Definitely agree it's a bet to have the ultimate hedge, and at even $~$300 it was a cheap bet. It's at minimum a great tool to learn as we all can see the writing on the wall, fpga is the future of most mining. If this just teaches me how to load bitstreams and configure them I much rather do it on $300 hardware before I do it on $5000+ hardware.
agreed. i think fpga, with or without gpu assist, is minings future, and fpga are different beasts with different rig requirements. and if/when the next bear run occurs, those that understand how the tech runs will be ahead. $300 for an acorn to get in the game now and start learning is a no brainer to me.
last bull run gpus were almost impossible to get. and thats with nvidia and amd shoveling them out the door as fast as they could. if this happens again.. well there are a lot less fpgas to be had than there were gpus. having a few fpgas and knowing their limitations, strengths and needs will make a big difference. try building a good fpga or fpga boosted gpu based system without knowing what they need or how they function.. have fun. sure guides for noobs will come out but too late for many.