On Mon, Aug 15, 2005 at 03:50:33PM +0200, Wouter van Ooijen wrote:
> > > The 16F628(A) and 18F877(A) are
> > > viable alternatives. 
> > I'd add the 16F88 into this list too.
> 
> I meant viable is the sense that a reasonable amount of web coverage
> exists for these parts.

I see where you're coming from. 

> IMHO the F88 is *not* viable in *this* aspect.

OTOH periperal support is similar enough that generally it transfers. So
virtually everything that can be leaned with a 16F877 will work for the most
part on the 16F88.

> The F628(A) is, but on thechnical arguments alone I would indeed prefer
> the F88 as newbie chip (but the 877A even more, because it has plenty of
> I/O pins to add a debug LCD or two :) , and this chip *does* haev some
> web coverage :)

I have no arguments with the 877A. I think it's a great part. But for
some reason hobby folks starting out seem to want a smaller package.
I never figured out why.

> 
> > The 18F1330 and 18F1320 are 18 pin parts. They are $5.38 USD 
> > according to digikey. Still cheaper than a 16F84.
> 
> Yes, but that is not releveant. The 18F's don't have the web coverage of
> the x84, f628 or f877, and the 18F family lacks the quivalents of the
> F676, F629 etc.

Very true. There are no sub-18 pin 18F parts AFAIK.

> 
> > Generally hobbyists are one-off type folks. A couple of dollars isn't
> > going to make that much difference on a part.
> 
> Judging from what I hear from my customers there are roughly two parts
> of hobbyists, typically:

> 1- teenagers who want more than just modding their PC
> 2- retired techies who want to get a bite of the uC world
> 
> For category two your argument holds. Such guys typically buy a 16F877A,
> an 18F4520, or even a 30F. And a Wisp628 kit, build, or even an ICD2. 
> 
> For gategory one your argument does not seem to apply. They typically
> buy an F84-04, and try to get a serial-port-powered programmer to work.

There's cheap. And then there's too cheap. Category one is the latter.
They would get more bang for their buck with a 877A and a bootloader.

> 
> > Do ARMs come in hobby friendly packages? The dsPIC 30F3013 is 
> > available in a 28 pin DIP package. And especially for hobby use, 
> > packaging is important.
> 
> No, point taken. But you can buy ARM modules with DIP pinout. 

Cool. I may need to check that out at some point in the future.

BAJ
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