I had posted before about a mini version, turns out that was not correct.

I had posted before about a mini version, turns out that was not correct. That board had a mega2560 not the smoothie compatible chip.

Anyway sorry, here is another one I found. Sorry if previously posted. This one is $65 with prime shipping. I bought one and can share experiences if interested when I get a chance to try it out.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FVT5VA8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_YT0YxbWCB5NCJ

I would suggest getting an original Smoothieboard or at least if you are using a compatible board, an Azteeg as they give back to the project developers. Using clone boards does nothing to further development of the project. By using an original baord, it helps fund the awesome work Arthur, wolmanjm and the rest of the smoothie crew are doing. The increase in price is not that much, and you will gain access to tech support from the project vreators (Trust me, if you have issuers of any sort, this is priceless!) I can go into google hangouts and chat directly with developers just about any time and have problems or issues resolved in a matter of minutes, not days or weeks (And in the case of the MKS board they offer ZERO suopport to the user) Just my 2 cents worth.

I bought a smoothieboard as well, but this price is too low to pass up.

$135 for a 4x Smoothieboard or $65.98 for a compatible board. If the quality matches or is acceptable, there is no question its worth it. Also i was disappointed that Smoothieboard requires another $15 adapter for adding gLCD. This board seems to have the EXP1 and EXP2 ports available.

Just to add my 2cents worth. MKS are parasites… they violate the OSH license by not making their board open source. They contribute nothing to the community, and from what I hear the quaility is sub par. @Arthur_Wolf will have more to say along the lines that they are basically killing the smoothie eco system.

@Wolfmanjm With all the respect sir, but why do you say MKS Sbase is not opensource as long as the schematicsm parts list and firmware are public? https://github.com/makerbase-mks/MKS-SBASE

@Mircea_Russu MKS is not open-source because it is not released under an open-source license. Letting people “look at” the files is not open-source, open-source is allowing users to modify, copy and use the files.
MKS themselves say in the reprap forums, when asked, that they are not open-source.

MKS is also a cancer that is destroying the smoothie project. Everything people like about MKS, comes from the smoothie project, they did none of it, they are not helping in any way, they are leeches.
It is a closed-source derivative of open-source work, which is going against the wishes of the people who contribute to the smoothie project, it is violating the license, it is pissing on the community and on the work of hundreds of volunteers.

No board files, no Bill of Materials, etc. It is only truly open source if you can go to their site and create the product directly from the supplied files. A pdf of the schematic is not the same as having the Eagle .brd files or Gerber files to create the board.

You are right. Sorry for being shallow. I thought having the schematics and parts list at the end would be enough to understand and make a board. Usually the chinese don’t release kernel sources for their tablets, not to mention modern firmware, drivers, comm protocols… I thought this is true open source :frowning: I admit I went for the MKS because of the price and shipping.

Do not worry @Mircea_Russu You are not the only one who has been lured in by the price. And since Smoothieware/Smoothiebaord is Open Source, most people just assume that the derivatives and clones are also Open Source. Hell, even I own an MKS Sbase board (not currently using it , and have no real plans to do so in the future, just keeping it around to be able help others who own one if needed) But hopefully more discussions like this one will help educate the users out there that are considering buying an MKS clone.

@Wolfmanjm @Arthur_Wolf I posted a longer version on Anthony’s warning thread above and while there is a license issue, (of which I don’t blame you a bit for being angry) the bigger issue for users is cost and availability of genuine Smoothie or license compatible boards.

They’re only available in a few places and at a pretty significant cost difference. Until that is changed it’s going to be difficult to bring the market around. Ray is working on a variant and while I’ve got a kit of parts and had some boards made, I haven’t flowed one yet. My one off BOM was about US$50 with US Digikey parts and boards from Dangerous Prototypes.

If I could right now I’d front a 100 batch but that’s not in the cards near term. Educating the users to the differences is good, but long term unless the pricing and availability is closer the MKS it’s a tough sell.

Thank you @dstevens_lv ! Great response.

@Cid_Vilas Thanks, though so I’m clear, I agree completely with what they are saying. When a manufacturer clones like that and doesn’t at least contribute full source back to the community it can harm the original project. However, that doesn’t in and of itself address the core issue, which is why they are able to fill that void in the market.

@dstevens_lv ​. Agreed