Hackaday has a great little article on getting started with BASIC STAMP microcontrollers. These are little programmable chips that help bridge the gap between the world of software nerdery and less-accessible hardware geekdom.

But browsing through the comments on that post confuses the issue. Everyone seems to agree that BASIC STAMPs, while something of a standard, are a huge ripoff. Proposed alternatives include the PICAXE and Atmel AVRs. Both are much cheaper, but probably not as well supported (in terms of tutorials, software and the like).

So, to any fellow nerds out there: do you have any recommendations? How hard is it to switch platforms once you've learned the basics? I know both the stamp and the PICAXE support basic, while the AVR claims to support C (and definitely supports assembly). Less money spent on the chip means better quality components for the robotic flamethrower it'll be controlling.