Re: Start with PICs
Well, it really depends on your budget and if you really want to learn how to use a picmicro the easy way..... If you are completely n00b on the subject I would recommend to start the way many of us did. Use the now obsolete 16f84a, and a book by david benson Easy PIC'n (now Easy Microcontrol'n....maybe some kind soul has uploaded it to the forum). There are also lots of tutorials on how to use the 16f84 on the web.
There are two main reasons i still recommend the 16f84...and not a fully loaded pic with everything exept the kitchen sink, like in math ... solve the dead easy problems first, then go to more complex ones with more variables. same thing here, the 16f84a has such a minimal set of features that you can start to work on it right away, and in a day or two you have already done your first projects there are no analog devices to disable or unknown cryptic features. Also any programmer has support for it, you can even build a dead easy programmer such as the NOPPP. Once you get the feeling on how it works, you can migrate on to a better pic such as the 16f628 or 16f877, just need to learn to disable the analog comparators, A/D converters etc.....
It seems some of us forget how overwhelming can info on datasheets be during the first tries, specially if you have alot to read with no inmediate results, and how amazing was to simply blink a led for the first time.
just remember, the 16f84a is no longer recommended for a production enviroment mostly because it lacks alot of features compared to its new counterparts and its higher price, but it can give you a good jumpstart on how to program a pic.
From there the world is yours, but remember... start with the basics.