First, I think that this was a very good value. The components provided a very good base for getting started with Arduino. However, after spending hours trying to program the Arduino Mega2560 clone that I believed I had received, I realized that I had been sent a clone of an Arduino UNO. It was still a good value, but I wish that I had been told up front that I was getting an Arduino UNO clone. It would have saved me a lot of time.

As an avid maker and YouTuber, people often ask me what to buy to get started with Arduino. I usually ask them what they want to do with the Arduino and suggest components useful towards their project. But this kit is very reasonably priced for all the components included. So, I decided to check it out before I would recommend it to my friends.

I'm happy to report that is a great value! You could get it cheaper directly from China, but for just a few dollars more I received it in two days instead of four weeks waiting from China.

It is a good kit, but let's start with the bad news:
It is a Chinese clone, not a genuine Arduino, but it works fine. You might have to install some drivers, but I didn't have to because I already use many clone Arduinos.
There is no printed instructions, the CD contains some "lessons" that are more of a guide to build using the various components with very little explanation. The diagrams were often confusing, but thankfully there are plenty FREE excellent Arduino resources online. There is even a decent knockoff book on the CD.

The worst thing about this kit hopefully is that ALL the white jumper wires were defective (the two ends are not connected to each other). The wires look perfectly fine, but there must've been a manufacturing defect on all the white batch. I spent over an hour before I deduced that SOME of the wires weren't working! Whoever heard of a broken jumper wire?!

If you're still reading you might be wondering why I gave this item a five star?!
Well, I contacted Kuman, and they were very responsive and sent replacement jumper wires and matrix (it had a dead pixel). Thanks KumanTech!

Now the good:
This kit is an incredible value for the money. I'm not even sure you could purchase all the pieces separately from China for a better price.
Having it all in one box two days after I order it is worth it.
Parts come well packed. Parts that needs padding were padded. No pins were bent (as is often the case if you order directly from China).
There are many similar kits, but I like this one because of the included parts. The number of projects you could build JUST with this kit is pretty amazing.
You really could start playing with Arduino with just what you receive in this kit (and the internet as your resource).
It even comes with a battery! That you don't really need because you can power everything off the USB port of your computer which you will need to program the Arduino anyway.

I could go on praising every part of this kit. There are so many parts to play with. I'm going to stop writing and go play some more. AMA.

I agree with the positive comments by others. This kit is an outstanding value and, so far, everything works okay. I'm a beginner and I see hours and hours of learning and fun ahead. My only little nit-pick is the USB cable. It has braided metal shielding inside that makes it very stiff so your little, light weight Arduino board never sits flat and wants to jump all over. If an Arduino/breadboard holder was included it would have been nice. I built my own weighted holder. Problem solved. If you decide to screw your Arduino to a wood board as I did be careful to use some stand-offs in the back to protect the pins. I used some felt "dots".

Just right for beginners or for extra parts. As good as it needs to be.

I bought this arduino starter kit to have some fun projects to use to introduce my young son to the things technology can do besides things like television, and to present some real-world applications of coding.

This is a well assembled starter kit if you are interested in getting into arduino. The kit includes all parts to work through the included guide (on cd-rom), so if there is another "course" you are wanting to walk through, consider purchasing any other parts you might need for that one specifically (transistors, diodes, stepper motors, etc) in addition to what you find in this kit.

You will find everything you need to get started here - arduino, expansion board, leds, jumper wires, an assortment of sensors, inputs, and outputs, led display boards, etc. It was nicely packaged - I'm amazed they fit everything in so well!