Lpc2000

Hello all, this is my first post to the group.  I'm a firmware test engineer for one of the 
major hard drive vendors.  We use an ARM966E core in some of our drives.  I wish to move 
over to the firmware development group in about a year, and am presently taking an ARM 
course to get my feet wet with the instruction set.

Unfortunately, the class only uses a software emulator.  I want to get some real hardware 
to play with (a board with lots of interfaces and devices, plenty of memory to run an RTOS 
on, and a JTAG debugger).

I prefer to code using my Mac, and I have a keyspan USB->serial cable that I can use with 
my AVR STK500 MCU.  Hopefully I can use it (or buy something else) to program an ARM 
eval board from my iBook.

I've started collecting the GNUARM components, as I will need to use a free compiler/
debugger.

My goals are to master the ARM instruction sets (ARM/Thumb), get proficient at writing 
device drivers for the board's devices, and get experience writing code that runs on an 
RTOS.

It seems the LPC2000 series is widely supported by groups such as this on the net, so it's 
probably a good platform to start with.  The question is, what do you guys recommend as 
far as picking a specific board, JTAG debugger, and development tools?

Ideally, I'd like to keep total expenses under $500 for the board, JTAG debugger, and any 
software I might have to purchase.

Although I want to develop using my Mac, I do have a Win XP box in the closet as a back 
up.

Your suggestions and advice is much appreciated!

In summary, my requirements for the board:

- ARM7 is sufficient, I see no need to go ARM9 at this point
- Enough memory to run an RTOS, with a little left over for my programs
- A good selection of devices (LEDs, switches, LCD or VGA interface, USB, serial, Ethernet 
would be awesome)
- JTAG debugger recommendations
- Tool recommendations

Thanks!

-Jeff