Phidgets has many nice products but I do not like to rely on anything USB. Therefore I have avoided those tempting Phidgets until now. It is easy, it is small, has 8 analog ins and 8 digital ins and outs. This is obviously called PhidgetInterfaceKit 8/8/8 and it is growing on me. I like the ease of Phidgeting so much that I am going to build me an instrument and find out how reliable USB will be in my setup.
My Avols interface (I will post more on this later) will still be my first choice, but the Phigdets might turn out as a very good alternative in many cases where high quality AD, DA or Ethernet is not required.
If you want to phidget then make sure you get the right crimps and housings for your cable (see phidget manual for part numbers). And I almost forgot: That insanely priced crimp-tool is required as well (See the company that make the crimps (Molex in this case) for tools). In Norway these things cost around 400$. Please correct me if I’m wrong!