Programmer questions... which brand?

[Andrew K. Mattei]

> I have a Needham's PB-10 programmer right now, but really want a parallel
> port programmer that I can take along with the laptop. I was thinking of
> just buying an EMP-10 since I've been real happy with the Needham's
product.
> But I notice the Pocket Programmer is much less expensive. Does anyone
have
> any comments on which one I should get? I don't do alot of programming,
just
> mainly 2732, 27128 and 27256 chips.... is the Pocket Programmer a good
> product?

I've used both, and while the PP works OK, its quality is a bit questionable
(IMHO). The power supply is definitely cheap, it uses a flat ribbon cable
that's tied through the enclosure and on inside (not detachable), and it
doesn't give the impression that it was constructed with any longevity in
mind.

I own an EMP-10, and it's a much more solid piece. Of course it's more
expensive, but it (seems to me, anyway) seems better built, the cable is
detachable, and the power supply (by Condor) is better - or at least a name
brand. Actually, I saw with the PP that they had actually snipped the end
off of their power supply and put their own end on it - which was the
reverse of normal (I remember thinking it was weird).

I've had thoughts of selling my EMP-10, but haven't done so. I'd like to get
a BP Micro, but those are danged expensive ($1500 new for the "lowest
priced" model, but just look at the device support list to know why =8) ).
I'll just have to watch Ebay, I guess. ;) My problem is that I want to
program devices that aren't supported by the EMP-10 (fortunately we have an
EMP-20  at work, where I can program those "unsupported" devices). EMP-10
doesn't support the Catalyst 512 flash chip, which I use for "spare" chips
when fixing flash PCMs :^( [CAT28F512]

So is the EMP-10 at $220 worth the additional $90 over the Xtronics?
Maybe...

Now, don't get me started talking about that *&&^ Dataerase][ I bought that
nearly caught fire the other night...

-Andrew

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