Greeting Xiaofan, Thanks for reminding the aged prototype photo, now it get fixed. http://www.auelectronics.com/System-PICkit2.htm Best regards, Funny N. Au Group Electronics, http://www.AuElectronics.com http://www.AuElectronics.com/products http://augroups.blogspot.com/ ________________________________ From: Funny NYPD To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public. Sent: Tue, February 23, 2010 11:12:34 PM Subject: Re: [PIC] ICD3 vs PICKit 3, PIC18 Explorer demo board Greeting Xiaofan, I didn't follow this thread, just come across. >I see. It is actually not that bad. At least it is better than >this (sorry Funny NYPD). ;-) >http://www.auelectronics.com/images/BB0703_White.jpg The one you referred actually is one of the early prototypes (back to three years ago), I will have the picture updated to the most recent design. Please check out the new ones (BB0703, BB0703+128K, BB0703+256K) here: http://www.auelectronics.com/products/system/bb0703.html Best regards, Funny N. Au Group Electronics, http://www.AuElectronics.com http://www.AuElectronics.com/products http://augroups.blogspot.com/ ________________________________ From: Xiaofan Chen To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public. Sent: Tue, February 23, 2010 6:07:35 PM Subject: Re: [PIC] ICD3 vs PICKit 3, PIC18 Explorer demo board On Tue, Feb 23, 2010 at 11:10 PM, Olin Lathrop wrote: > Xiaofan Chen wrote: >> Looks good. But I have never used your product and do not know >> how good it is. I am speaking from my own experiences. PM3 >> has also other advantages like more chip supports, memory >> card, support by Microchip, integrated into MPLAB, etc. > > True, it depends on what you need and what your priorities are. However, at > less than 1/10 the cost of a PM3, a USBProg can be the right answer for your > production line in a good many cases. Agreed. >> BTW, IMHO the box of USBProg 2 looks not very professional. But >> it is just my personal perception... > > It's a Unibox #128 with custom cutouts and text silkscreened on top. Unibox > does the customizing for a reasonable extra fee when we buy them in lots of > 250. These things are rugged little boxes. We haven't had any reports of a > box breaking or a programmer dying in the field, so I think they are doing > their job. That is good. > What would you suggest while still keeping the price reasonable? The > current box adds about $10/unit to a build of 250. Keep in mind that the > volumes aren't high enough to afford a full custom mold, so it has to be > something available off the shelf that the manufacturer is willing to > customize at our low volume. I see. It is actually not that bad. At least it is better than this (sorry Funny NYPD). ;-) http://www.auelectronics.com/images/BB0703_White.jpg > Is it that you don't like the basic box, or the plain text graphics, or > what? The footprint of the Unibox 128 is just about right, although it's a > bit taller than it really needs to be. Somehow I like the bare-board USB-Prog better. One thing is that box seems to be too big -- now I understand that it is because it is taller than really needs to be. This photo is also not good. It is cut off to the right. http://www.embedinc.com/products/usbprog2/eusb4_1_1024.jpg The printing is not bad. The cost adder of USB-Prog 2 compared to USB-Prog is US$45 and IMHO it deserves a better looking casing. But I understand the problem. Mold is expensive and it is difficult to get a good looking casing in low quantity. So you have done a good job already. But still the box itself gives me this impression. Maybe I am a bit particular in this case. > If the box were really snazzy, would that make you buy one, or N? Or > conversely, at what price would you buy a current USBProg2? At what price > would you buy one in a really nice looking box? Depending on the situation and here is just my personal opinion. If the company need it and it meets the demand, US$125 is quite cheap and since I know your product will be not of low quality in terms of the design, I would recommend to buy it. Cost is less an issue here. But then again PM3 may get better chance to go in as Microchip is the recognized vendor. Box is not a real issue but the management or the other colleagues may say hmm that does not like a professional product to be used in the critical production line. For my personal use, I would then be careful as US$125 is above my free-to-spend limit and needs approval from the finance minister at home. Then I will look around and find that PICkit 2 is at US$35 and within my budget and my use cases. So I will get it instead. But then if I really needed for personal use, then I will get the approval and spend the US$80 or US$125, most likely US$80 USB-Prog though. -- Xiaofanhttp://mcuee.blogspot.com -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist