Which PIC can you consider as the entry level Gen Purpose chip?

[narc60]

Of all the PICs available, which PIC can you consider as a general purpose chip ideal for beginners and intermediate users?

[koky]

PIC16F886 and 16F887 are cheap and very power pic

[leosedf]

I like mostly 16F84 and F88 for small projects.

[narc60]

I have used the 16F84 and 16F628A but I believe that there are more advanced chips out there at very competitive prices. I'll check on the datasheet of F886/7 as per Koky's suggestion.

[omni]

I would say 16F88 because it's pin compatible with 16F84 and there are tons of projects for 84 on the web...

[iphone]

For me, I would like to start to use PIC18F1230, 18F1220,18F1330 or 18F1320 as :

1. It's cheaper than 16F877A (refer to the price on microchip site) ... that's mean more economy for your project
2. It's cheapest among 18F series ( not include 18FxxJxx ... 18FxxJxx without EEPROM )
3. It's has internal clock speed upto 32Mhz (use PLL) .. that's mean max 8MIPS (million instruction perunit) ... faster than 16F877A
4. Less component require (no crystal if using internal clock) with high speed.
5. better architecture compare 16F series

That's all my point as I just a newbie  and also look for long term benefit on PIC selection

[HscMan]

16F887A is cheap and very power pic

[bliviudaniel]

At my time, I started with PIC16F84, then moved to 16F877 and then to 18F4620.
My suggestion is to start with 16F88 or 16F887 and then move to 18F.

[computer]

If you want 18 pins -> 16F88
If you want 28 pins -> 16F886
If you want 40 pins -> 16F887

Any PIC you choose, you can learn a lot with proteus without buying any components.

[mayler]

If you need a tiny pic, 12F675 it's very good (eeprom + 4 adc 10 bits + cmp)
In 16F, 16F690 has a lot of resources...
In 18F, i liked very much of 18F4550 because of it has usb.

I use proteus always for simulation.

[neteagle]

I use 16F88 + Tiny bootloader on RS232. Very efficient and can debug with a serial monitor program.

[iphone]

I use 16F88 + Tiny bootloader on RS232. Very efficient and can debug with a serial monitor program.

Can you share the package ( schematic, bootloader hex, PC software and guide how to do ) over here ?

Thanks

[lek05134]

For me PIC16F877A

[kelvar]

For me if the chip is to be used in some project that is rather unlikely to come apart then i would use something cheap. If you want to use it as a development kit to experiment with programming then i would recommend the PIC18F2550 (28 pins) or the PIC18F4550 (40 pins) depending on the pins required. They support USB and with a bootloader programmed makes development much easier.

[cocon]

I use 16F877 pic. It's cheap and powerfull.

[sammm]

Pic 12F675 is very smaller and useful!

[fb2007]

well... no general rule on here 
i am using PIC16Fxxx if i don´t need floating point stuff and / or fancy IO,
but as soon as either USB or Ethernet is needed.... the 18F4xxx or the 18F1320 are my choice
(i really like the 18F4550 and the ENC28J60 combination....)

[phu_thanh]

Hi!
I consider pic16f873 is a good choice for entry general purpose. It has got features such as IO ports, rs232 & spi serial communication, pwm, timers etc.

[fastlink30]

18f67j60 for ethernet.... 18f4550 for general purpose

[shobits1]

you can start with 16F84, 16F88 for small project, but i prefer to move toward 16F887. the 18F is powerfull pics and can be used with everything.

so from my view point use 16F (16F877) if you don't a powerfull pic i mean in calculation level, or use 18F (18F4550) if you need more powerful pic.