Most Common and Generic PIC uC

The following is the best choice of PIC microcontroller for general purpose applications.
First, my criteria is a uC that is flash-based, cost-efficient, enough program space (>= 3 kB), has EEPROM, has I²C and SPI interface, programmable thru my PicKit2 programmer, has enough I/O pin (>= 8 I/O), has WDT, TTL-level voltage, low power usage, and able to communicate via asynchrononous serial port to PC. One of the most important thing is the PDIP availability, so I can develop it on my breadboard.

The intention of my future project is to develop home automation. The uC should be able to interface to sensors (thermal, humidity) as well as on-off microswitches (open-close sensors). It shall be able to communicate to my Linux PC via serial port, able to display status via 4x16 LCD display (Hitachi compatible) and still have some extra pins to do extra stuff (probably reading keypad, interfacing to darlington chip or LEDs).

Searched on MicroChip website (www.microchipdirect.com), I got this:


Chip: PIC16F690
Status = In Production
Volume Pricing = $1.20
Architecture = 8-bit (Harvard Architecture)
Program Memory = Standard
Type = Flash
KBytes = 7
KWords = 4
Self-write = NO
Data EEPROM = 256 bytes
RAM = 256 bytes
I/O = 18
ADC Channels = 12
ADC Bit = 10-Bit
ADC Sample Rate (ksps) = N/A
Comparators = 2
Timers/WDT = 2-8bit 1-16bit Yes
HW RTCC = No
Interface = EUSART, I²C Compatible/SPI
Max. Speed MHz = 20
Int Oscillator (MHz) = 8
ICSP™ = Yes
BOR = BOR
LVD = NONE
ICD - # of Breakpoints = 1
CCP / ECCP = 0/1
PWM Channels = 4
PWM bits = 10
Parallel Port = No
Nanowatt = Yes
Vdd Min. = 2.2 V
Vdd Max. = 5.5 V
Pin Count = 20
Packages = 20/SSOP 208mil, 20/PDIP, 20/QFN, 20/SOIC 300mil

The unit price (PDIP only):

Part Number: PIC16F690-E/P Lead Count: 20 Package Type: PDIP Temp Range: -40C to +125C Packing Media: Tube		Pricing:(USD) 1-25 2.00 26-99 1.95 100-999 1.90 1000-4999 1.75 * 5000-9999 1.67 * 10000+ 1.59 *		Availability: 200 Order Quantity:

Part Number: PIC16F690-I/P PIC16F690 view datasheet

Lead Count: 20 Package Type: PDIP Temp Range: -40C to +85C Packing Media: Tube Pricing:(USD) 1-25 1.85 26-99 1.80 100-999 1.76 1000-4999 1.62 * 5000-9999 1.54 * 10000+ 1.47 *

Note:
The "E/P" in part-number is to tell it is "Extended operational themperature" (Industrial standard). This might fit to auto-mobile applications, where operational voltage is more extreme than home application.