Just for the sake of illustrating price/performance, these are Digikey part=
s
and price for 1 unit:

PIC16F1938 		$2.46
http://search.digikey.com/us/en/products/PIC16F1938-I%2FSO/PIC16F1938-I%2FS=
O
-ND/2258598=20
PIC24FJ64GA002 	$3.6
http://search.digikey.com/us/en/products/PIC24FJ64GA002-I%2FSS/PIC24FJ64GA0=
0
2-I%2FSS-ND/1635680
PIC18F2620 		$7.42
http://search.digikey.com/us/en/products/PIC18F2620-I%2FSO/PIC18F2620-I%2FS=
O
-ND/613227=20

Venerable obsolete parts just for reference, not really comparable to parts
above:
PIC16F84		$5
http://search.digikey.com/us/en/cat/integrated-circuits-ics/embedded-microc=
o
ntrollers/2556109?k=3DPIC16F84
PIC16F877		$6.72
http://search.digikey.com/us/en/cat/integrated-circuits-ics/embedded-microc=
o
ntrollers/2556109?k=3DPIC16F877

These are three comparable devices in the sense they are general purpose,
reasonable RAM & FLASH, all them available in DIP package easy to use for
novices (prices above may not be for DIP though).

Based on price performance by any mean (amount of RAM, MIPS, FLASH,
peripherals) I guess the PIC24 is a clear winner. Only drawback for a newbi=
e
is lack of internal EEPROM, working with FLASH to emulate that is not
trivial.

I don't think a $1/piece difference goes anywhere for "learning quantities"=
..
However, once you have your tool chain setup, your templates working, and a
few examples done, the PIC24 may be much better served for a
SMS/PIR/Wireless project thank a PIC16F. Just move to a PIC24F256GA006 and
reuse 100% code there for huge RAM and FLASH. That is not an option in
PIC16F nor 18F.

If you upgrade to professional usage and mass production there will be lot
of options to choose the right PIC for the task, which is an art on
itself...

My 2 cents.

-----Original Message-----
From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu [mailto:piclist-bounces@mit.edu] On Behalf Of
Peter Johansson
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 11:01 PM
To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public.
Subject: Re: [PIC] How to start with PIC programming

On Tue, Oct 18, 2011 at 5:29 PM, Byron Jeff <byronjeff@mail.clayton.edu>
wrote:

> I know that price is only a part of the equation for hobbyist and
students.
> But still what exactly does a $5 PIC18F2620 offer that is lacking in a=20
> $2
> 16F1938 that justifies the choice over a series of projects?

Speaking of which, I have noticed that PIC24 parts are no more expensive,
and often *less* expensive than comparable PIC16/18 parts.
If you are just getting started and need to invest substantial time learnin=
g
a new architecture, there is a *lot* to be said with just starting out with
PIC24 if you want to go with the MicroChip brand.

-p.
--
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membershi=
p
options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist


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