> From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu 
> On Behalf Of William "Chops" Westfield
> Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2006 3:22 PM
> To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public.
> Subject: Re: [EE]: $10.99 USB dev system
>
> Hmm.  I'm getting a bit pissed off at Si-labs low cost 'evaluation
> kits" (to be fair, SiL doesn't CALL them "development systems.)
> Both this board and the $25 C8051F064EK look like REALLY good
> values on the surface, but dig a bit deeper and they're disturbingly
> limited.   They're wired for a particular purpose, no general purpose
> headers connecting to other pins, little or no "general purpose IO."
> They're set up to demonstrate ONE particular application (apparently),
> and that's about all they'll do.  the toolstick blinks LEDs, and the
> C8051F064EK demonstrates some analog features.  Hmmph.
> 

I am not so sure about this US$10.99 USB ToolStick. At that kind of
price, can you expect more than it has offered?

I've played with the US$25 C8051F064EK and it is not as 
limited as you suggested. I have returned to the distributor but 
I was thinking of buying it before. Now we have two full-fledged 
development kits so I do not need it any more.

It does not have all the port I/O available (For that you need the
F06xDK which includes the debugger and a demo board). It does have 
the Port 0 available to the user. It also can do serial communication
and you do not need to have a serial port since USB/serial converter
(CP2101 based) is already on board. You also do not need a power 
supply and a debugger as they are integrated. It has also on board 
SRAM. At US$25, I think it is really a bargain. To say it is 
"disturbingly limited" is a bit unfair.

For the more adventurous, you can also solder some wires from the
I/O ports...

> Atmel's Butterfly, or TI's new ez-430, are examples of similarly
> smallish, but MUCH more versatile evaluation boards.  (Hmm.  I
> wonder if Atmel will do a USB butterfly now?)
> 

Atmel actually copied the idea to develop a USB key for the
new USB AVRs. I am not so sure if TI's new ez-430 is really
that expandable.

Regards,
Xiaofan

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