On 6/8/06, G=F6khan SEVER wrote: > Microchip's relevant page lists TQFP as a package type of most PIC24 fami= ly. > Is DIP type products available currently? Not yet. There are DIP dsPIC30s though. > I have looked at Keil's tools and my first impression is its neater than > MPLAB IDE. It also costs much more. The free Keil demo version is code limited. IAR kickstart edition is also code limited. GCC for ARM is free but you do not have good IDE as MPLAB unless you pay for product like Roley Associate. MPLAB is free. The student version of C30 is not code limited. It only disables part of the optimization methods after 60 da= ys. Microchip actually would like to give all software tools free but they have third party partners. On the other hand, Philips and Atmel do not really develop useful inhouse ARM tools but rely on third parties. They are just licensees of the ARM core... > But i havent seen a social knowledge sharing network like Microchip's... The LPC2xxx Yahoo group is not too bad. There are also quite some forums related to ARM MCUs. > ARM7 is 32-bit core, PIC24 is 16 bit and they are usage fields are > different. They do have some overlap in the targeted market. Now that US$1-3 ARMs MCU are really coming to the market and they will pose threat to the 8-bit market. On the other hand, it is said that 32bit PICs will come later ... > When i wanted to design an smps or interface another devices Microchip > offers very good support. Both in therotical and practical areas... > > Anyway, i cant keep myself to use ARM core... Microchip's literature / application notes and support are really much better than that from Philips ... Still there are many ARM related sites. So now I have my Explorer 16 board side by side with the Olimex LPC2148 demo board. Regards, Xiaofan -- = http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist