I have been looking for a pre-packaged assortment of various components (resistors, caps, diodes) to give myself a decent starting supply of various values, etc. I stumbled upon this site and just wanted to pass along the info, since it really is the best deal I've seen unless you're willing to purchase massive bulk amounts.

Futurlec.com - Value Packs

The IC value pack alone was worth it to me, I got 5 ea 7805 and 7812 voltage regulators and a bunch of 555 and 556 timers, a few different op-amps, an octal comparator (i think that's what it was called), and some other random DIPs.

The only drawback is the wait time. I live in California and placed my order on Feb 25th. I received the order on March 18th, approximately 3 weeks after ordering. They ship from their "distribution center" in Thailand, so it takes a bit. Check it out though if you want.

Ted

ooh!

Thanks, I'm spending a ton getting doodads from digikey.

Also commiting the cardinal sin and buying stuff at radio shack and they are for some parts TRIPLING the price of the components (relative to digi-key prices) I really must learn to be patient!

Oh, they do have a nice passive infrared sensor that outputs logic for 10 bucks, I haven't seen them anywhere for that cheap. Easy and cheap motion detector.

That IDCC connector pack I would rob an old lady for!

I'm salvaging headers off from motherboards because I could not figure out what those were called to order some.

I've purchased from Futurlec before. Prices are very good on some items, so-so on others. Shipping takes a while (over two months on one of my orders that had some back ordered parts) usually about a month (orders come from Thailand)

I have an ISP programmer, ATTiny2313 dev board, and ATMega128 dev board from them. I love those items would recommend them to anyone.

Rick

I found them when I was searching for really small breakouts for the 32pin TQFP MCUs. I just bought a few of the 328s. Rick, you are completely right about their prices though, some great, some not so great. I guess it's like anything, you gotta shop around for the best deals.