> Well, as far as I can tell, that FTDI chip is only
> available for surface mount.  Then on top of that, to
> order it typically requires a minimum order, and then
> shipping costs and duty (I'm in Canada).

You can get them from Dontronics (http://www.dontronics.com/) and
they don't have a minimum.

> Also, from what I was reading, that FTDI chip requires
> some type of virtual comm port driver to be installed
> whereas a usb mouse already has a driver built-in to
> Windows.

Yes. But the driver is avalable for both Windows and Linux.

> > You can also get pre-made
> > USB modules that
> > plug into a DIP socket, syou can even transfer them
> > from PIC board to
> > PIC board or use in a solderless protoboard
>
> This sounds interesting, who makes these?  They
> probably cost a decent penny, no?

I got mine from a site off of FTDI's site (http://www.ftdichip.com/).
It cost $25.
--
D. Jay Newman           !
jay@sprucegrove.com     ! Xander: Giles, don't make cave-slayer unhappy.
http://enerd.ws/robots/ !

--
http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different
ways.  See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.