> I've gotten good reports with my Trivial Programmers and ic-prog for
Windows.
>
> Trivial Programmer: http://www.finitesite.com/d3jsys
> ic-prog: http://www.ic-prog.com/main.html
>
I should have mentioned ICProg. Free and effective.

> I'm in the process of packaging my latest version of picprg. But I
haven't
> added 18F support yet. Once I do, I'll recommend the Trivial Programmer
> and picprg, since I now have a Windows port going.

The OP was looking for XP support, will your Trivial Programmers and
ic-prog for Windows work with XP?



> > As for the chip, I'd probably recommend starting with the 16F87x
family.
> > Not that it's better or worse than anything else, just there seems to
be
> > more example projects on the web and in books and magazines. You should
be
> > able to get some free samples direct from Microchip.
>
> I may actually debate that in this instance. The OP made it pretty clear
that
> he was aiming for a high level language target. As such the beefier
resources
> of the 18F family, including a real stack with push/pop instructions,
would
> support HLL development better than the 16F family.
>
> I do agree on the examples, but using an HLL makes it pretty much chip
> independant. If using JAL, just use JAL examples for the most part.
>

Each to thier own. Actualy I think this is one of the least of the
concerns, bcause you simply spec the target when you compile. But I
definitly would not start with an 'F84, or any of the 18 pin chips for that
matter. (Mostly because of no bootloader support. Yes I know there's a
couple new ones that can support a bootloader, but the 16f87x and 18F
fammily bootloaders are much more mature)


> >
> > I hooked my brother up with an outfit like this last Christmas.
> > New breadboard $25
> > 9V wall wart/7805 regulator $3
> > max232 / caps / db9 connector $5
> > Olimex programmer $13
> > Serial cable $4
> > Some resonators / crystals and discrete from my junk box.
>
> Nice. Must have been a big breadboard.

Jameco JE25, actualy it might have been closer to $17. But you get the
idea.

-Denny

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