I've had a lot of fun with the Parallax Boe-Bot kits.<p><a href="http://www.parallax.com/tabid/411/Default.aspx" rel="nofollow">http://www.parallax.com/tabid/411/Default.aspx</a><p>I've been working wit the Basic Stamp (and other micros) for probably the last 12 years or so. To me, it's a good mix of powerful and easy to get up to speed on, so the initial learning curve isn't so steep as to be discouraging.