No perfect solution....

PICAxe are MicrChip CPUs that have a bootloader installed so you don't need a programmer to program them. You can't buy any old PIC and make it work, but apparently there are PICAxe chips that look like PIC family. Also don't know their availability, nor cost. The nice thing is that the PICAxe kit comes with the power supply, proto board etc, much like the Basic Stamp which makes prototyping easy. Also looks like it works with MPLAB IDE (free) and the free MicroChip compilers.

To go with the standard PIC route (which is what I do), you will need a programmer like the PICKIT2 on the MicroChip site (not the dev kit, just tthe programmer and USB cable). Then you would need to build up a proto board. Many places sell these in various sizes as well as the jumper cables to hook up your project. You will need to provide a regulated +5 VDC to the board using something like a 7805 regulator and caps. You will need a 5 pin 0.1" header to connect the PICKIT2 programmer to the board to program the PIC. Buy a few PIC's, caps, resistors etc. You download the free MPLAB IDE and C compiler (or buy the PICBASIC compiler to use BASIC. This gets you to a point you can start wiring up a circuit and debug some code.

Unless you start making PCBs, you might keep your project on a proto board with all the components and get another proto board for the next project. Places like Radio Shack and Fry's Electronics sell these boards for a few bucks.

If you go to the MicroChip site, you can get a list of what chips have what capabilities. Might look at 8 bit processors. On of the chips I use is the 16F88. It has 7K of program space, 1 PWM/Capture hardware port, 7 channels of ADC, 3 timers, and 2 comparators. Plenty of capability to get started.

I have already discussed the Basic Stamp system.

So all depends on how much "ready to go" or "DIY" you want. I think people learn a lot more in the end with the DIY approach, but for people that are easily frustrated, not so good.

As you can see, I went the PIC route (although I used a different programmer).

So now you get to decide. Good luck.

John