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Rating: 
Summary: Does the job, but needs a better layout
Review: At first the book made me angry. Too much time is spent early on about technical aspect that a beginner won't understand until AFTER they read the book. This left me saying, "Why am I reading this?"But as I got used to the author's approach, I was able to follow along. The information is very accurate, which makes the rest of it forgiveable, and in the end I did learn how to program a PIC. Thus the book fulfilled it's promise. I can't give it a 5 because it lacks a clear layout. I'd just finished reading another Amazon book laid out like thus: Project Title
What it Does
Why You'd Build it.
Parts List (including parts #'s of hard to find parts. (lacking in Easy Pic'n! ))
Schematic
PCB Foil pattern
Stuffing diagram.
Step-by-step Assembly Instructions
Troubleshooting
Theory of operation
Practical applications
Detailed programming instructions, if applicable.
I think EVERY "how to" electronics book should be laid out this way and EZ Pic'n falls short of that particular mark. Rambling somewhat as other commenters have said. So, in fairness, if I'm going to give the other author a 5, I can only give this guy a 4. The other book is:
Electronic Circuits & Secrets of an Old-Fashioned Spy, by Sheldon Charrett, in case anybody's wondering, and there is a great BS2 LCD project in there! That's something I was hoping to find in EZ Pic'n, but no dice. The EZ Pic'n projects are very basic, but they'll get you using the PIC.
Rating: 
Summary: bad intro book - poorly written and organised
Review: During the time I started out using the Basic Stamp, I evenually got started programming PIC's.Knowledge of Hex and Binary numbers will help you along as the author explains the different registers associated programming the 16F84.This thing about backwards compatibility using instructions which prepare you for using the 16C54,which the author likes to use,is basically a shortcut. I didn't like it at first, but as you near the end of the book,everthing is explained in plain english. David benson wrote these books(I have the complete set from SQUARE 1) with the intention of keeping the reader interested, and certainly has done it well. If your like me, and a hardcore programmer at work, I welcome you to try this book and learn the easy way......I did!
Rating: 
Summary: Highly recommended for the beginner.
Review: I lost myself in pages of a poor PIC programming book for a month. Then I browsed amazon.com and ordered first two PIC'n books from Square 1. I read the books almost in the same breath and it took me two days to understand what PIC is, write my first program and download it into a PIC. An index should have been included but lack of it didn't prevent me from learning PIC'n.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as it could be, but still useful.
Review: I used this book for a microcontroller assembly class in college last year where I had to program a 16F84 to activate and change intensity of some lights sources, controlled via RS232 with a PC interface. Overall, I guess the book was quite helpful, far from perfect, but it did make the job a lot easier. I somewhat agree with the other reviewer that the book is a big vague sometimes and that reading the programming datasheets available on Microchip's website is essential. The datasheets are extremely complete, but sometimes they are really useful only when you know what you're looking for and how it works. Basically, they are perfect for reference, but not enough when you're learning from scratch. The book also has some code bits, for very common uses like Loops, doing For and While cycles, Time Delays,Lookup tables, interrupts, etc. The amout of info covered in about 150 pages (including the usual command and register lists) is insufficient. I often found myself needing more details. This is definitely no PIC bible. The book is also very focused on programming and not really on the electronics. You get a few circuit diagrams, but not much. (to me this was good, since I had to deal only with the assembly and not really with circuit design). Overall, it is a useful book, but incomplete and lacking better organization (not to mention the cheap and amateurish print look, but that doesn't really matter). It is worth reading if you're starting with PIC 16F84 assembly. Perhaps a bit overpriced for what it offers, but since some parts are very well explained and very clear, it is the perfect companion for the official Microchip Technology programming datasheets.
Rating:
Summary: Useful for the Beginner
Review: One reviewer said that this book just repeats the data sheet, so why buy the book? Please allow me to answer. Those of us who are computer engineers can simply pick up the 125-page data "sheet" and learn the in's and out's of the 16F84 in one evening. But the beginner needs a guide that explains the various registers and instructions in less technical language. Those who are new to programming also need some example programs, something the data sheet lacks. And that's who this great little book targets - - the beginner. So, if you're a pro, look for something a little more advanced. But, if you're a beginner at microcontrollers, I would certainly recommend this book or its newly re-titled version (Easy Microcontrol'n).
Rating:
Summary: great for the beginning experimentor
Review: preempt: im a mech engr, with little programming experience of uC (6811 in college), hobbiest interest in electronics, and a want to learn the basics of the PIC uC... i picked up another PIC book first, only to have my head swim with too much initial information... i just couldnt get started.... i picked up Easy PIC'n, and it seems that this was the book i had been looking for to start the learning process (the other book is now a great reference once i was able to boil everything down)... i even had a friend who has never programmed anything in his life, nor really tooled with any kind of electronics, and even he was able to understand what was going on... you will still need a programmer and he offers schematics for a test board... enough to get your feet wet, and move on.... exactly what *I* was looking for...
Rating:
Summary: Decent starter book
Review: This book got me going with the PIC reasonably well. It is a little overpriced for the amount of information contained. If you are starting from zero, this book (along with microchips datasheets) will get you started. Would have been better if bank switching had been addressed from the beginning (instead of teaching the tris and option commands first and then bank switching.)
Rating:
Summary: Worth the cost? Close call.
Review: This book was a lot better than I thought it would be based on having read the other reviews prior to buying it. I believe it is a good beginner book for someone all ready familiar with digital electronics, and IC chip technology in general. Yes, the price is a little high based on the content. And yes, the organization could have used a little more thought. However, this book appears to have been written several years ago. Thus, most of us interested in pics today have a head start on the books content. I enjoyed the basic coverage of pics not found in most other pic books I have read. (or tried to read!) This book will not teach you about computers or electronics. You should have a general knowledge of these beforehand. There is also a lot of pic coverage not normally found in beginner books. I believe the book covers assembly language fairly well. Although sometimes the information ends abruptly leaving the reader hanging as to what to do next... Also, the book did answer some questions I had about pics that other books didn't. All-in-all, I'm satisfied with the books content vs. the price I paid for it (a used price.)
Rating:
Summary: Best Book for Beginners
Review: This is one of the great books by David Benson. This book is the best book to start off. Especially the way author progresses through the chapters is really interesting. If you are beginner, this is the book to start with.
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