Mindboards

Hi folks,

I recently got a great deal on a big collection of RCX-era Mindstorms. I'd like your perspective on whether I should keep it or sell it to finance an upgrade to NXT.

Here's a photo of my new Mindstorms. - http://imgur.com/lbPVj

I have the main RIS 2.0 set, Ultimate Builders Set, Extreme Creatures, Vision Command, and Robo Sports. All of these are new, with parts in their sealed bags. Some of the boxes are even still sealed.

I'm weighing whether it's worth the trouble (and waiting!) to sell the individual sets. Is the RCX still viable? Is the NXT that much better to make the change worthwhile?

Any feedback you can provide would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

Everything is sealed you said? So you never played with it? In that case I would sell it and buy something else, something you actually use.

aswin0 wrote:Everything is sealed you said? So you never played with it? In that case I would sell it and buy something else, something you actually use.

It's sealed because I just got it yesterday.

I very much want to tear into it and start building, but I'm trying to decide whether I want to sell it and start with NXT instead.

There are good things about both systems. The NXT system is overall much better, but it really depends on what you want to do with the mindstorms. The RCX system isn't worth a lot of money, so I would say that that is a really good way to go for little money (you can get extra parts dirt cheap, like $25 for a second RCX brick). The NXT and RCX systems can also work together, so if you could also get an NXT, you could have a really awesome setup. All those RCX items combined have MANY parts that would be very useful to have with an NXT. There is a lot you can do with the RCX, but it has significantly less features than the NXT. I think it all depends on what you plan to do.

mattallen37 wrote:There are good things about both systems. The NXT system is overall much better, but it really depends on what you want to do with the mindstorms. The RCX system isn't worth a lot of money, so I would say that that is a really good way to go for little money (you can get extra parts dirt cheap, like $25 for a second RCX brick). The NXT and RCX systems can also work together, so if you could also get an NXT, you could have a really awesome setup. All those RCX items combined have MANY parts that would be very useful to have with an NXT. There is a lot you can do with the RCX, but it has significantly less features than the NXT. I think it all depends on what you plan to do.

Thanks for your perspective. I'm leaning strongly toward keeping it all and adding NXT bricks and modules later on.

I priced everything on Bricklink, and based on current listed prices there I could get $400-$500 out of what I have, assuming anything is actually moving at the listed prices.

Forget about Bricklink, have a look on ebay. Complete NXT 1.0 kits are usually about £100 - £120 although they do sell for even less (I got one for £85 a year ago). Many people buy them for Xmas, build 1 model then abandon them as too difficult.
Buying a kit is far cheaper than buying the parts. Buying a NXT and 3 motors alone will set you back about £120 even on ebay and you still have to get the sensors as well as beams, etc.

Plenty of parts on ebay as well but don't buy individual small bits, the markup/ postage on these is usually too high.

Don't worry about the new NXT version 2, the brick is just the same and you can download a free firmware upgrade from the Lego site. The main differences are floating point arithmetic and the ability to use a couple of new sensors. I upgraded mine but now consider it wasn't worth the effort.

aagruntpuddock wrote:Forget about Bricklink, have a look on ebay. Complete NXT 1.0 kits are usually about £100 - £120 although they do sell for even less (I got one for £85 a year ago). Many people buy them for Xmas, build 1 model then abandon them as too difficult.
Buying a kit is far cheaper than buying the parts. Buying a NXT and 3 motors alone will set you back about £120 even on ebay and you still have to get the sensors as well as beams, etc.

Plenty of parts on ebay as well but don't buy individual small bits, the markup/ postage on these is usually too high.

Don't worry about the new NXT version 2, the brick is just the same and you can download a free firmware upgrade from the Lego site. The main differences are floating point arithmetic and the ability to use a couple of new sensors. I upgraded mine but now consider it wasn't worth the effort.

Yep, I've been browsing eBay a bit since my last post. The prices are a little more down to earth.

I'm thinking I'll just keep the RCX stuff I have, as it'll form the basis for a good Mindstorms collection that I can enjoy right now. I'll add an NXT set some time down the road to expand/upgrade. I've got several thousand system and Technic pieces otherwise, and I've got about 1500 pieces in the RCX stuff, so I'm probably set for a while.

Thanks for the advice.

Keep them. You can use all the old RCX sensors with the NXT (cables in sets of three from logo.com). I find the smaller more brick-like rcx sensors easier to add to my town/train models.

I agree, the smaller RCX stuff is a huge plus. There are advantages and disadvantages to both the RCX and the NXT systems, but I think that size is the biggest plus for the RCX parts.

Is the NXT that much better to make the change worthwhile?

definitely: YES.