Tool:

Joe Knows Electronics 1/4W Resistor Starter Kit (16 Values, 400 Pieces)
https://amzn.to/2HpbRmG

See also…

Joe Knows Electronics 1/4W 1% 86 Value 860 Piece Resistor Kit
https://amzn.to/2GO3lk1
Joe Knows Electronics 630V X7R 10% Capacitor Kit (13 Values, 370 Pieces)
https://amzn.to/2Jw1Apr
Joe Knows Electronics 33 Value 645 Piece Capacitor Kit
https://amzn.to/2qjiTRI
Joe Knows Electronics Semiconductor Kit (320 Transistors & Diodes)
https://amzn.to/2qkST9m

Transcript:

It’s time for another Cool Tool review. This time we’re taking a look at this resistor starter kit from Joe Knows Electronics. It’s just $8 on Amazon, it’s one of the best quality resistor variety packs I’ve found. And by using the Amazon link in the description to pick one up you’re helping to support my videos and the Cool Tools blog.

Resistors are a fundamental part of every electronics project. Paradoxically, they’re both incredibly cheap and expensive. Because without fail, the specific resistor value you need for a project is the one you don’t have. And if you don’t have a place to pick them up locally, you’re stuck paying $5 shipping for $ 0.25 cents worth of resistors.

This variety pack from Joe Knows electronics includes 400 ¼ watt, 5% precision resistors — exactly what you’d want for most breadboard and Arduino projects.

You get 16 values, from 10 ohms up to 1 megaohm, all separately bagged and labeled. And if you have them out of the bag and get the values mixed up, there’s a chart on the inside lid of the box to help you decipher the color codes.

Now, this is not the cheapest or most complete resistor kit out there. I’ve been buying up a bunch of different kits in my quest for the ideal option and I’ve found that there are three main problems with most kits.

The first is organization. Often you’ll have to pull everything out to get at the value you need. With the Joe Knows kit, you can flip through them like a card catalog.

Second is color. Most of these other kits use blue resistors, which I personally find harder to read the value on. The old school beige color on the Joe Knows kit is easier to read.

Finally, there’s the stiffness of the lead. Aside from the Joe Knows kit, the resistors from every other kit I bought have these wimpy, weak leads that are so soft you can barely get them into a breadboard.

If you’re dropping these into a through-hole circuit board, who cares? But when you’re prototyping, you need to be able to push these leads into Arduino headers and breadboards without them turning to jello.

The leads on the Joe Knows pack could be even stiffer for my taste, but they’re noticeably better than any other one I tried.

So that’s the Joe Knows Resistor Starter Kit. I liked it so much I also bought the 860 piece kit they make, which has better precision and more values. But if I’m being picky I prefer the classic beige of the cheaper starter pack, even if they’re less precise.

I’m sold on this brand though, and I’ll also include links in the description to their capacitor kit and transistor kit, in case you’re at a point where you need to stock up.

And remember, you can find thousands of reader recommended tools like these at Cool-Tools.org.

Find more Cool Tool reviews here:
http://kk.org/cooltools