DSPIC33F and 16-bit Microchip controllers

[oompa loompa]

does anyone here have an experience with these controllers? i'm just asking because i started playing around with these controllers, and they are awesome . there's not much information out there on the net. the most information i can find is on the famous PIC16F84 controllers, and those are ancient now . i think maybe i should create a section on how to start with these controllers, since they're actually much much easier to use, compared to the older controllers (don't even need high voltage programmers, or an oscillator circuit). just hook it up to a parallel port, add a diode and a resistor, and you got yourself a programmer haha

[jlf65]

www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=2046&var=ds

Here's the programmer's manual:
ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/DeviceDoc/70157C.pdf

[oompa loompa]

oh yea, i already saw the datasheets, but i'm surprised that these controllers aren't as popular as the pic16f84's

[jlf65]

Yeah, it's odd. You can get these at Digikey - the 18 pin DIP is $4.73 in single units, and the 28 pin DIP runs from $5.88 to $9.03 depending on the extra junk inside. Seems it should be fairly popular with hobbyists.

The $9 chip has 128Kx8 program flash rom, 16x8 ram, 21 IO lines, 6 A/D 10b/12b lines, and I2C, CAN, SPI, and UART modules.