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I love alibaba/aliexpress, it's like "China: The Website". Great for cheap microcontrollers and what not.


Just as an example what taobao is so neat for,

    Temperature Controlled Outlet 33.3 RMB https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.13.t80P3i&id=536295296729&cm_id=140105335569ed55e27b&abbucket=4&skuId=3200881016743
    Water Heater 19.9 RMB https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.1.MjQ88E&id=527717128601&cm_id=140105335569ed55e27b&abbucket=4&skuId=3219050495205
    Aquarium Wave Maker 15.9 RMB https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.47.Wgm0TD&id=533814521124&ns=1&abbucket=4#detail
    50 L Plastic Box 35.0 RMB https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.13.haJnJy&id=530500415822&cm_id=140105335569ed55e27b&abbucket=4&sku_properties=21433:648878820
Which, if i manage to get it working, makes a sous vide circulator (i hope). Also have a small hydroponics setup in an orgfile somewhere, which comes to about 150RMB.


YES!! You can buy just an egregious amount of (crappy) components for very little money. As a wannabe-inventor that burns through a lot of components, this is really one of my favorite things about it.


It's great for amateur electronics projects. Need 100 22AWG five-strand connectors and you're not in a rush? Hit up AliExpress, and they'll show up on your doorstep for less than the price of a frozen pizza in a few weeks.




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