Wouter Suverkropp <Wouter.Suverkropp@JET.UK> wrote:

> I am in the process of setting up a development environment for a
> 16c74 application we have. In the future we may (and probably will)
> use other PICs, notably the more powerful ones.
>
> My idea:        Programmer              Hi/Lo systems All07
>                 In circuit emulator     Microchip PICmaster
> ....
> Any hints or comments on this setup. Specifically, what are your
> experiences with the programmer and emulator? Is the support good?
> Is it worth paying for the Microchip ice as opposed to the RICE16 or
> ICEPic?

        Wouter:

        I know nothing about that programmer; I use (and am very happy with)
        Microchip's PROMATE programmers.

        The emulator is excellent... The best PIC emulator available, and
        one of the best emulators for ANY microcontroller.  Support is
        excellent.

        If I were in your position, I'd definitely choose Microchip's
        emulator over the TransData RICE, ICEPIC, or Parallax's Clear-View
        (another emulator that seems nearly identical to the ICEPIC and
        RICE).

        The PIC-Master includes full source-level debugging support for MPC,
        which you'll need, as well as hardware trace and external logic-probe
        capabilities.  The other emulators lack all these features (although
        at least one of them is promising source-level MPC support in the
        future).

        Stepping up to "the nore powerful" PICs means stepping up to the
        17C4x series.  As far as I know, none of those third-party emulators
        support the 17C4x; the PIC-Master does.

        -Andy

Andrew Warren - fastfwd@ix.netcom.com
Fast Forward Engineering, Vista, California
http://www.geopages.com/SiliconValley/2499