philba
New Member
I'm new to the msp430. I have heard a number of people waxing ecstatic over the msp430 so I went to the 430 day seminar that TI has been running. While there are some nice things about the architecture I have to say that i was utterly underwhelmed.
I've been using the ez430 usb stick. I like the concept behind it - quite inovative way for some one to get up to speed on the 430.
However, coming from PICs and AVR, I have found the products pretty weak on peripherals. the msp430f2013 (3.70 for q/1 from digikey) has one timer and spi/i2c. It does have a 16 bit ADC. except for the 16 bit ADC, it is pretty weak compared to the peripherals from cheaper PICs/AVRs. Maybe I'm spoiled by the richness of the 8 bit processors but I sure would like a UART and at least one more timer. To get that you have to go up to a much more expensive msp430. I don't see this line as becoming my standard uC for arbitrary applications. Maybe for a very low power solution or, once integrated onto the chipcon radios, for wireless aps (may the 8051 versions die a horrible death...).
I fully admit I've only spent a couple of days playing the 430. I would love to hear why I am wrong because I sure like core architecture.
I've been using the ez430 usb stick. I like the concept behind it - quite inovative way for some one to get up to speed on the 430.
However, coming from PICs and AVR, I have found the products pretty weak on peripherals. the msp430f2013 (3.70 for q/1 from digikey) has one timer and spi/i2c. It does have a 16 bit ADC. except for the 16 bit ADC, it is pretty weak compared to the peripherals from cheaper PICs/AVRs. Maybe I'm spoiled by the richness of the 8 bit processors but I sure would like a UART and at least one more timer. To get that you have to go up to a much more expensive msp430. I don't see this line as becoming my standard uC for arbitrary applications. Maybe for a very low power solution or, once integrated onto the chipcon radios, for wireless aps (may the 8051 versions die a horrible death...).
I fully admit I've only spent a couple of days playing the 430. I would love to hear why I am wrong because I sure like core architecture.