Hi Everybody. as topic states im new to Atmel and need ur assistance for products selection. I dont have any problems with Cortex-M3 MCU.. I dont have any problem with any MCU in fact:P:D The only problem i have i just dont know which one to choose:) Im from Azerbaijan. MCU isnt very popular here. I have a task to make tutorial series on MCU C programming and applications on my Website. Have been working with PIC18F series for a while and have general grip of MCU. Moved to ATMEL because its cheaper and compiler is totally free. Im trying to create a new inexpensive easy to DIY dev board and conduct my tutorials on it. Could u please help me to choose a device? My requirements are as follows:
1. At least 16 bit FLASH MCU
2. As much I/O ports as possible
3. USB built in..
4. UART
5. I2C
6. in circuit programming
7. EEPROM
8. Books available for referencing
9. not necessarily but would be cool to have Qtouch capabilities:)

The board is going to host power supply module, motor driver, Special connector for Xbee, Servo ports. A general purpose pick and play dev board. Im also designing a PC Software for board controlling via USB.
Waiting forward for any suggestions.:)

Thanx for ur attention and sorry for weak English:)

hello,
i would say nearly every sam7/sam3/sam4 will fulfill your requirements Including qtouch).

regards
gerhard

I decided to work with SAM3X8E really cool device . but there are 2 problems. 1 I need and cant find any DIY programmers for it.. Can u help?
2. Need good books for it. As i said im new to Atmel but have experience in C programming.

Presumably you could use SAM-BA and a serial cable or via USB. Having a JTAG debugger like the SAM-ICE (J-LINK) is honestly the way to go for a relatively painless experience. And should work with the ATMEL studio, Keil or IAR. You can find used or clone devices on eBay if cheapness is important. The DIY stuff will cost you a lot of time, so unless it's not worth a lot and you like to read and troubleshoot your tools probably should be avoided.

As for books, ARM has a lot of Cortex technically reference material on their site. A good book on the M3 is the one by Joseph Yiu.