On Sat, Aug 27, 2005 at 12:48:18PM -0500, Mark Rages wrote:
> On 8/27/05, Byron A Jeff <byron@cc.gatech.edu> wrote:
> > "I'm a novice user that wants to build a circuit that keeps my lamp on
> > for one minute after I ask it to turn off. Folks like Xiaofan are
> > recommending that I purchase a $50 PicKit 2 or a $160 ICD2 (or a cheaper
> > clone) to do my development. But I see all of these inexpensive PIC
> > programmers out there. Why should I choose to invest so much for just
> > one simple project?"
> 
> One small correction.
> 
> The Pickit2 is $35 if you only buy the programmer.  Well,
> buy.microchip.com charges $10 for shipping, but you can also buy it
> from DigiKey once they get some in stock.

Thanks for the correction.

> 
> As far as the debate you guys are having, it's interesting.  To me,
> the pickit2 is a pretty cool prototype device in its own right.  The
> bootloader's already installed, and USB hardware/power supply, and it
> comes with some example source code.  Who says you must use it as a
> programmer?

Now we're kind of getting somewhere. That falls into my belief system
that the development target should be the focus for the hobbyist, not the
programmer.

The only thing that I see as an issue with the PicKit 2 is its limited
interfaces. If I were going to plunk down serious money for a prototyping
box, I'd like to have more interfaces to it.

Now before we start down this road again, be aware that I've already 
been there. I started a prototype of a prototyping board called the
PicDesigner. You can read about it here:

http://www.finitesite.com/d3jsys/picdesigner.html

Now that's nearly 3 years ago. The 16F877 should be updated to a 40 pin
USB PIC. As I stated in a response to Wouter earlier, I still see
transparancy issues between the use of USB for the bootloader and USB
for application's development. That may be resolvable with two drivers?

The point is that it's a designer target that can serve as a programmer,
not a programmer that can happen to serve as a prototyping target.

Throw a breadboard that's prewired with power/gnd/IO on the top and
you're ready to rock.

BAJ
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