My question is what do you want to program the pic to do.
Value for money, I'd be considering the Arduino, free software and usb programmable.
Easy to source Jaycar, Element 14 and little bird (also available in a dot net version)
Also I'd suggest the Propeller chip.
I have the TI Launch pad, it was the best value for money $4.30 posted with usb cable (and two chips to program). However is the last one I'll look at learning to program.
Lots of info on the net,
Red
