Just wondering if anyone has experience with either/both....I'm really new to programming and have just finished getting comfortable with basic stamp---so i think the propeller would be next, but arudino seems like it is cheaper and pretty comparable as to what you can do with it....Is the coding considerably harder with arudino?

 

I have used the Arduino boards and have found them rather nice to play with. The programming language is based on C, so if you are not familiar with that then it will take some time getting used to that. Look at the libraries and example code on the http://www.arduino.cc website to get the feel of what is available.

Since Arduino is open source hardware, there are plenty of things available for it from hardware versions, hardware accessories, and software support and code for various functions. I think it is a nice platform.

As for the Propeller, I have no experience with it. It does look interesting though.

 

As was mentioned the Arduino is easy to get started with. There are large number of
examples to learn from. As you progress you could move to straight C (or C++) using
the free AVR tools. Being able to program in C will let you move to a variety of other uC architectures.

I have some example programs to control an LCD and to perform wireless
communication at -- http://tinyurl.com/5rfmrz

(* jcl *)