Arduino vs. Sanguino vs. Arduino MEGA
With the recent release of the Arduino MEGA, I’ve been getting quite a few questions about the differences between the various boards. The differences are actually pretty simple, so I figured I’d write a post about it to make it clear.
Basically, from a purely capabilities standpoint, its like this:
Arduino < Sanguino < Arduino MEGA
If you’re going from a price perspective, its more like this:
Sanguino w/o USB to TTL cable < Arduino < Sanguino w/ USB to TTL cable < Arduino MEGA
If you’d prefer to get into the nitty gritty, here’s a table with the various functionalities of the boards broken out:
| Name | Arduino Duemilanove | Sanguino | Arduino MEGA |
| Microcontroller | atmega168 or atmega328 | atmega644p | atmega1280 |
| Speed | 16 MHz | 16 MHz | 16 MHz |
| Flash Memory (program space) | 16KB or 32KB | 64KB | 128KB |
| RAM | 1KB or 2KB | 4KB | 8KB |
| EEPROM | 512 or 1024 bytes | 2048 bytes | 4096 bytes |
| I/O Pins (TOTAL) | 20 | 32 | 54 |
| PWM Pins | 6 | 6 | 14 |
| Analog In Pins | 6 | 8 | 16 |
| Serial Ports | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| I2C | YES | YES | YES |
| SPI | YES | YES | YES |
Of course, each board serves its own particular niche: If you need a simple, easy, small board for a basic project, the standard Arduino is usually more than enough. If you need just a bit more memory/space/pins, then the Sanguino could be right for you. If you want to have the most powerful, or you need a ton of pins, or you just like awesomeness, then the Arduino MEGA could be right for you.
Have you made your decision? If so, you’re in luck, since we’re the only store in the world that sells all three! We have the Arduino Duemilanove w/ atmega328, the Sanguino, and the Arduino MEGA in stock. Grab your favorite, or collect all three!
Long live open source hardware!
Finally, there’s probably something I left out or got wrong, so please feel free to correct me if I messed up.
