Been using PK3 for quite a bit, now.
Here's an update on some of my previous posts
IPE is still slow as molasses. It only works reasonably spiffy after a clean reboot of my computer it seems. I think once I have used MPLAB 8.x, once, the damage is done. So my original time estimates are pretty accurate on my Win7 comp.
Opening IPE on my Windows computer:
1. At 24 seconds, the window finally opens.
2. At 45 seconds, the output window says "finished loading IPE software"
3. After plugging in the PK3, it takes about 30 seconds before you can successfully connect.
4. It takes another 30 seconds or so to connect after you hit "connect." If you don't wait for step 3, connection will fail and will take like 45 seconds before you can try again.
5. It takes another 30 seconds or so to setup p2go.
Between all the waiting, it takes me probably 5 to 10 minutes to set up a single PK3 for P2GO. It takes only ~20 seconds to do the same thing on a PK2.
Programming speed:
In a variety of different firmwares with the same device, PK3 is sometimes a bit faster, and sometimes a bit slower (than PK2 set for fast programming; changing speed of the PK3 doesn't seem to do anything). So really no speed advantage at this point for my current use.
Reliability:
Well, after flashing many hundreds of boards, reliability has been pretty good. There is stlll a rare board that cannot be flashed with the PK3. One board, it could flash, but it couldn't reflash? PK3 flashed the board once, then couldn't reflash it; just left it code unlocked. PK2 worked no problem; tried again with PK3, no dice. MCLR was on and N/C, and DAT/CLK lines unused (high impedance, pullups on in the code), so this is just strange. I notice the Vdd is supplied all the time, once you start using it. I suspect the power doesn't cut out long enough for the circuit to always respond to Vpp-first programming, maybe? (Even though I'm not using MCLR on this board).
Also, it seems like the delay between MCLR going to Vpp and data being sent may be shorter than on the PK2. This may be cause for some of the reliability issues I am having. PK2 is such a long delay, I can use Vpp to activate SSR's for DAT/CLK, so I can leave the programmer plugged in for dev and still use those lines in my circuit. My attempts to do the same on the PK3 have failed.
So aside from a couple of major pros in P2GO mode (namely the ability to ignore device ID), the PK3 has very little improvement for me aside from the debugger and the improved device compatibility. And even for dev use, I am often preferring my (modified) PK2 for devices where I'm using ICSP pins.
If anyone knows a more recent firmware suite, lemme know. I have 4 different versions, latest is 1.34.11. I can't even figure out how/where to get these firmware files, anymore. Seems like a year ago I found a few new ones and had to install these through MPLAB, manually. I seem to recall it being a bit of a scavenger hunt even trying to find those. IIRC, I got them from links from random posters, rather than from a Microchip website. All my current searches just come up with answers like "firmware downloads automatically," which seems to suggest that most people don't even know you can change firmware suites. (I'm not talking about the different firmwares between device families; these are *.JAR files which are installed via MPLAB, and the suite version remains consistent even when the device downloads different firmwares between device families).
Some of these four firmwares are less buggy then the others. (P2GO on the original PK3 is buggy in all of them).