Which is the best machine to start mining?

[pilscoop]

What is the best starting point in terms of price/value/difficulty?

[BitcoinNewsMagazine]

Consider buying a Stickminer to learn. Once you decide if you like mining as a hobby perhaps move up to a used Antminer S5 if you can handle the heat and noise.

[ausbit]

A time machine would be the best if you can get your hands on one. 

[notlist3d]

There is not one best for all.  We need to know a few things.

What is your electricity price? Do you have vat/import tax?  Those are two big ones there.

[TheRealSteve]

In addition to notlist3d's questions: what is your budget, and is your intent to turn a profit?

There was a question on reddit from somebody asking for the best miner for them with free electricity last night / earlier today.  Can go anywhere with that as free electricity means (save catastophic failure) you're guaranteed a profit eventually.  But that eventually is far, far into the future for StickMiners (even with the mighty Compac).  At the same time, their budget was ~$230, which means that while the S5+ would theoretically be their best deal ($/Gh), it was way outside their price range.  Given some other constraints I ended up suggesting a pre-owned miner to them.

Just to show that the answer really depends on your specific situation.  It's even possible that there is no 'best machine' in your case; you might be better off not mining at all.

[nonbody]

I started with a GAW fury, they are really easy to use and don't require a PSU, but you would have to buy one second hand, they cost around 50$ each

[winspiral]

I will restart with a U2
I mined 2 years ago or so with just my computer and made few satoshi
I have sold them when the bitcoin was at itd highest and eared $20 or so...(I have forgot exactly haw many)

[Amph]

I think best machine out there is s7. You can choose anyone with a good power efficiency and it will do the work for you.

this is true unless he can acquire free electricity, at that point is better to avoid the efficiency point and go with something which is more cheap as initial investment

like s3 or the old good s5

[QuintLeo]

I started with a GAW fury, they are really easy to use and don't require a PSU, but you would have to buy one second hand, they cost around 50$ each

 Scrypt only though, can't mine Bitcoin with those (though you could mine a Scrypt coine like Litecoin then sell that to BUY bitcoin with).

[Kagekatsu]

What is the best starting point in terms of price/value/difficulty?

Too vague. How much you have to invest? Is free electricity available? Do your calcs here http://www.coinwarz.com/calculators/bitcoin-mining-calculator
Like others suggested, S5 or S7 are good. Always consider ROI because it's hard to achieve without free electricity.

[notlist3d]

What is the best starting point in terms of price/value/difficulty?

Too vague. How much you have to invest? Is free electricity available? Do your calcs here http://www.coinwarz.com/calculators/bitcoin-mining-calculator
Like others suggested, S5 or S7 are good. Always consider ROI because it's hard to achieve without free electricity.

Coinwarz is ok for getting current data.  So fine for the current period.

But I suggest using https://bitcoinwisdom.com/bitcoin/calculator .   With it you can do difficulty changes and have a lot better ROI.  As something with no difficulty change is not realistic long term.

[edric]

What is the best starting point in terms of price/value/difficulty?

I think it depends on what your technical skill level is with electronics and basic networking/programming.  Some of the setup can get complicated and some miners are easier than others.  Take this into consideration before deciding on your first miner.

[mookid]

What is the best starting point in terms of price/value/difficulty?

Do NOT get stick (USB) miners, as other people said, there is a lot of things to consider before buying a miner.
Depending on your location, electricity can be a determining factor, if it's cheaper where you live, you can get away with a wasteful miner like a S1 or S3. If you are REALLY into mining, get a S5, its one of the most efficient ones and would get you ROI (Return of investment) faster.

[winspiral]

What is the best starting point in terms of price/value/difficulty?

Do NOT get stick (USB) miners, as other people said, there is a lot of things to consider before buying a miner.
Depending on your location, electricity can be a determining factor, if it's cheaper where you live, you can get away with a wasteful miner like a S1 or S3. If you are REALLY into mining, get a S5, its one of the most efficient ones and would get you ROI (Return of investment) faster.

I'm trying to mine with an U2 but i'm not enough clever to instal it.(all help was not useful)
I'm happy only buying an U2.
My goal is just mining for the fun(ok I have mu PC who can mining perfectly but for 1000 satoshi it lasts long...long...
I'm wondering because we see so many ads about miners hardware and so few help for beginners on the net.
All seem so easy before one tryes...

[notlist3d]

What is the best starting point in terms of price/value/difficulty?

Do NOT get stick (USB) miners, as other people said, there is a lot of things to consider before buying a miner.
Depending on your location, electricity can be a determining factor, if it's cheaper where you live, you can get away with a wasteful miner like a S1 or S3. If you are REALLY into mining, get a S5, its one of the most efficient ones and would get you ROI (Return of investment) faster.

I don't know if I would agree.  If your doing it to learn and are in a place where electricity is to high to ROI with a usb miner you can learn mining without spending a ton of cash.

For example sidehacks compac is great for learning for those who cannot mine with regular gear.   But yes if your looking to ROI usb devices  are not  the way to go as they cost more per GH.

But there are some places stick miners are still good for.  Just not ROI mining.

[RichBC]

Ideally need more info in particular electricity cost & is your objective to make money or learning?

But... as Bitmain are the only game in town these Days I think this is an easy one. If you can afford an S7 then go for that. If not then look to the second hand market and choose between the S5, S3 or S1 ($400 - $50) dependant on what you can afford. All of them have a similar interface & setup and will mine without a PC, and upgrading from one to another is very straightforward.

Rich

[nonbody]

I started with a GAW fury, they are really easy to use and don't require a PSU, but you would have to buy one second hand, they cost around 50$ each

 Scrypt only though, can't mine Bitcoin with those (though you could mine a Scrypt coine like Litecoin then sell that to BUY bitcoin with).

or you just send it to a multipool and its all automatic, plus most exchanges or stores will accept litecoin if they accept bitcoin

[philipma1957]

What is the best starting point in terms of price/value/difficulty?

A shameless plug for me:If you are in the usa close to new jersey with free power you should buy an s-3 from me.



Seriously an s-3 is good if you have very cheap or free power.

It does 300 gh up to 500gh at around  .8 watts per gh

My s-3's and many s-3's have quiet fan mods.

So the s-3 = really quiet
Cheap to buy  well under 100 usd
Nice space heater will use 250 to 400 watts .

The down side is they are 300gh to 500gh depending how you clock them.  Which is not a lot of hash power.
They are only good if your power is free or you absolutely know you are going to run a space heater.

Now the s-7 cost over 1650 shipped to you home.
The s-7 is loud and hard to make quiet.
The s-7 does 10x the hash about 4800gh
The s-7 burns .25 watts a gh