Read description carefully, this kit does not include the Arduino chip
351114
I bought this product without realizing that this starter kit did not include the Arduino chip. I had bought this product assuming I could start building Arduino projects immediately.  This is just a box of hardware. After receiving my package, I had to go online and make a second purchase to buy the Arduino chip which took another 2 weeks and $20 before I could start this hobby. I would recommend buying a different kit that INCLUDES the chip for a few dollars more.
682899
Got it a couple of weeks ago and it's awesome. I've been following a lot of Arduino tutorials and this kit has had everything I needed so far. I've also been creating some "dumb" circuits (no arduino) and this kit also has what I need (with the exception of some larger capacitors and 470k resistors).

If you get this and you think you'll be investing a lot of time into the hobby, consider getting some add-ons, like more transistors, logic gates and slightly wider array of resistors. But none of that is needed to get started on some projects 10 minutes after you get the kit.
4032498
I bought this because my group needed an Arduino-compatible board for our engineering senior design project and we didn't know if we would need any other components during the testing phase. This kit provided everything we needed and more. It is less expensive than the official kit and the tutorial seems detailed (I didn't do more than look through it). If you are an absolute beginner in the DIY electronics world, this kit might work (it probably will be fine but I haven't gone through the tutorial guide extensively) but I would recommend that you buy the official Arduino Starter Kit. If you have some experience and are just looking on mastering your current knowledge and can adapt what you have to the project you are working on, this kit is great. I recommend this to anyone with any previous exposure to DIY electronics.
4367239
Found this kit to be useful.  I was looking some with more bells and whistles.  But it's pretty much what you need to get started with Arduino.
3673313
So when this unit arrived I was a bit skeptical of it do to not having ANY documentation with it. it did come well packaged in a box wrapped in a ESD bag and small bubble wrap. When looking on how to connect this to my Arduino I started with some of the other comments for the libraries, but they only got the screen working and not the touch part. I have searched a lot and found that these units are a crap shoot as to which "video chip" they use. The library that you will want to use to get the screen to work is here: http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=292777.0 but for the touch part I am still trying to debug it to get it to function. If you want a "project" this would be a good one.. but if you want something that it plug and play I would get a true Adafruit and save yourself the hassle.
2172786
See the photo of components? Stuff them all in a small brown box and that's what you get. They all seem to be of decent quality so no real complaints, though this is not for people looking for a kit teaching basic electronics. If you have a book or already possess medium-level electronics ability you can make good use of many of these components. There are plenty of free PDFs online on projects to do with the Arduino card so not a real obstacle. Note that this is mailed from China and will take 4+ weeks to arrive.
4543877
I ordered this to use with a raspberry pi for a diy ambilight project, but the device I received was not a compatible chipset. The ID printed on the physical chip is OB-MBA22N. Not UTV007 nor STK1160. Here are the lusb and dmesg outputs:

$lsusb
Bus 001 Device 007: ID 534d:0021

$dmesg | grep usb
[27490.519593] usb 1-1.4: new high-speed USB device number 7 using dwc_otg
[27490.621306] usb 1-1.4: New USB device found, idVendor=534d, idProduct=0021
[27490.621327] usb 1-1.4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=0, SerialNumber=0
[27490.621341] usb 1-1.4: Manufacturer: MACROSIL
3833431
Kit is okay, but the micro SD card that came with it was corrupted when I received it, so I wasn't able to have any projects up-and-running on Christmas, as I had hoped.  Had to buy a new SD card - which cost me about $20 because I didn't want to wait for shipping, so I bought one in store.  Since that replacement, everything has worked perfectly.
Power cord works well as well as the WiFi dongle.
I probably wouldn't purchase the kit again - and would just buy the Raspberry Pi & necessary components.  Depending on what you are looking to do, it will likely be cheaper and possibly better quality.
2463686
The Kit came with everything I needed to get started on my project.  Much more cost effective then purchasing the pieces individually.

<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/SainSmart-Mega2560-R3-ATmega2560-16AU-1602LCD-Prototype-Shield-2-Channel-5V-Relay-Starter-Kit-with-over-16-Basic-Arduino-Tutorial-Projects-for-Arduino-Beginners/dp/B00CFDW2V0/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">SainSmart Mega2560 R3 ATmega2560-16AU + 1602LCD + Prototype Shield + 2-Channel 5V Relay Starter Kit with over 16 Basic Arduino Tutorial Projects for Arduino Beginners</a>
530413
Please be sure you know what your are doing when purchasing this item. Has a bunch of cool add on's but they DO NOT work with the original Arduino Uno (schematics, codes etc.) I was excited about the price but disappointed its operation(s).
1216229
Currently working on a project to make a Proof of Concept Autopilot with an arduino board. Basically, to make an autopilot you need four things:

1.) Magnetometer (Compass, to determine heading)
2.) Accelerometer (To determine roll in relation to gravity)
3.) Barometer (Altimeter, uses pressure to determine altitude)
4.) GPS (To determine location)

I obviously wasn't going to find an all in one package for all of this - when I went window shopping for sensors I looked for all of them separately. I was obviously stressing about how I was going to solder a bunch of things and also custom make hookups for the I2C ports. Then, I came across this. It was really impressive how this fit 3 of the 4 things in one single board (And tiny as well!), saved me a bunch of headaches so I decided to jump in for it. The moment I first opened the package I was impressed - mind you I'm usually the aerodynamics guy for our projects so I don't get to fiddle with these a lot, but this was amazing. Last time I used a sensor, it was the famous ADXL345 board that just contained an accelerometer. This board, as you can see in the pictures, is smaller, and still includes two more sensors on board. Amazing!

For the actual product, I used a couple sample codes that I found lying around. The board does come with sample code as well, with the user manual for both the MPU-9250 and BMP-280 (Registries and everything), with the link to the .zip written on the little static proof baggie it comes in. Just four wires connecting SDA, SCL, 3.3V, and GND and I was in business.

The chips used in this, the MPU-9250 and BMP280 are both famous as well, so you will find a lot of support online. Adafruit has codes and writeups on the BMP280, as well as libraries, and Sparkfun has the same for the mpu-9250. I have a full on user manual on my blog at Uavtarik.blogspot . com for this specific board.

You might come across a problem with the BMP280 board if you're using the Adafruit libraries, with the code saying that the BMP board is not connected properly. Apparently, the Adafruit ones come with 0x77 I2C address, and some of the ones around here come with 0x76. Bosch apparently messed up during manufacturing? Just change one line of code noting the address in the BMP280 adafruit library and you're set.

The barometer calculates altitude, and finds temperature and etc very accurately, and the accelerometer is also very accurate. Moreso than the ADXL345 that I was using a while back. Heading and everything else with the Magnetometer is also perfect. This chip is a great idea if you're going to be making a weather station, autopilot for a drone (like me!), self driving car, so on so forth. Great tiny little board, I love it.
3624329
Getting started with the Arduino can be challenging, and this was not the first kit I purchased. The kit comes with a CD Rom, but my CD drive has been broken for ages. But, right on the CD it has a URL where you can go to download the tutorials and examples. I followed their example to hook up the LCD display, compiled and uploaded their example code and it worked the first time.
This is sort of the modern era version of the venerable "Erector Set". It would make a great gift for young, inquisitive minds (mine is, well, not so young anymore).
1872955
The projects are very boring, and very difficult to modify the software unless you are thoroughly well-versed in Arduino, highly recommend before you tackle this to get the Arduino for dummies and become intimately acquainted with the language, that will make the projects in this kit much more enjoyable I imagine.
3853182
BEWARE!!!
Pins D10 and D9 can't be used while programming from Arduino IDE. Your device won't boot.

Otherwise, has a great community around it and works very well. Would recommend for any IoT project, just make sure you secure it behind a firewall.
1225303
I do not have a way to test whether if it is the Arduino or my sensors.  I have three sensors that don't work with it (all of them).  I have previously used all of them on an Arduino Mega 2650 without a logic level shifter, so it could be that the sensors are broken and only work on 5V?  or the board is screwed up...

Other than TWI not working, the only other thing is the silk-screening wasn't the best quality.  But I didn't expect perfection for this price, so I can overlook that.
4855363
Came with the wrong sized mounting board(too small) for breadboard and arduino, instructions geared towards arduino uno despite me getting the arduino mega package
1895948
The adafruit library worked well with this sensor when using with the arduino