Greetings all,
 
I'm attempting to get started with microcontrollers, and after doing
some searching on the internet I'm even more confused than before.
 
I could buy a basic stamp II for about 50 bux, hack together a cable
and do my project.  The problem is, once that project is done, I'll
have to spend another 50 bux to get another stamp, which, IMO
is FAR more than the whole thing ought to cost.
 
I think I can save some money in the long run buy buying a programmer
and PIC or AVR chips and components separately, but all the internet
resources I can find assume you know what everything does and what
you need, which I don't yet.
 
I understand that I need basically two things:
1) a PIC, board to put it on, and supporting parts
2) A programmer with which to program the PIC
 
There are so many choices for these things I don't know what to get.
What PIC would be simple to start with?  What programmer can I
use with it?
 
Obviously the application will have some bearing on the answers there.
I'm not picky, I just need something to start with, so I can read and write
some I/O lines, flash some lights, etc.  Eventually I'm hoping to maybe
put together some X10 stuff ($100 for an X10 4 relay controller, please :),
but that isn't likely to happen soon.
 
Price is of course a consideration, I'd prefer not to have to spend much
over $50 for a programmer and PIC.  I'm proficient with soldering, so
anything I can put together myself to save money is good.
 
A BASIC language would be nice, but I can handle programming in
asm if necessary.  I won't pay for a BASIC language compiler/interpreter.
 
I know a guy who is always pushing the AVR, are there reasons I
should or should not give them a try first?
 
Can someone help get me pointed in the right direction?
 
Any advice is much appreciated!
DK