there's no commitment to buy an etherdongle right now, RJ's just checking to see how big of an interest there is. It's like asking who wants pizza, before deciding whats for dinner.
mouser parts for the dongle are around $45-46.
you still have to get the case, and the pcb
i got one etherdongle in the last coop, and i think i paid under $100
so in that example, it was about twice the price of an etherdongle, but i get more options of what i can do.
The EtherDongle can output:
4 dmx unis (with DMX firmware)
4 pixelnet unis (with Pixelnet firmware)
technically, if you use the pixelnet firmware, and using 32 Active Hubs, you can get it to output 32 unis of DMX, but that is extreme)
PLUS, the EtherDongle have the ability to add "daughter boards" into the case to add on features.
you'll see people talking about the posibility of a conductor, and it would be nice to run a show without the need of a computer
last night, i saw on my porch with a laptop connected via wireless, and edited the show in vixen to see what the megatree was doing, i can't do that easily with a usb attached dongle!
also, this may be different for other people, but vixen seems to just flow more easily with the ED, than with the USB Dongle.
each person has their own needs, but if i had this as an opotion a year ago when i joined, i would have jumped straight into the ED then.