I am trying to get started with microcontrollers and after some looking around for a couple of days it looks like the cheapest/easiest way to get into everything is sparkfuns Pocket Programmer along with Atmel’s AVR Studio 5 software. One thing I noticed was it doesnt look like there is direct support for the Pocket Programmer in Atmel’s software. I also read somewhere that the USBTINY drivers might actually allow Studio 5 to recognize the programmer.
My question is will the Pocket Programmer be directly supported with their software (IDE?) or will I have to do some additional work to get it working?
Don’t make the switch, you’ll kick yourself when you realize you need the programmer. Arduino’s IDE, libraries, or core code does not actually require a real Arduino board or bootloader.
could you explane why it would be better to use the USnoobie, than avr pocket programmer. Both cost about the same, avr pocket programmer interfaces via ISP cable and header many different controllers, USnoobie is designed to do the same thing just for ATMEGA 328.