> >From the marketing gurus at Atmel... > > They compare the msp430xx to the avr megas. > I'd like to hear what you think about it... > > Is this "fact-based" in your opinion or just marketing blabla? > > http://www.atmel.com/atmel/ad/fastavr/megaAVR_analysis.pdf > >
Well, their bias is obvious... We use both families, and each have their advantages and disadvantages. The AVR megas are faster and more powerful, despite being 8-bit rather than 16-bit. This comes from a faster clock speed and less cycles per instruction (not by much, but a little on average), along with bigger Flash and RAM sizes. They can work at higher voltages (they are spec'ed to about 6V, but I accidently ran one at 8V without problems). The MSP430, on the other hand, is lower power, lower cost, has a smaller package for the 64-pin version, and has a very nice way of running its ADC (which is also more accurate than the AVR's). I think it is a good thing to have more than one microcontroller family to choose from, even if they are in similar markets - for us, the AVR and the MSP are both current choices (whereas we have dropped the PIC and COP families as candidates for new designs, even though we have the tools for them).
