Atmega Chip Programmer

[LastSamurai]

Hey everyone!
I am "always" working on some small projects using mostly atmega chips (attiny85, atmega 328p, atmega 8, ...) and sometimes stuff like ESP8266.
To program them I am using an arduino uno as ISP and a small an cheap serial to usb converter. Its getting annoying to always repgrogramm and rewire the arduino though, so I am looking for a better solution. I hope you can help.

First of all I am a little confused about the kind of programmer needed: e.g. the arduino nano can be programmed via the small serial programming "line" or via the 10-13.... arduino isp method. What are the different possibilities here and what are their differences?

Is there a not too costly programmer thats really reliable and works with windows 10? Then this will be my christmas gift to myselft

[Oitzu]

@LastSamurai said:

First of all I am a little confused about the kind of programmer needed: e.g. the arduino nano can be programmed via the small serial programming "line" or via the 10-13.... arduino isp method. What are the different possibilities here and what are their differences?

The serial programming is a feature provided by the burned bootloader. The ISP is the native and more low-level function provided by the atmel chips and allows also to set fuses and burn a new bootloader.

Is there a not too costly programmer thats really reliable and works with windows 10? Then this will be my christmas gift to myselft

Search for avrisp MKII. But you could also simply buy an arduino nano and hardwire it as isp device.

[LastSamurai]

Ah that makes sense! Sometimes you forget the easiest parts^^
I guess I will try the nano first, the other one is quite expensive (>= 30€)