Hi Andy,

My only contribution to this discussion is that I honestly believe that the decision must be made case by case, that there is no way to make the blanket statement Erik was quoting in his original post. I have no doubt that there are many projects that could be accomplished with either 32 bit or 8 bit architectures. I also believe that some of them can be done more economically with 8 bitters while others will find more economy in the 32 bitters. In other words, even if a particular case can be done more economically with a 32 bit processor, it does not follow that the same will be true in every case.

So, if I were designing a product that was going to be manufactured in large quantities, the kind where a few cents can add up, I would probably work out designs with both architectures, including quotes for board fab and assembly, so I could know for certain which would be the better choice. And yes, things like board design and component selection can have a huge impact on cost.

Of course, if the manufacturer stops providing the choices, all bets are off.