What is the difference between the Lego Mindstorms 1.0 and 2.0

Question

I am thinking about buying a mindstorms kit (I don't currently own one but I have used 1.0 at university) and I am a bit unsure as to the benefits of 2.0 over 1.0. I have seen other posts on the subject all saying generally 2.0 is better but I have some more specific questions about this that I can't seem to find any answers on.

Apart from the different lego pieces and sensors you get with the 2.0 kit, is there any difference between a 1.0 nxt brick and 2.0 nxt brick? From what I can determine from other sources, they are the same except for the firmware installed. Am I right in saying I could buy a 1.0 kit and install the same firmware that comes with the 2.0 kit and the bricks would be the same or is the 1.0 brick not compatible with the 2.0 firmware???

Also, I plan to use a different programming language like c or java so I need to install specific firmware for that anyway like librcx or lejos right? So if using c or java as opposed to the provided lego coding methods it doesn't matter if I am using 1.0 or 2.0 (except for the lego pieces in the kit) am I right?

In a nutshell, assuming I am using librcx or lejos and I don't care about the sensors and lego pieces included, is there any benefit to buying a 2.0 kit over the 1.0 kit?

Thanks in advance

Pinnatifid

You may be interested to hear that there is a proposal for a StackOverflow style site for Lego Mindstorms on Area51.stackexchange.com. – Favus

Answer 1

I've done a bit more research and from what I can determine there is no difference in the NXT hardware from the 1.0 and 2.0 kits.

The NXT provided with the 2.0 kit uses firmware v1.28 which can be downloaded from the Lego website for free and can also be installed on the NXT which comes with the 1.0 kit making them identical.

If using something like librcx or lejos then this will replace the firmware anyway so again the 1.0 and 2.0 bricks are interchangeable.

In a nutshell, the only apparent difference between the 1.0 and 2.0 kits is the Lego pieces and sensors which can always be bought separately if required. 1.0 kits are generally about £40-£50 cheaper on eBay so you can save yourself some money by buying an older kit and purchasing the extra parts although the new colour sensor supplied with 2.0 is about £40 any way so if you want that then you may be as well just getting 2.0 anyway.

Hope this helps!

Pinnatifid

The main difference is that the new 2.0 set contains a new light sensor, which contains an RGB LED. It can sense the color of pieces and serve as a signaling light. – Garnett

I just looked at the LEGO online store, and after a year the new color sensor still can't be bought separately. – Garnett

You can purchase the new colour sensor on eBay for under £30 now though. – Pinnatifid

The hardware for the NXT brisk is the same in any case. Apart from the parts/sensors differences pointed above, you may also want to consider the software running on the PC itself, which is more evolved/stable as of version 2.0. (Unless you plan to use any alternative language on the NXT, which makes this difference irrelevant.) Note that the education versions may also be different (no software included, different parts/sensors, etc...) if you can buy them somewhere (via the university maybe?). – Viand

See my answer below. A big difference is that the 1.0 RCX has a 9V DC input which is nice for many applications where a tethered RCX is not an impediment and you want to conserve batteries. – Wilber

Answer 2

I think it also depends on whether you have a retail or educational kits. Educational kits come with rechargeable battery cells which are different between 1.0 and 2.0. The battery packs have different sized connections and thus have different power adapters for recharging.

Here is a tidbit of information, Lego will be releasing a new Mindstorm EV3 late this year http://mindstorms.lego.com/en-us/News/ReadMore/Default.aspx?id=476243

Acclivity

Answer 3

They are pretty much actually identical besides that 2.0 has RGB LED light which is nothing very special and the 1.0 kit has a different sensor that 2.0 does not have. So actually, 1.0 is a tiny bit better than 2.0. LEGO Mindstorms NXT 1.0 costs a lot cheaper than NXT 2.0.

Bridal

What is the "different sensor" please? – Wilber

@Wilber While a little late, the "different sensor" is a sound sensor. The NXT 2.0 has an additional touch sensor instead. – Purloin

Answer 4

Actually, there is one big advantage of the 1.0 brick - it has DC input, so you can power it with a 9V power supply and not wear down your batteries. This is invaluable when you are prototyping or building stationary robots or model trains. None of the later models have this excellent feature.

There's some misinformation in some of the other answers to this question. I'd go to Wikipedia which has a very good writeup here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms#RCX

Wilber