ESP8266 Community Forum

- Wed Sep 23, 2015 4:58 pm #29733 I just received and finally got my NodeMCU dev board operational. Seeing that it is so easy to use, what is the cons against using one? instead of Hazzah (Adafruit), other breakout boards or raw ESPs?

the only negative i have is that it is bigger than ESP12 or ESP03 native. But to get one of them running is an hour+ work.

Getting the NodeMCU working is minutes.

I would like some feedback on what the NodeMCU can't do (vs a real Arduino) and cons against using it in all my applications (Power? Size, etc)

thanks

- Thu Sep 24, 2015 2:19 am #29756 Well, I just can tell you why I decided to use raw modules: price and size.
I did not find that getting a raw module to work was very difficult.

- Thu Sep 24, 2015 5:06 am #29769 Price and size, and they're not so good for powering by batteries - even when supplying voltage directly to the NodeMCU 3.3v pin because of the other components on the board they draw over 0.2 ma in deepsleep compared to around a tenth of that for a "raw" ESP.

I do like the NodeMCU board too though and use them a lot for quick prototyping.

- Thu Sep 24, 2015 6:25 am #29772 Thank you. Both answers are good ones. I have been using the esp I guess now close to a year since it came out. Obviously w the arduino ide and compatibility, it is much easier. I have tried many times to automate the RTS and DTR with some luck. But that is all it is, luck. Manual reset and flash works 80% of the time. So coding is about 1/5 or so of arduino developement. I also had no issues after the first few days the chip came out to flash and use it. Not have to reset the nodemcu and transfer rate of 900,000 baud is very effective.

I would agree. Prototype w nodemcu and put the raw esp for permanent use.

Thank you and welcome other feedback.