> ok, i'll make this quick, i have no idea were to get started in
> microcontrollers. To put it bluntly, i don't even have a basic
> understanding of electronics.

Just in case you are still counting votes, I'd strongly recommend
getting a Stamp and the carrier board. While you can save a few
dollars by downloading the PDF, the spiral bound printed manual is
easier to work with and cheaper than printing 450 pages (IMHO).

Everything about the stamp is set up as a learning tool. There's
plenty of support in mailing lists, books, examples, etc.
So that gets your foot in the door.

If you then move into PICs / assembler, you have something to compare
against. For example, the Stamp has an RCTIME statement. You can try
and duplicate what that does in assembler and learn in the process.

I've been doing this embedded stuff for about 15 years and got a
Stamp a couple of years ago. It is one of the most useful tools I
have. While I do all the real work with assemblers, compilers, scope,
CAD, etc, the Stamp is great for all those extra little bits of
circuit stimuli during development. For example, if you have a
startup problem just hook up the Stamp to the reset line and tell it
to pulse it every second. No contact bounce, no messy patch board
falling onto your circuit, battery powered so it can be floating at
whatever voltage your circuit needs. I find it so useful for those
things that otherwise would take an hour or two to knock
something together and then use for 5 minutes.

Comparing that to all the various evaluation boards and things that
just gather dust, I don't think that you can go wrong buying one.

Steve.

======================================================
Steve Baldwin                Electronic Product Design
TLA Microsystems Ltd         Microcontroller Specialists
PO Box 15-680, New Lynn      http://www.tla.co.nz
Auckland, New Zealand        ph  +64 9 820-2221
email: steveb@tla.co.nz      fax +64 9 820-1929
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