>I use the picstart with my 16f8xx chips and haven't had a single instance
>where the programming didn't take.

Do you use it for in-circuit programming, or just chips by themselves?
We've had some problems with the picstart not having enough "oomph" to
get the job done in-circuit, and have resorted to promates.
If you keep the cables short and are careful with the target board
design, you might be able to get by with the picstart.
I am in the process of attempting to learn exactly what "careful" means
here, but one thing I _highly_ recommend at this point:
ground RB3 if you aren't using it, or provide a means to temporarily
ground it during programming.  With our target boards, the need for this
varies, and seems to depend on the load on Vcc - but when it is
necessary, it is a reproducible, demonstratable problem.

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