I am thinking of buying a programmer for different projects, to have fun at home. I was looking in the direction of the Microchip Explorer 16, since I already worked with Microchip's dsPICDEM 2 board in my uC classes. (dsPIC30F4013). The Explorer 16 is compatible with the PIC24 and the dsPIC33F. I want something to program chip, non commercial stuff but who knows? A friend of mine already has an AVR STK, so I tought I'd go with PICs and borrow his board from time to time. What do you think of the Explorer 16? Should I go with a dev. board or a starter kit? 300$ surely is affordable since I've got lots of projects popping in my mind. Wireless / ZigBee capabilities... will it be that complicated to mount it on a PCB (out of the demo board)?