On Sun, 10 Oct 1999 17:15:10 +1300, in  you wrote:


>Agree fully. But this problem may occur if resistors alone are used.
>
>>    The very very minute cost of either diodes, transistors, or buffers
>>    ICs is just not worth destroying your project.
>
>
>Yes. As someone noted, such costs may be not insignificant in volume
>production but must still be considered.
>

Just a quick comment here. Even though it may seem silly to have $1.00
in protection components protecting a $0.50 microprocessor, you should
also keep in mind the cost of failure. If that $1.00 in protection
stops a field service call at $500, then perhaps it is worth it. Even
more important, if your products develop a reputation for being
unreliable, your in really deep doo-doo. 

Dave Bengtson