> Note that the SOIC ZIF sockets tend to be anything but  
> "inexpensive."  The socket from digikey that Olin mentioned costs  
> more than Olin's programmer...

And I've had good results with Microchip's programming service.  Seems 
to Just Work (though of course you have to make sure the programming 
service guys have the chip you want in stock).
-- 
Timothy J. Weber
http://timothyweber.org
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