William Chops Westfield wrote:
> But that's not what we're talking about.  We want to know whether
> the dsPic is powerful, cheap, easy to use, and common enough to
> use as your general purpose "does everything" hobbyist chip.

I think it's a good choice, particularly the 30F3013 and 30F4012.  These are
both available in 28 pin DIP package.  The '3013 has 12 bit A/Ds whereas the
'4012 has 10 bit A/Ds but a larger program memory.

> IMO, it's currently too expensive,

Not if you think about it rationally realizing you are just buying a small
number.  Other than the knee jerk reaction, this shouldn't be an issue
(although I realize a lot of hobbyists out there think with their knees).

> draws too much current,

Most projects aren't going to have a problem with the PIC drawing 150mA at
5V.  Of course this is only at its maximum clock rate.  As far as I can see,
a dsPIC draws about comparable current to an 18F at the same clock rate.

> and most of the existing code examples are written for a $$$ compiler
> not accessible to hobbyists...

So don't use the compiler.  The assembler, librarian, linker, debugger,
simulator, and IDE are free and part of MPLAB just like with other PICs.


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