Pickit 2 is really fine. I said it often here. <50$ for a USB programmer, well supported and made by Microchip. O.K. work only in ICSP, but come on, if you want to build your own Ziff socket adapter, it's not a big deal. You could often hack to already made one (olimex if my memory serves me well).

Can't be cheaper than this for a well supported Programmer witch already beat the supported device list of most(see all) freebies ones,

Oh sure the ICD is limited, but do you really need it? Could a simple serial communication or a LCD could do the same job? Well to me, this solution is working almost daily.

Go for it!