Hi,

Why do you plan to pick the 18F4620 as you future standard PIC? I would really consider choosing the 4550 for all things instead. Sure, you will get half as much memory as the 4620 but that would force the students to keep the code short and efficient. (and the option to in worst case plug in a 4620 to save the project)


I think USB or Ethernet support is more the future and that would allow the students to make neat stuff and connect to other devices.

Looking at the pricing at Microchips webpage you can see that the 4550 is around 4 USD, 4620 is 4.2 USD and PIC18F67J60 is 3.5 USD.... they are more or less the same price.

Looking at performance the PIC18F67J60 stands out. Ethernet support, 128 kB Flash (2 times 4620 and 4 times 4550) so if you are looking for maximum memory for a low cost this is your choice and cheaper than the other two. and it has PBP support :-) the only downside I can think of is that it is a 64 pin smd package....

/me