Rating: 
Summary: A highly recommended BOOK!
Review: A must have for beginners who need complete and useful information without a lot of technical overkill. The most Popular microcontrollers are covered and after turning just a few pages you will want to start programming. The "Robotic Crowd" will also love it!
Rating: 
Summary: Less Opinions Please
Review: I bought this book based on my satisfaction with Myke's other microprocessor books. This book is clearly worth the price, especially with the CD-ROM full of resources, but it gets a little tiring having to wade through Myke's opinions about the "weirdness" of a particular architecture, when you are just looking for facts. Next time Myke, leave out the opinions!
Rating:
Summary: Less Opinions Please
Review: I bought this book based on my satisfaction with Myke's other microprocessor books. This book is clearly worth the price, especially with the CD-ROM full of resources, but it gets a little tiring having to wade through Myke's opinions about the "weirdness" of a particular architecture, when you are just looking for facts. Next time Myke, leave out the opinions!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent coverage of microcontrollers & their features
Review: I just received the book today thinking it was your basic reprinting of microcontroller data sheets with some comments about how the features really work. I wanted a book that gave me a quick overview of the controllers. However, Mike give us software guys a look at the hardware, shows us to some extent how to mock up boards for ourselves for pre-coding (while waiting for the real boards to show up). This is a really neat book. No one in my office will be allowed to borrow it, it is THAT valuable to have all the time. Excellent work Myke. -T-
Rating:
Summary: A good reference book
Review: If you need to learn something about microcontroller, this book is for you. As a technical book, I like the author comment and point of view that make the subject alive. Several practical examples will guide you along different microcontroller architectures: from LED blinking to a small RTOS. Development tools are also presented as well as several supplier addresses and URL.
Rating:
Summary: A nice quick start to different families of microcontrollers
Review: Mr. Predko has compiled hundreds of pages of useful information. After reading it, I am more comfortable defining my MCU needs. In my opinion this book was well worth the price and wait! I especially liked the sections on the ATMEL "AVR" and MOTOROLA families.
Rating: 
Summary: Understand how to use Microcontrollers in your application
Review: My goal with this book was to create a complete reference package for today's eight bit embedded microcontrollers. As well as providing technical and processor programming information on the Intel 8051, Motorola 68HC05, Microchip PICMicro, Atmel AVR and Parallax Basic Stamp I have also provided datasheets, development tools and sample applications on the included CD-ROM. For each of the microcontrollers, I have presented them with manufacturer designed programming tools to ensure your first applications will be successful. To help with your own applications, I explore interfacing to RS-232, I2C, LCD and other devices and I devote a fair amount of space to such advanced topics as Fuzzy Logic, Compilers, Real Time Operating Systems (I have included a sample one for the 68HC05) and Network Communications.
Rating: 
Summary: Could have been better
Review: Perhaps if the diagrams were smaller or if the author left out a microcontroller, he could have expanded coverage of some topics. The text could have been better organized as well. I didn't find the data flow diagrams for every instruction helpful, they just took up more space. I agree with an earlier reviewer in that the author seems to expound about Harvard versus Von Neumann architecture way too much and attributes things to Harvard architecture which aren't necessarily true. As for the CDROM, I think it's a great resource except that mine has no directory for the 68HC05. This is a particular shame as I don't get to see the RTOS he wrote for it (but perhaps it's on his website). I love the inclusion of UMPS. Beware that the UMPS Tutorial isn't quite right. Buttons 2 and 3 need to be switched.
Rating:
Summary: A practical introduction to microcontrollers
Review: Read this book to find out how microcontrollers work and the kinds of things you can do with them. If you're getting ready to start a project and don't know which chip to use, this book will help you decide. It even has example applications for each chip. It's an exhaustive reference that's readable and well-researched, as usual for Myke.
Rating:
Summary: Your complete Microcontroller selection & application guide
Review: Select the right chip and write applications quickly and easily with the Handbook of Microcontrollers. This book/CD-ROM set-featuring the most popular 8-bit chips-uses a from-the-bottom-up approach to simplify the often difficult and complex process of microcontroller selection. Choose the correct device, first time, every time This much-needed reference is the first to cover the most commonly used types of 8-bit microcontrollers. The Handbook: * Introduces all common microcontrollers and explains how they work * Fully describes each microcontroller's processor architecture * Gives the instruction set for the built-in processor, with each instruction fully defined * Clarifies microcontroller features and peripherals * Shows you common methods of interfacing microcontrollers with peripheral devices and PC hosts * Provides numerous application examples with source code Learn to evaluate and compare devices Developing applications is a cinch with this single-volume resource. This helpful guide gives you all the information you need to decide the best device for a given application and develop your own applications for the devices. Each section introduces you to a different microcontroller family, explaining the architecture, hardware features and applications specific interfaces, and leads you through example applications. You'll see how the devices work and the pros and cons of specific devices. Plus, you'll find manufacturer and resource information. Troubleshoot microcontrollers with CD tools The companion CD-ROM includes fully tested, reusable source code for each application and development tools for each microcontroller. You'll find helpful software to program chips, sample programs of microcontroller applications, assemblers and simulators, and data sheets. Best of all, you can use the CD to debug defective products. Develop your own devices From the basics to hands-on applications, projects, and experiments, this reference gives you real tools for choosing the right microcontrol! ler and getting the most out of it. With a wealth of comparison charts, software tools, and state-of-the-art information, Handbook of Microcontrollers is one reference that you'll turn to again and again. On the CD-ROM: * Application-building tools * Source code examples * Manufacturers' data sheets Contents Introduction to Microcontrollers 8051 Motorola 68HC05 Microchip PICMicro Atmel "AVR" Parallax "BASIC Stamp" Appendix: 8-Bit Embedded Microcontroller Comparison Chart Resources Common Assembler Commands UMPS SimmStick Listservers Glossary
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