It depends on the LCD. I would recommend the LCDs from www.Robot-Electronics.co.uk as they are very simple to connect and use. They can be serial or I2C too which helps. All of my examples and projects will be using these LCDs as a standard. I cannot recommend them highly enough, and I know @toymaker recommends them also (since he is who recommended them to me).

Devantech LCD05 is what to look for if you can't buy from a UK based company. While they may cost a bit more they are very much worth it.

What LCD is it? Do you have the datasheet? You will need the datasheet to know the commands to use. Be aware of the cheap ones on ebay, they are near impossible to work out.

Also keep in mind there is a Hardware Tutorial section under the Support Menu Option on this website. HEre's a shortcut to the LCD page: https://synthiam.com/Tutorials/Hardware.aspx?id=13

:)

This links are two that i was looking at, i am pretty sure they connect through i2c but they also says serial on the name of products. The specifications link to download is also in the product description (for link 1, link 2 is cheep but probably hard to get working):

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B0080DYTZQ/ref=aw_d_dsc_sdp_misc?qid=1373601918&sr=8-7

http://www.amazon.com/LCD-Module-Arduino-White-Blue/dp/B003B22UR0/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1373597891&sr=1-3&keywords=serial+lcd

I toally agree that going serial would be easier, but just how much would i2c be harder if this LCD happens to be i2c. If i2c is a lot harder and this isn't i2c I may need to just buy a serial and be prepared for expensive shipping.

In my experience with both of the LED screens I have got working the I2C and Serial commands were very much the same. On the one I could not get working, I had no datasheet and could find no datasheet, it's also been looked at by others in the past and no solution was posted.

In short avoid the one I mentioned in this topic which is the "IIC/I2C/TWI 1602 Serial LCD Module Display" with the "YWRobot Arduino LCM1602 IIC V1" backpack.

Make sure you get the datasheet, not the Arduino code. You will need to know the address of the LCD (if I2C) and all of the commands to move the cursor, clear the screen, define any custom characters, print characters to the screen etc.

The one @toymaker mentions in this topic which is the same Devantech one I mentioned earlier is by far the simplest to use and can be serial or I2C.

The one mentioned in this topic is also pretty easy to use and both Serial and I2C, I have done some examples for that one too.

thanks for the help i am going to close the thread because i am tired of getting emails everyday

@kplamondon emails can be disabled in your settings

Or constant email reminders can be avoided by marking questions as complete

@kplamondon if, on the other hand it isn't complete please ask for further help.

It should do since it's stating that it's serial. Make sure you have the datasheet though, even serial LCDs can be awkward to use without knowing the correct commands to send to them. Also be weary of some of the "Serial" LCDs on ebay, they aren't really serial... and some have no data sheet and no help for anything other than some poorly written Arduino code that's not worth reverse engineering.

To be honest, I would always advise/recommend the Devantech LCDs. They may be a little more expensive than the useless ones from ebay but they are very easy to use and are both Serial and I2C so needn't use up one of the digital ports if you are low on ports. I've also covered using the LCD in some depth, have used it a lot for many different applications recently and know that Tony (@toymaker) also uses these a lot so there will always be a lot of help if needed.