I really like the picaxe chips they are very easy to use and quite versatile, when I needed a bit of extra speed I used to use the convert basic to assembler function in PE5 which was just enough to do the job, it unfortunately was dropped in PE6 and the PE5 version will not as far as I can tell run on the new windows 34/64 bit systems. My original intention was to learn pic programming using picaxe basic then progress on to using assembly language as I used to on the Z80 and 6809 processors of the seventies and eighties (yes I'm well past the first flush of youth and I'm out of date with the tech). I really don't want to get into using compiled basic because most of the compilers I have looked at have so many bells and whistles by time you have set everything up Define include processor ...ditto you may as well have used assembler! I tried Arduino and hated it because of C, to blink an L.E.D takes lines of code to set up and about three lines for the program! I have some resevations about some features of picaxe basic but I find most of them can be ignored. I thought at least half of my remaining brain was still working until I decided have a go at MPLAB 1/2/3/4/5/6/7X or whatever the version will be by time I finish this post I find it incomprehensible not the coding the whole IDE or whatever they want to call it next week is ______(insert expletive here). They say read up I have of and on for five years everytime I nearly get there someting else changes never mind the Pickit2/3 debaucle and 90% of text books and the net (often full of misinformation) out of date. Ok a bit long winded and not exactly picaxe anyone got any suggestions.