A lot of drivers being sold on the web look exactly the same. Same black box, same cooling fins, same connection points and the same specs. However, have a look inside and you'll see there is a lot of differences. Cheap drivers are just that, cheap. They use old technology and outdated systems to provide a less expensive product.
There is also size and weight differences that cannot be easily seen on the web. If the product is lighter, what is it missing? If the product is smaller, where did all the parts go?
What if the model number is the same? They should be identical products? Unfortunately a lot of drivers are built around a main processing chip and this is how they label their driver. So even though they have the same or close to the same model number the parts they use can be very different from one driver to the other.
These 5 drivers are labeled as 860 models but they are not the same. As you can see, there are different resistors, different capacitors and there are even differences in the boards layout.
One of the drivers tested was not worth the money spent. It was noisy, overheated and constantly missed steps. Which one is it? By looking it's impossible to tell. It's not until you power up the board and start testing that you'll soon find out. By that time you've already spent your money.
Stepper Motor Canada has tested many drivers over the years and found a few models that are robust, smooth, quiet, cool running and in a price range that is competitive in the market.
Are there better models on the market? Yes, there is always professional grade systems that exist but for the price range and perfomance our drives are well worth the money spent. Over the years, the quality of the drives has greatly improved and customer feed back has never been better.