx.com] ) myself and it has been fabulous so far. Though, it's not exactly $3 anymore.
Alas, Jameco [jameco.com] doesn't carry the part. Which is a shame. Since Jameco is in the next county over from Silicon Valley, my orders typically arrive in the next day mail.
I'm guessing the $3 price is in volume (10k or 100k+). There are a number of eBay listings under $3, but I wouldn't rely on eBay as a steady supply stream or for good documentation and support.
I don't think it matters much. There's not that much on the board and they are by definition pinned out a certain way no matter who makes them. I bought literally the cheapest ESP-01s to see if that would be a mistake and no, they're fine.
To err is human -- to blame it on a computer is even more so.
The ESP8266 microcontroller costs less than $3, (Score:0)
The summary doesn't tell me where from though.
Re:The ESP8266 microcontroller costs less than $3, (Score:2)
I'm guessing the $3 price is in volume (10k or 100k+). There are a number of eBay listings under $3 [ebay.com], but I wouldn't rely on eBay as a steady supply stream or for good documentation and support.
My preferred hobby vendors (because they've been supportive to me over the years; I'm not affiliated with them) are SparkFun and AdaFruit. SparkFun has them for $6.95 [sparkfun.com], while AdaFruit has a hacker-friendly version for $9.95 [adafruit.com] and a surface-mount version for $6.95 [adafruit.com].
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Digikey has them with some minor volume discounts [digikey.com] for 10 units.
Ebay, banggood or alibaba have them dirt cheap. A got a couple boards this way, and they're perfectly fine and well made. In particular on alibaba there are a bunch of $1/unit suppliers, though that's the FOB price and then you're on your own.
Re: (Score:2)
DX.com ( http://www.dx.com/s/esp8266 [dx.com] ) also has a good selection of the ESP8266 -- both bare chips and proper devboards. I got the Nodemcu - compatible devboard ( http://www.dx.com/p/esp8266-es... [dx.com] ) myself and it has been fabulous so far. Though, it's not exactly $3 anymore.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I'm guessing the $3 price is in volume (10k or 100k+). There are a number of eBay listings under $3, but I wouldn't rely on eBay as a steady supply stream or for good documentation and support.
I don't think it matters much. There's not that much on the board and they are by definition pinned out a certain way no matter who makes them. I bought literally the cheapest ESP-01s to see if that would be a mistake and no, they're fine.