I had a question that I couldnt work out using the datasheet.
Im currently designing something with the 16f630.
If I hold it in reset by pulling MCLR to ground, is the power consumption reduced like its in sleep mode?
If so, I could save a pin and a little code on my design which would be really handy.
I believe it's very similar to sleep mode. The oscillator shuts down, the PORT pins go high impedance etc. The power consumption *should* be very similar to sleep mode. A quick test with a multimeter set to microamps would give a better answer...
You can always program the MCLR pin to be an input with wake-on-pin change and implement the sleep in your code. Then you know the chip is actually "asleep" when you pull the pin low.
Yes you can... even if the pin is programmed as an input instead of MCLR it still works as the Vpp pin (high voltage on it puts the chip into programming mode).
You just have to make sure not to put more than Vdd on it when used as an input, or the chip will enter programming mode in your application.