It's just a hobby for me too and I kicked the same question around for a long time and decided I could always buy an ICD2 later but I need a programmer first even though my 16Pro40 still works like a charm it didn't do some of the chip's i wanted so I got a pickit2.All I can say is it work's great and it's a steal compared to some of the other programmers out there for the same or more money,the best part is it's USB.I think Mister E could fill you in on an ICD2 better than me so I leave at that and hope I've helped a bit.