>Do you think I will have units dying in the field if I don't have the
>series resistor or diode there?  I will probably add both to my next spin
>as it can't hurt too much, but I've got some concerns for prototypes going
>out the door next week.  I would think that the protection diodes on MCLR
>wouldn't be hurt by the small amount of charge in a .1 or .01uF cap.

If you do not put a diode in parallel with the resistor, you will almost
certainly have problems in the field. The protection diode inside the chip will
almost certainly become low value resistor due to current discharge through it
if you don't. Worst case the diode will go short circuit. This is precisely the
method early bipolar PROMS used for the fuses that you blew to code them!