Bob Blick wrote:

>If you are starting out and want a simple microcontroller that is 
>versatile and can run at a variety of speeds and supply voltages, use an 
>AVR. It is even with or beats the PIC in most areas, but is way ahead when 
>it comes to writing code. AVR is so much easier to program than the PIC12, 
>PIC16 and PIC18. And if you use a C compiler, I have been using PIC C 
>compilers for 7-plus years and I have to say that compiler bugs are 
>prevalent plus harder to track and reproduce because of the nasty PIC 
>architecture.
>

If the original poster is considering AVRs, do be sure to check out 
Atmel's US$49 Dragon.  It is a programmer which can also emulate devices 
with less than 32KB of flash.  I love mine!
http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/tools_card.asp?tool_id=3891

Aaron
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