--------- > From: Eric Smith > To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU > Subject: Re: AMD186 mistake > Date: Wednesday, 6 August 1997 12:15 > > Lawrence Lile wrote: > > I'm still waiting for the PICbuster - a microprocessor that can be > > bought for $0.40 US in quantities of 1 meg. I don't care how slow, > > how stupid, how power hungry. > > That's been available for several years now. It is a 4 bit masked-rom > part from Samsung, supplied in bare die form. Just wire-bond it to your > PCB and cover with a blob of epoxy. How did you think they made consumer > electronics so cheap? > > Eric In New Zealand the Z8 86E02 is available for $NZ1.30 in 1000 quantity. That probably under $US0.90 in 1000 quantity - presumably it gets a bit cheaper in vast volumes. This is a reasonably capable little device with a much more comprehensive instruction set. I have seen comparisons purporting to show that the PIC is both faster and more "code dense" but the Z8 is certainly easier on the brain to program. For complex tasks within the scope of the device it may be superior to the bottom end PICs. I suppose you can also get it in a "blob" and mount it on a PCB directly too. The 12Cxxx PICS are a similar price in NZ in quantity - OK as long as there is enough IO for your task.