> I know that Atmel does that as I have taken a tour of their facility
> where they test and mark the parts.

Just curious - harking back to the question of trying over-clocking
an -04 PIC (even though it might actually be quite happy running
at > 4MHz as a -20 reject)

How intensive is batch testing ? Say you have a bunch of micros
made from several wafers. Presumably, ideally, each wafer and
subsequent layers would be made of homogeneous material. So

(1) if you're working with known, controlled materials why does a
batch or part fail to meet spec in the first place

(2) if one piece from a batch or base wafer fails, can you assume
that the rest of that batch/wafer also will fail. Surely it can't be
necessary to test every piece in a high-volume product

(3) therefore is a selected sample rigorously tested under all conditions
and that assumption made, for whatever reason, for the rest of them

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