> I'm a beginner hobbyist that aspires to make high-volume products :-D  
> If I can do it cheaper with PIC16F684 in conjunction with basic logic 
> chips like shift registers, then I'll consider it!

Two comments: First, while you are a beginner you should probably focus 
on getting things to work, it is very unlikely that one of your current 
projects will, in its current form, ever make it to volumes that justify 
saving a few pennies. Second, when you ever want to engineer for cost, 
check very thoroughly where the cost is, you might be surprised. In your 
case, adding an extra chip will eat more PCB space, which is not free.

I one did some overall cost calculations for a product. It was a 
military-grade communication box. IIRC 30% of the cost was in the 
housing itself, and a further 30% was in two connectors that required 
added metal shielding at the inside. This shielding had to be 
hand-folded. Only last 40% was in the electronics. Of this 40% a 
surprisingly large part was taken by the decoupling capacitors and 
pull-down resistors which were present in large quantities. The cost of 
these items was not so much in the components itself, but in PCB area 
and pick-n-place machine time.

-- 

Wouter van Ooijen

-- -------------------------------------------
Van Ooijen Technische Informatica: www.voti.nl
consultancy, development, PICmicro products
docent Hogeschool van Utrecht: www.voti.nl/hvu

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