Arnold,

That depends on your definition of "decent".  In my book,
the $200.00 for the PICStart Plus is decent.  This is a good
value.  It works and works well.   Same story with the ICD.
I believe it's around $150.00 or so.  This too is a good value.

Now, there are others that supply programmers, and most of them
are pretty good.  Some ae less than ideal.  And others just plain suck.
But most are good.  Usually these are somewhat less expensive.
And quite a few of them need some sort of tweaking to get them to
work just right with your particular machine/software combination.
So, in the long run, you really don't save much money by using the
3rd party stuff.  Or at least that's been my experience.

Bottom line for me is that I'm using Microchip parts in my projects,
and  I use the Microchip assembler.simulator/IDE (MPLAB) quite
extensively, so I might just as well use Microchip development
hardware as well.    This has saved me a lot of time over some other
people I know, and others I know of by not having to tweak something
to get everything to work together to develop code for a given project,
and then to program and debug the code in a part for the project.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you want to use 3rd party hardware
and software, that's great.  And like I said before, some of the 3rd party
stuff
out there is absolutely great.  But be aware that sometimes you have to be
prepared to spend some time getting everything to work in concert with each
other because of some sort of conflict with the hardware/software
combination.
Again, I base this on my past experience. YMMV.

For me it was a lot easier and less expensive in the long run to use the
Microchip
tools and hardware and be reasonably assured that everything would work
right
out of the box than to try to tweak the 3rd party stuff and lose my savings
in the
course of twaeking it to get it to work.

This is not meant to dissuade you from using 3rd party equipment.  Only to
make
you aware that just as in many other facets of life, buying a cheaper
component
doesn't always mean a less expensive system overall.  You could very well
lose
your savings or even exceed your savings by trying to get a cheaper
component
to work with your system.

Anyway, that's my take on it. I prefer to buy Microchip hardware.  I do own
several hardware and software items from several different 3rd party
vendors,
aqnd most of them just sit on my shelf while I'm using Microchip stuff.
Some
of these I have just given away because I never use them.  And usually the
one
I gave them to calls a day or so later wonddering how to get that item to
work
with his or her system.

I guess I'm done.   Good luck in usuing whatever you choose.

                                                       regards,

                                                         Jim

----- Original Message -----
From: Arnold Chord <achord2@HOME.COM>
To: <PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
Sent: Friday, August 10, 2001 11:25 PM
Subject: [PIC]:Developer tools


I am looking for a kit for the MPLAB-ICD or the PICStart that I can purchase
and put together.
I would like to build an ICD but am unable to make a PCB.
Is there anyone that carries this stuff for a decent price?

Thank you
Arnold

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