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I've played with AVRs before with my atmel development kit and have seen recently the use of Arduinos increasing. I have a few questions from users:
I am interested in moving to them but also which should i get as there are so many to choose from.
The various Arduino boards use AVR micro-controllers.
With the appropriate software, using the Arduino is the same as using any other micro-controller. However, the Arduino software doesn't support in-circuit debugging, which is available with other development software like Atmel's AVR Studio. You can use the Arduino hardware with AVR Studio and Atmel hardware tools like the Dragon programmer/debugger. The Arduino software supports downloading to the target via a bootloader.
The Arduino web site and forums are very useful if you need help.
An Arduino is basically a cheap, unsupported ("open-source") development board. You can use the Arduino libraries and software for a gentle introduction to MCUs, or you could go all out and use none of it and develop on the Atmel AVR directly with AVR Studio and WinAVR (containing the avr-gcc compiler).
Even if you don't use Arduino software, the board is still going to be physically the same size, so there's nothing preventing you from using shields, which is a convenient way for hobbyists to add hardware if you don't want to do much component assembly (let alone make/drill PCBs).
For what it's worth, I somewhat like the Arduino concept, but the use of C++ is obnoxious, and I fail to see the value in hiding main(); from the user. Fortunately, that can all be done away with.
Actually avr-gcc is under the covers in Arduino as well... you just have to use C++-ish syntax if you're using their libraries or writing your own. Otherwise, the only constraint is that you are 'forced' to use the pattern equivalent to:
int main(int argc, char *argv[]){
setup();
for(;;){
loop();
}
return 0;
}
which is a pattern that fits a large cross-section (arguably the entirety) of embedded design. You just implement setup() and loop().
Also it's not a choice between Arduino and a micro-controller. In principle, you could take the ATMega328P out of an Arduino board context, programmed with a sketch, and transplant it into a more tightly integrated solution.
So I guess I disagree with the sentiment of some of the other answers here suggesting that Arduino is just a "toy" platform. In my opinion it's viable for more "serious" development. It just lowers the barrier to entry into the embedded world. The ability to program it without a separate programmer (e.g. AVRISP mkII, STK500, etc.) is kind of a big deal in this regard.
I don't really think that it demands significant compromise from more advanced users.
#include, but if you bring them into the IDE it fails miserably. @Thom, not that one should ever relinquish control to...whatever is after main in an embedded system...but I'd expect the micro to just wait until it gets a reset or some interrupt.
\$\endgroup\$
My first question for you is -- what are you going to do with it? While getting Arduino up and running is easy and there are quite a few sketches available to play with, development isn't all that fun. IMO, the IDE is a little quirky and some of the keyboard shortcuts are really obnoxious to Visual Studio developers. :) Like Leon said, you won't have in-circuit debugging, but some of the other ease-of-entry devices like mbed don't have it, either.
If you're just playing around and bitbanging to learn about LCDs, or want to read sensor data, or interact with serial devices, it's great. However, if I were deciding on a platform for a consumer-ish product, I would choose something else that provided in-circuit debugging.
Dave Jones did a video blog on the Arduino. If the link doesn't work search for the EEVBlog #45.