Newbie question 5 wire steppers

[jeffshort2000]

Just a simple one. I have seen people advising to stay away from the 5 wire stepper motors. Can anyone explain why? I am about to purchase some 6v. 1.2a 80 oz motors for a reasonable price. but, they are 5 wire. thanks, Jeff

[H500]

5 wire isn't necessarily bad. You need to make sure it's a "regular" unipolar motor that can be driven with commonly available drives, unless you want to design your own.

[jeffs555]

The only problem with 5-wire motors is that they can only be driven with a unipolar driver. Motors with 6 or 8 wires can be driven with either unipolar or bipolar drivers, and 4 wire motors can only be driven with bipolar drivers. Unipolar drivers are generally cheaper than bipolar drivers, but most of the newer drives are bipolar.