"John" wrote in message ...
Many thnaks for the heads-up on the PICs. I've always tried to avoid USB
interfaces for control applications, but I have a project on the horizon
where I will almost certainly go down that route - simply because laptops no
longer have RS-232 ports..

Many products still use RS-232 (albeit at TTL voltage levels) internally and
just use, e.g., an FTDI USB--RS-232 converter chip (such as the FT2232R).
This is actually easier than using a USB microcontroller, although it does
tend to end up being a little more expensive as well (i.e., $5 for the FTDI
IC, $5 for a microcontroller vs. $5 for a USB controller).