SparkFun USB Host Shield

I bought this from Proto-Pic (http://proto-pic.co.uk/products/USB-Host-Shield.html) together with a Bluetooth dongle so I could use it to talk to a Nintendo Wiimote.

The price is pretty much the lowest I could find on the web, and delivery was prompt.

One word of warning: although it is clear in the photographs, I failed to realise that it comes with no header pins.

The standard drivers from Circuits@Home (http://www.circuitsathome.com/arduino_usb_host_shield_projects) work OK, but you will find intermittent problems bringing the device up after a reset. Some kind of additional timeouts are needed in the init code.

The board works well and the additional GPIO pins and breadboarding area are very useful.