> Okay, I'm sorry,
>    The AMD186ED is at least $20.  The 186's for $10 have no PIO's and no
> async. serial ports.   It appears that the whole line is not cost
> effective unless a lot of processing is requires, or perhaps a lot of
> quick RAM.
> Garrick Kremesec                  | "There is no witness so dreadful, no
> University of Illinois U/C        |  accuser so terrible as the conscience
> http://www.cen.uiuc.edu/~gkremese |  that dwells in the heart of every
> gkremese@uiuc.edu                 |  man." - Polybius

Garrick:

Don't forget to consider the physical design of your system and other
costs. A PIC demands very little of a PCB (a small surface of a
single-side PCB will do) and you don't need to design its traces,
which can be a lot of work, even if you have an autorouter. Also,
only one part means less suppliers and less assembly. If you don't
need the power of a microprocessor system this issues may count more
than what you save in components.

Regards,

Andres Djordjalian
adjordj@aleph.fi.uba.ar