Gift Idea: Affordable Laboratory Power Supply for Electronics Hobbyist (Arduino, Repairing)

Welcome!
We want a friend to buy a laboratory power supply, which he has been dreaming of for a long time. A friend deals with electronics hobby, doing various things for arduino, etc., he remodels various equipment, constantly gouges, repairs what breaks, also monitors, etc. when needed (for himself, family ...). We want to fold and buy him a good power supply, but at a reasonable price. We don't know it completely, so we hope you can help. Let's say up to PLN 500, but if you hit something really great, we'll also pay PLN 700 If not a specific model, then we would be grateful for guiding which manufacturer to look for, where, what parameters are best, etc. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Basically 30V 3A better 30V 5A but a good option would be that the power supply was symmetrical, i.e. two in one. This solution gives the option of parallel or serial operation. Price a little over PLN 500 but maybe something will be cheaper.
Looking at the NDN offer, I would be tempted to:
link or link or link
In fact, they are Chinese under the NDN logo and maybe something would be cheaper.
This design has the advantage of working symmetrically in parallel serial so almost anything.
Only personally I would prefer with LED instead of LCD.

Of course, you will probably find cheaper.

Why don't I have such friends. I have to buy it myself.

Thanks! So one from that series would be the coolest ...? -> link
And this one? link Only this one is not symmetrical (is this an important option ??? what does it give?) Or another of this company? (Probably this - link - it would be the best, but the price is already slightly above our budget, and I do not know if it is not too much for the needs of a friend. mentioned there is no such option? Is this useful? Our friend likes programming and is generally a computer player so I don't know ...

Added after 9 [hours] 13 [minutes]:

And any other advice, suggestions ..? Maybe something good and cheaper? Does not exist

Rather, I would not look at USB. This does not apply on a daily basis but rather only for designer designers to view the power consumption of the power supply.
Probably a dead option for 90% of the PSU owners with it.

Or just talk to him that you want to give him and let him determine whether symmetrical will be useful to him or not.

Rather, it will be a purchase for years.

I wonder myself about this power supply for PLN 701 because I have a self-made but I also smile at the higher model for PLN 1300 to make it very stable and precise. It is true with a USB connection but it is only a gadget. I probably would only use it twice for a try and that's it. Except that I need a very stable, so digital control. 700 PLN is analog control, so it's easy to repair and digital is not so easy on your own. Dilemmas, unfortunately.

Another option is a 30V 5A standard power supply for PLN 300-350.

An extremely useful function is an additional button to turn on the power supply outputs as it is on the model below (Output button):
link

Ah, ask a friend is not really, because it is supposed to be a surprise gift He has dreamed of a laboratory power supply for years, so we want to buy a nice one (because he would have bought it cheap long ago, he wants some good).

So you think best to take this for PLN 701?

Maybe someone else will throw an idea. offer? And where is the best place to buy such power supplies - do you have any proven place where they are at a good price?

I still read that NDN is a rebranded Zhaoxin and rather not very high shelf ... A lot of people mentioned in the forum about Korady - are they not better? Here I am talking about reliability, we do not want the power supply to break down, break down, cause general problems ... And Manson ??

Since you want to spend so much, maybe a programmable power supply. Very cool and precise thing.

From TME's offer:
TWINTEX TPM-3005
AXIOMET AX-6003P

Power supplies from aliexpress are very interesting and quite precise:
CPS-6003C workshop power supply 0-60V 0-3A
CPS-3205C workshop power supply 0-32V 0-5A

In all of these The power supplies are cool because they can be set with a precise 10 mV voltage and 1 mA current.

I have had this type of power supply for almost 10 years and to this day I can't enjoy it.

I recommend buying a programmable or microprocessor-controlled device, especially since they are currently available at good prices.

Regards!

Well now I have a total confusion in my head! What is the difference between the programmable power supply and those previously replaced? What type to choose to best fit the needs of the recipient ?? Help!

Maanam wrote:

Well now I have a total confusion in my head! What is the difference between the programmable power supply and those previously replaced? What type to choose to best fit the needs of the recipient ?? Help!

The programmable power supply allows, among others, to precisely regulate the value of current and voltage by typing and confirming them from the keyboard or yoga.

Maanam wrote:

Welcome!
... A friend deals with electronics hobby, doing various things for arduino, etc., converts various equipment, constantly gouges, repairs what breaks, also monitors, etc. when needed (for himself, family ...). We want to fold and buy a good power supply, but at a reasonable price ...

For the needs of a person dealing with the above-mentioned works, a 30V power supply and 5A current efficiency is enough.
With my degree I can recommend two models:
RXN-305 or RPS-3005DB . Both models have identical electrical output parameters. The RPS-3005DB model has an increased display resolution voltmeter and ammeter, it also has a more attractive and modern external appearance of the housing. Importantly, both indicated models are a linear laboratory power supply built on the basis of a transformer. The linear design in relation to the switching power supplies ensures high stability and reliability of operation. Linear power supplies are therefore larger and heavier, but when equipping the workshop it can even be an advantage, because the weight of the power supply positively translates into greater stability on the desk.
In the past we had a customer who was servicing min. acoustic audio amplifiers. It had a switch mode power supply to power, and something was still buzzing in the speaker. After changing the power supply to a linear effect, it gave way as if it cut off by hand (and spent many hours eliminating the alleged defect).

In practice, however, voltage control by means of potentiometers works best. Setting the voltage with the buttons, from the keyboard or using a computer is only seemingly more attractive.

For a beginner electronics, a larger power supply is rather superfluous, because it will take up at least twice as much space on the desk, and for electronics it is always too little space.

Customers ask us similar questions on a daily basis. We have prepared a fairly universal description to help you choose:
http://gotronik.com/2017/11/09/zasilacz-laboratoryjny-kupic/

PS.
For the money saved you can buy e.g. a soldering station, e.g. SL20ESD. The recipient of such a set should jump for joy.