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      Hrmmmm! You have my attention.<br>
      I have used JLCPCB in the past, but was not aware of affordable
      component mounting service.<br>
      <br>
      Chris McDowell wrote:<br>
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      cite="mid:8D4DC48A-7601-43B6-BA26-AAB98E5B3E5B@gmail.com"
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      <div class="">I just wanted to pop in and put in a good word for
        LCSC. I use <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://LCSC.com"
          class="">LCSC.com</a> and <a moz-do-not-send="true"
          href="http://JLCPCB.com" class="">JLCPCB.com</a> daily for
        work, with jlcpcb now having -insanely- great deals on low
        volume smt assembly. I'm talking 20 units covered in surface
        mount components for ~$3 a piece. jlcpcb already got all of my
        business for prototype pcbs before this service went live in the
        US, but now I get any prototype pcb for less than I would have a
        year ago, with all or most surface mount soldered. A bit of a
        game changer for us. </div>
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              -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
                href="http://www.atxled.com" class="">ATXLED</a></div>
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        <blockquote type="cite" class="">
          <div class="">On Nov 15, 2019, at 12:43 PM, <a
              moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:sleepy_dog@gmx.de"
              class="">sleepy_dog@gmx.de</a> wrote:</div>
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            <div class="moz-cite-prefix" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0,
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              Ben Stuyts wrote:<br class="">
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            <blockquote
              cite="mid:E7E6479F-9914-4556-8737-9DFBFFF11DCB@stuyts.nl"
              type="cite" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size:
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                <blockquote type="cite" class="">
                  <div class="">On 14 Nov 2019, at 23:04,<span
                      class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a
                      moz-do-not-send="true"
                      href="mailto:sleepy_dog@gmx.de" class="">sleepy_dog@gmx.de</a><span
                      class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>wrote:</div>
                  <br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
                  <div class="">
                    <div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" class="">
                      <div class="moz-cite-prefix">Ben Stuyts wrote:<br
                          class="">
                      </div>
                      <blockquote
                        cite="mid:B902206D-82A0-4A56-8BE9-CDDAF666543D@stuyts.nl"
                        type="cite" class="">
                        <div class="">How’s $0.03 for a microcontroller?
                          :) <a moz-do-not-send="true"
                            href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYhAGnsnO7w"
                            class="">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYhAGnsnO7w</a></div>
                        <div class="">Die shot: <a
                            moz-do-not-send="true"
                            href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jw5D0F008c"
                            class="">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jw5D0F008c</a></div>
                        <div class=""><br class="">
                        </div>
                        <div class="">By the way,<span
                            class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a
                            moz-do-not-send="true"
                            href="http://lcsc.com/" class="">lcsc.com</a> where
                          this mcu came from is a really interesting
                          distributer, part of the same company als<span
                            class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a
                            moz-do-not-send="true"
                            href="http://jlcpcb.com/" class="">jlcpcb.com</a> (pcb
                          manufacturer). Lots of cheap Chinese parts,
                          but also e.g. ST microcontrollers for better
                          prices than e.g. Farnell or Digikey. I’ve used
                          some of them in production, no complaints yet.</div>
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                        <div class="">Ben</div>
                        <div class=""><br class="">
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                      </blockquote>
                      <p class="">Ha! :D That's slightly cheating,
                        though, isn't it? Unrealiably obtainable
                        "seasonal produce" fresh from Shenzen market...
                        usually made for one-off rubbish products.<br
                          class="">
                        Or not?</p>
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              <div class="">I believe<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a
                  moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://lcsc.com/"
                  class="">lcsc.com</a> is a reputable distributor, and
                the company behind those cheap MCU’s (Paduak Tech) seems
                to give reasonable support. There are some  <a
                  moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://eevblog.com/"
                  class="">eevblog.com</a> forum threads where people
                discuss their experience with these chips. I just
                checked that particular MCU and it is still in stock,
                over 18k pcs: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://lcsc.com/product-detail/PADAUK_PADAUK-Tech-PMS150C-U06_C168658.html"
                  class="">https://lcsc.com/product-detail/PADAUK_PADAUK-Tech-PMS150C-U06_C168658.html</a>.
                It boggles the mind…</div>
              <div class=""><br class="">
              </div>
              <div class="">For a more well known example: For a recent
                production run I needed 100 pcs of the STM32F103RBT6, a
                64 pin Arm Cortex-M3 controller. It is US$1.5348 at
                lcsc, and USD 4.83 at Digikey. There is some sort of
                supply chain advantage there…</div>
              <div class=""><br class="">
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              <div class="">Ben</div>
              <div class=""><br class="">
              </div>
            </blockquote>
            <p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica;
              font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps:
              normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal;
              text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none;
              white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;
              -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255,
              255, 255); text-decoration: none;" class="">Ok, this is
              interesting. In general, not for me personally (wrt
              applicability). Those seem more primitive than I was aware
              still exist, if I read that right you need to chose
              whether it comes with an arm OR a leg ;) Which would be
              just right for what Richie B. mentioned, e.g. electric
              toothbrush, I get it. Wasn't even aware those had MCUs
              now... But I guess one step to be "ahead" (marketing wise
              anyway) of the competition at some point in their
              evolution was to give toothbrushes more than one function,
              and as soon as it has that, some simple MCU like that
              comes in handy. (or if the charging logic can also ditch
              some "traditional" components if a MCU is present, then
              it's benefitial even earlier?)<br class="">
            </p>
            <p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica;
              font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps:
              normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal;
              text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none;
              white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;
              -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255,
              255, 255); text-decoration: none;" class="">So, I guess my
              perception of 8 bit MCUs fading away comes from seeing a
              lot of areas where there once were king, and anything
              better prohibitively expensive, and nowadays those fields
              that I am more aware of tend not to be so focused anymore
              on "lowest end MCU possible" (again, from industrie
              examples I stumble upon, which is biased by my particular,
              if not peculiar, set of interests, I guess)</p>
            <p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica;
              font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps:
              normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal;
              text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none;
              white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;
              -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255,
              255, 255); text-decoration: none;" class="">So to
              summarize, my perception is still that they are becoming
              less used in some areas (and IF my perceived trend
              continues, the end point there is "phased out"), but now
              through this thread I have become aware of areas that
              weren't on my radar at all before, so thanks for that, to
              all involved.</p>
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              255, 255); text-decoration: none;" class="">- Steve<br
                class="">
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