pretty close price or not is not revealant on a single of few device. But when you do a project and create 100 000 or million of them... few cents of difference made enough difference to be considered.

Uneless you use the PBP I2CREAD/I2CWRITE, you shouldn't experiment any problem because it doesn't use the PIC MSSP... it's a simple software solution who handle everything for you on the i/o you want to use for your I2C bus.

Now wich one trust? I can't say, but before, be sure of they do all you need, be sure that a lower model wouldn't fit, and so on. If it was me to decide, i would check to some other wich have less errata. But it's just me, i prefer to leave possible problem to other. I have those in stock now in case of, but i've never messed with them.

I admit that i'm kinda addictive to those pinned black box