Vaso, Hey welcome to the PICLIST, PICSTER, PICBUDDY club or whatever.... In response to your question... For < 300$ your can get the PICSTART PLUS (new version now) for 12C51x 67X series with E^2. Another VERY usefull tool for me was the entry level C compiler made by Custom Computer Services Inc. CCS C compilers (DOS versions are cheaper) the PCB is for the 12b cores and the PCM is for the 14b cores in trhe PICs. You can check http://www.ccsinfo.com for these. The MPLAB4.0 can be downloaded from microchip.com - it interfaces well with the CCS C packages. I have found this combination and a good review of most of the Application Notes on the Microchip sites to be the best lowest cost best learning entry in the last two years... Both C and PIC ASM will come to you by this; a fellow E. Engr... Eric Borcherding