Rating: 
Summary: has its use
Review: As with Peatman's other books, this one SEEMS to cover the material at first glance in the bookstore. But then, after the reader purchases the book and gets it home, s/he will find the coverage incomplete and diluted. What do I mean? Specifically, there are no detailed or in-depth examples. The material is abstract and general in nature. For a topic like microcontrollers, the reader needs examples that are "step-by-step" and "how-to". These are totally lacking. Buy any other book instead. Then you might actually learn something.
Rating: 
Summary: Save Your Money
Review: Don't believe for a minute the rave reviews preceding this one!You may be a seasoned embedded system programmer, and you want to get up to speed quickly rather than relying on pouring through Microchip's reference manuals, this book is not it. It's too bad that the author is not as good at writing as he is at marketing the book. A good writer will make even a difficult subject easy to understand. It is not so in this case. Sadly, the converse is true. (Randal Schwartz of Learning Perl fame, are you listening?!) I am going to learn to design and program the PIC, but not with this book. Bottom line: save the money and stay with the Microchip references available online.
Rating: 
Summary: OUTSTANDING!
Review: I learned more in the first 30 pages of this book than in weeks of looking at data sheets and ap-notes. This book covers EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about high-end (PIC16C6x and PIC16C7x) PIC microcontrollers. Most of the information applies equally to the popular PIC16F84. If you're going to use PIC microcontrollers, get this book!
Rating: 
Summary: It is not ment to be a "PIC for dummies" Book
Review: I took Dr. Peatman's class in college with this book, and I think this book would have done better if he had bundled the Class Lab book. The class lab book and actually having the hardware in front of you made the book make a whole lot more sense. I can see how some of the other readers may have been disappointed because with out the hardware in front of you its a bit difficult to really understand whats going on. I think this book is great as a reference if you have a PIC controller to play around with, but I would not recommend this book to some one who is looking for a "PIC microprocessors for Dummies" type book.
Rating:
Summary: Quite Good But Not Perfect
Review: Peatman has done an admirable job of condensing the world of PICs into about 300 pages. The book is very readable. However, it is lacking in code samples and circuits. The Microchip Application notes, available at their website, help to close this deficiency. The book covers all the basics though. Serial, I2C, using templates, timers, etc. The examples are generally clear and if you've had previous assembly experience, this is an easy read and good way to get up to speed on the PIC series of microcontrollers.
Rating:
Summary: Quite Good But Not Perfect
Review: Peatman has done an admirable job of condensing the world of PICs into about 300 pages. The book is very readable. However, it is lacking in code samples and circuits. The Microchip Application notes, available at their website, help to close this deficiency. The book covers all the basics though. Serial, I2C, using templates, timers, etc. The examples are generally clear and if you've had previous assembly experience, this is an easy read and good way to get up to speed on the PIC series of microcontrollers.
Rating:
Summary: professional grade
Review: Peatman's book would serve very well as a second or third year Electronics/Computer Science text without being too highbrow about it. Very useful in all respects. Focus is on the PIC16c6x and PIC 16c7x chips, but can be used with most others as well.
Rating:
Summary: professional grade
Review: Peatman's book would serve very well as a second or third year Electronics/Computer Science text without being too highbrow about it. Very useful in all respects. Focus is on the PIC16c6x and PIC 16c7x chips, but can be used with most others as well.
Rating:
Summary: Not Much Bang for the Buck!
Review: This book is basically an over-priced college text. ... On the other hand, there are a few good practical applications illustrated. The author choose to place a special emphasis on timing issues.
Rating:
Summary: Not Much Bang for the Buck!
Review: This book is basically an over-priced college text. ... On the other hand, there are a few good practical applications illustrated. The author choose to place a special emphasis on timing issues.
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