Are the boards with populated connectors like the Arduino UNO and the Redboard designed only for experimenting? If I want to build a sell-able product, I assume I need to use something like the Arduino Pro 328 where all connections need to be soldered. Is that correct or is there a standard method for making permanent connections to the connectors on the UNO or redboard? Thanks!
If you use quality pins, mount the boards mechanically (i.e. don’t use pin friction to hold the board in place), and don’t do very many insertions, the connectors should be fine for “permanent” use. It would not be as reliable as a soldered connection but the difference would be slight. Also consider the environment the product is going into. Will it be corrosive? Will there me vibration? Temperature fluctuations and/or extremes? Any of these will degrade a connector faster than a soldered connection (assuming the soldered connection is a good one to begin with).
Perfect explanation!! For my application, the product will be experiencing, vibration, temperature fluctuations and extremes, and high humidity. I’ll be using soldered connections. Thanks so much!