I've heard it numerous times from various people that the MSP430 (I know Bo=
b Blick loves them) is "better" than the PIC, but I still can't understand =
why.

For the same or similar price of a comparable MSP430, I can get many more f=
eatures in a PIC, *much* more flash and SRAM, lots of DIP package options (=
essential for me), and availability in hobby quantities. All of this for a =
very reasonable total price, straight from Microchip Direct.

As far as I know, TI doesn't sell directly, and I always end up going to Mo=
user for anything TI. Also can't find any decently-sized MSP430 in a DIP pa=
ckage.

The only thing that would make PIC development perfect is a good open sourc=
e PIC18 compiler. SDCC is okay, but nowhere near as good as the HITECH (now=
 Microchip) PIC18 compiler which produces shockingly compact and optimized =
code.

But now that LLVM seems to have picked up, maybe I'll write a 8 & 16 bit PI=
C compiler using it...
--=20
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist
.