mikroProg to rule them all!!! (PIC)

[MRBadGuy]

So im doing this thread ,because i wanna ask to the member of this beautyful forum ,if someone of you got some experience with
mikroProg.
http://www.mikroe.com/mikroprog/pic-dspic-pic32/

This piece of hardware cost around 100 dollars ,it's not very expensive for feautures it offers
Actually im considering to make some investment in this,but im not really sure if all this theatre is clean & beautyful like it's described on the official website.
Maybe i must go away from this and get something more simple like this to be sure and stay away from any kind of problems in the future.....
http://tinyurl.com/hfhn597
Please guys tell me something about this piece of hardware ,im an newbie in mcu's so i really dont know too much things.
Thanks you really much for the help you are offering to me(if i not was a begginner as im actually ,i will not posting stupid stuff like this)
 

[ar__systems]

Why not just buy the original pickit3?

[MRBadGuy]

Why not just buy the original pickit3?

Lol ,it's because a lot of people bash it .

[ar__systems]

Maybe it is the problem of those people and not the device... I mean, if you try to program in-circuit and your circuit is screwed up, then you are bound to have some issues....

I've used it for years on every PIC architecture. MPLAB 8 and X. No problems here.

[MRBadGuy]

Maybe it is the problem of those people and not the device... I mean, if you try to program in-circuit and your circuit is screwed up, then you are bound to have some issues....

I've used it for years on every PIC architecture. MPLAB 8 and X. No problems here.

oki ,thanks a lot,but i remember of some videos about pickit3 where Dave's is not really happy about it....
 
however if there are no preblems as you said i will go with the standart pickit3.
Thanks a lot my friend.

[Aleksandar B.]

I have used mikroProg programmers for a few years now. They tend to die without any apparent reason. They are huge, and only ~1/8 of the PCB area is used. You need mikroelektronika's software for programming. For AVR there is no integration with Atmel Studio, not sure about PIC and MPLAB. The good thing about it is it can supply power to your board.

I personally don't like mikroelektronika because they screwed me over once, and have never bought a product from them ever since. I would rather pick up a olimex programmer. They work and are much cheaper and smaller.

[MicroBlocks]

If you are going to use PICs, buy a PicKit3.

[jc101]

I have had one of those for a few years now, worked perfectly until recently when the mini-USB came off the board, replaced it with a new one and back in business again.  It has had some abuse over the time like being suspended from the USB at times.  As others have said you need to use the Mikroe programming tool but until recently I have been using the Mikroe environment so it's not been a problem.  It will take a standard intel HEX so in theory it should be fine to take a file compiled elsewhere and program the device.

I'm in the process of moving over to MPLAB for new projects, to gain support for the newer PIC32MZEF series that Mikroe currently don't support, so have a new programmer/debugger to go with that. 

[Ian.M]

Beware: MikroElektronika's device support is always lagging behind Microchip's, and their toolchains  are walled gardens - you cant use any part of them from MPLAB or use them with any non-Mikroelektronika tools or compilers.  Also Microchip generally replace faulty genuine PICkit 3s even when the user has done something stupid.

[ar__systems]

i remember of some videos about pickit3 where Dave's is not really happy about it....

I have no idea who the Dave is.

Bottom line, if you hate Microchip's programmer, don't use their chips either. It's that simple. Me, I love microchip.

If you are newbie as you said you are, you should not be looking around for some obscure development environment that have 3 users in the whole world.

[ralphrmartin]

I bought a PSoC development board from Mikroe only to find the guys doing it had left and it was basically unfinished, and not going to be finished. Poor.

[MRBadGuy]

I have no idea who the Dave is.

David L. Jones is an electronics design engineer based in Sydney Australia. He hosts the EEVblog, the world’s largest and most popular engineering video blog and Youtube channel. In each episode he shares some of his 20+ years experience in the electronics design industry in his unique non-scripted naturally enthusiastic and passionate style.
 
If im not really wrong he's the owner of this forum 

[Smallsmt]

Does anybody know a good field programmer for DSPIC?
Battery operated and files stored inside?

Best regards
Michael

[H.O]

The PICKit3 has PTG (Programmer-To-Go) functionality.
It needs external power via its USB connector but that could be solved with a USB power bank or whatever.

[kripton2035]

I have one mikroprog for some years now. mandatory if you use mikroe programming software(s).
I also have a pickit3 clone in case but did not use it for now !
like the simplicity of mikroe softwares, but sure it may not be for intensive job programmers
but for me as a hobby it works fine.

[Wilksey]

If you use Mikroelektronika tools then you might be better off using their programmer as it's supported from their IDE.

If you are using Microchip's tools, then you are better off buying a PK3, or ICD3.

The Microchip tools work fine, there might be some differences if you are used to previous tool versions like the Pickit 2 software as opposed to the IPE, but that's like every tool, you get used to the differences.

[wraper]

Why not just buy the original pickit3?

Lol ,it's because a lot of people bash it .

LOL, because you didn't even bother to understand why. Nothing wrong with it, it got bashed because it wasn't as good as pickit2 in a few aspects. Mainly support for 3rd party software and need to re-upload firmware for each microcontroller model, therefore not as fast to use if you use it with different MCUs very frequently. mikroProg won't solve any downsides of pickit3 vs pickit2 and only makes it worse.