> I bought a 16F84 and I don't want to burn it, thus I'm testing the
> programmer with a cheaper

Why not ?

You can burn it ATLEAST 1000 times.
I usually use one pic pr. project, and all of mine still work.
(except for the one I, by accident, gave an electro chok of 220v (Don't
ask))

Regards
Benjamin Petersen