Erik's suggested criterion is a good one. Unfortunately, few programmer makers give any sort of warranty. The BP Micro is an exception ... they genuinely do support their parts into the future. With the Asian makers which have sold me programmers, what you get is all you'll ever get. The only way you get an update is if the "next newer model" uses the same software, which some have done.

I'd suggest checking eBay for a used Data I/O UniSite. I've bought several for clients in the $200-$350 range, depending on the adapter selection that came with 'em. The "trick," of course, is finding the adapters that you need. Be sure the Unisite you settle on has all the driver boards installed. Some do not. Be sure that you have the required software on hand, too. The UniSite requires quite a bit of it. It has ins own FDD's and the software has to live there. You can write them with a PC, but you have to have the contents first.

The pitfall with most Asian programmer makers is that they plan to support devices, and advertise that they do, but don't "get around to" many of them.

The good thing about buying a functional unit on eBay, and paying for it via PayPal, is that you get some buyer protection. If you specifically ask the seller, via eBay's email, whether the device will safely program the devices you want to program, and he says it does, then you have recourse through eBay and PayPal, and, at worst, could lose your shipping cost. If the device is shipped via USPS, and it has been represented as capable of something that it, in reality, is not, that could be construed as mail fraud, which also gives you some leverage.

The key is that you have to subject the device to an "incoming inspection, wherein you verify that it can do all of what you require, right away. This means you must risk damage to those components. The XELTEK programmer I was initially send, back in '89 or so, damaged/destroyed the majority of the components I attempted to program in it. Check your device out with a few older components that use a switched supervoltage, e.g. 2764 or 2732 ( or 8748/8751 ). If those fail, you've got a "lemon" and need to pursue your return options.

There are other models than the UniSite that work just fine, but the checkout and software issues are common to all.

RE