On Jul 10, 2009, at 1:58 PM, AGSCalabrese wrote:

> I want a PIC with two ADC inputs ( 10bits ) , 8 GPIO , a
> timer ......     It can be as slow as molasses.   What is crucial to
> me is that it is $5 or less: that I can pick up a cheep and trivial
> method of programming it ( $25 ) ; that I can get a cheep development
> IDE with Basic or C or whatever ($ 25 )  ; that it runs on 3.3 or 5
> volts.   The bigger the physical size of the pins, the better.  DIP is
> better than SOIC, etc.

You know, this is exactly the sort of thing that results in the  
popularity of the BASIC Stamp, Arduino, and other similar "plug and  
play" microcontroller solutions.

An Arduino will cost between $10 and $40 dollars, but includes the  
"programmer" and "development environment in C" for free (complete  
with pre-done analog input functions.)  So the "total expenditure" is  
well within the $55 budget you mention.  And the "pins" are even  
bigger than a DIP.  Given only "passing familiarity" with  
microcomputer programming, you could churn out a working prototype in  
a day.

I think a BASIC Stamp would run a bit more $$ (but still less than  
$55) and not have as many options for "commoditization" of subsequent  
builds, but it's also a possibility.

BillW

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