Advice on choosing Ramps vs RAMBo Vs Smoothie boards.

Mostly Printed CNC - MPCNC Advice
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Advantages of Rambo/mini-Rambo:

  1. Ultimachine is the original vendor (and the one Ryan uses) and provides great support. There are some clones coming out that don't work the same way, so buyer beware if you go that route - you can search the forum for examples of this.
  2. The boards have some integrated features to protect the user if the user does something dumb. For example, there are very few reports of failed drivers on the Rambo or mini-Rambo.
  3. A fair amount of the community here is using the Rambo or mini-Rambo, which makes collective setup and troubleshooting guidance a tad bit easier, though I've seen some recent setups using the Smoothieboard and MKS boards, too.
  4. Buying from Ryan actually gets you a pretty good price break on the Rambo/mini-Rambo compared to other sellers and you know that when you get the board, Ryan has already flashed the firmware on it and tested it. The shop has the Rambo for $127.
On a related note, support on the site is good and generally positive. A response will be forthcoming, but a Saturday afternoon/evening is probably not the time to expect a quick response. I had chores yesterday and a Mother's Day dinner followed by glorious sleeping. You did get my first forum post of the day.