pic16f628a and Arduino ATmega328

[alparent]

OK I already told you guys I ordered a Arduino Uno board and you gave me some hints on what could be done with it.

But now the effect fairy visited me again and brought me a PIC programmer with pic16f628a chips.
What can I do with dose?
Are they more analogue friendly?
What the big difference between the 2 chips (I did read the data sheets, but I'm to green to make any sense out of them! )

Thanks again for your input. Very,very much appreciated.

[The Tone God]

I'm just warning you now you are treading on one of holy battle grounds, PIC vs. AVR. I've used both. I found AVRs for the most part get the job I have at hand done. It will be hard to sum up the differences in complete detail but I'll sorta through the basics out.

Both a 8-bit RISC platforms so the base architecture is the same. PICs are older so they have more heritage in terms of knowledge but are also older technology and are not doing well keeping up with newer hardware verses cost. AVRs are newer and run faster with more features and have a support of open source tools (like the GCC compiler) and have cheap tools like the Dragon programmer and debugger which can be had for around $60 which is a killer deal and an invaluable tool.

For what most beginners do they won't notice much of a difference (i.e. turning lights on, driving relays, reading buttons) but when you get into more complex projects (data communication, external hardware interfacing, large data processing, etc.) the difference can show. PICs have alot of legacy information out there but AVRs have cheap tools that make things easier (PIC does not have a good open source compiler AFAIK) which with code intensive projects can be helpful. This is why things like the Arduino platform can exist. I've noticed a few other similar platforms dropping PICs for AVRs too. The AVRs keep getting more popular and I think with good reason.

PICs still have more market share at this time so you know you have stability there. There have been a recent shortage of AVRs and this happens every once and awhile when there is a spike in demand. PICs are also really tough suckers. I've done some dumb things with them and they survived. I have managed to kill a few AVRs.

Really for beginners I recommend the Arduino AVR based platform as it gets you going without having to mess with much of the hardware. Once you get going and want to get into more serious projects you can still use the Arduino boards and just wipe the bootloader and use the Dragon / AVR Studio / GCC combo.

Andrew

[alparent]

Thanks again for your input Andrew (I was kinda hopping you would chime in!  )

So since you didn't mention it in your reply I guess that if I look at the audio/analog side of thing no one is better then the other.
I've been playing with the Virtual Breadboard until I get my real Arduino board and I'm telling you I've haven't programed for a long time (a bit....VERY....rusty!)

I really do appreciate the time you take to reply to my posts. Thanks (Did I already say that )

[The Tone God]

No prob.

Generally you don't do any audio processing directly with these types of controllers. They just don't have the processing power so generally "analog" will come in the picture is when you use external hardware and that is more up to the circuit design then the core of the controller. Analog is really not much of an issue here with these guys. You would have to go to DSP controllers to do audio processing.

Andrew