cheapest microcontroller for a noob with high level programming language skills?

I'm relatively new to electronic projects as a whole, but i've got the
basics down. I'm a computer geek with lots of higher level languages
under my belt, but i've never messed with stuff such as assembly. I
could easily handle c or basic though.

I'm itching to start tinkering with a microcontroller. If money were
not a problem, i'd probably pick up a kit similar to what parallax
offers:
http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=27807
as it seems like a good 'noob's how to'

Of course, money is a problem. I was wondering if i could get some
advice on getting started with a simple / cheap microcontroller system.
Are there any out there that would let me program in basic (or
something similar) and could be programmed and run easily with the chip
on a breadboard and a serial port?

it seems like there's a continuum: cheap and hard to learn <==>
expensive and easy to learn
is that true?

This question is starting to run long.. sorry. I'd like a basic
microcontroller, with good reference materials on the net that can get
me started. I'd like to just breadboard simple experiments and
projects at 5v.

Any advice?

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: cheapest microcontroller for a noob with high level programming language skills?
    ... basics down. ... I'm itching to start tinkering with a microcontroller. ... on a breadboard and a serial port? ... Tons of info on the net, and magazines like Silicon Chip run dozens of ...
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  • Re: Embedded Basic interpreter recommendations?
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  • Re: cheapest microcontroller for a noob with high level programming language skills?
    ... basics down. ... I'm a computer geek with lots of higher level languages ... I'm itching to start tinkering with a microcontroller. ... It's like a Parallax ...
    (sci.electronics.basics)
  • Re: MicroController Basic
    ... microcontroller Basics, like 8052 basic are too minimal. ... Zilog devices aren't as popular as they once were. ... Microcontroller and go from there. ... hobby-friendly MCU extremely easy to use with free tools: AVR ...
    (comp.lang.basic.misc)