On Thu, Feb 25, 2010 at 1:04 PM, Jesse Lackey w= rote: > Hi Jason, my 2c is... don't bother with adapters if you're designing the > board as well. =A0Surface mount is easier than it looks to solder. =A0Try= to > use SOIC type stuff (wider pitch) for starters, and 0603 or 0805 > passives. =A0(0603 seems to be "the norm" when small pcb size isn't a top > priority). =A0I see you mention ICSP programming in another email; get > that going with a thruhole type part on a solderless breadboard, then > for future work go with SMT microcontrollers with your (known good) ICSP > design. =A0With some practice you'll be soldering TSSOP and QFN quickly > and reliably. I date not to say QFN and TSSOP. QFN is difficult for me. But 0603/0805/SOIC should be no issue. > I suggest going down the AVR with GCC toolchain route. =A0I do 90% PICs, > and have done a few significant AVR designs, and hardware wise they have > their pros and cons, but the GCC toolchain can't be beat. =A0The DIY world > is all about arduino (AVR) and if you want to create things to share > (open source hardware/firmware), go AVR. If Linux and Open Source is the OP want, go AVR, or MSP430, or ARM. They all have good GCC toolchain support which works under Linux. -- = Xiaofan http://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