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What is a good beginner microcontroller?

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Souper man

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I was wondering what is a good mircocontroller to start off with. I havnt used them before except for a Basic Stamp 2. I wanted to know of another microcontroller i should try out for a beginner like me.
 
From a beginner's view, one 8-bit MCU is pretty much the same every other. Since you used a BASIC Stamp, guessing you can program in BASIC. There are plenty of compilers, many free, for most brands. Starting out, you won't need to worry about memory size or processing speed, all have more then enough to flash a few LEDs...

Considering your numerous, a similar style posts. I would suggest MicroChip PIC. There is a ton of tutorials and complete project sites on the web to learn from. There are build your own programmers for $10 or less (depends on how much junk you collect...).

Unless you have some specific project goals, the chip specifics really won't make a huge difference at first.
 
Well for lowest cost and quickest productivity you might consider a Pixaxe in one of the various sizes and form factors. Your experience with basic stamp will transfer nicely. I just got the listed below a few weeks ago and I'm having a blast.

There are certainly other brands and models that have higher power languages and faster hardware, however you do pay more up front and have a slower learning curve.

A lot has to do with what you wish to accomplish, your budget and the time you have to give to the endeavor.

**broken link removed**

Good luck
 
I've always thought Basic Stamps were horrible, insane markup for very little real world performance. But if you want to deal with micro controllers directly you have to be comfortable in digtial lingo and willing to learn how processors really work, the learning curve is pretty steep.
 
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