L298N vs Motor Shield R3 I'm new to Arduino and need some clarification on motor drivers. 

I was wondering if I can use a L298N instead of the Motor Shield R3, I hope not to be comapring apples to oranges, the doc of the Motor Shield R3 say "The Arduino Motor Shield is based on the L298"  and more or less I see similar projects (Robot cars) using both but as mention I don't if I can use one or the other as "replacement".

(L298N)


(Motor Shield R3):
Yes.  The shield is easier to user, but the breakout board you've shown uses the same chip.  I'd suspect that the breakout board, which has a much bigger heat sink, can handle larger motors, though.  You'll need to put wires from PWM and digital pins to the breakout board you're showing, but it's not super challenging to use those.  I've used extremely similar boards in the past, as well as shields, and both work great.  How big are your motors?  If they're WAY too big (the breakout board can only handle 2 amps IIRC) then you'll need something else anyway.