>Can't say I've ever had major problems breadboarding but if you're
>that worried about it use a can. Surely you can't / shouldn't restrict
>yourself to the internal oscillator ? It might be convenient and cheap
>but it has its drawbacks too
>  
>
Don't get me wrong, I use a XTAL when needed.   BUT, A lot of times, I'm 
not doing anything clock-sensitive, 8Mhz is way more than enough, and 
dealing with the XTAL and the couple of caps (or not, if you 
(unfortunately) have a high-pf breadboard) can be fun.  

In all fairness to the PIC devices, however, I will state that the XTAL 
driver on a PIC is remarkably robust.   I suspect most of my dislike of 
XTALS when prototyping comes from some of the earlier micro's that I've 
dealt with which were a lot more sensitive, and the fact that I seem to 
be able to knock an XTAL's pins out of the breadboard by just breathing 
nearby.

-forrest
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