No...I don't have any gadgets other than a PicKit3 programmer/debugger.
I'ts mostly because I don't have to stumble every time I want to change something using the MPLAB IDE. I know how it works and am familiar with it.
Also I can set break points and step through code, look at timing cycles etc. etc.
The main thing that got to me this afternoon was I couldn't figure a way of moving the data array into another file and including it in the path of the compiler. I want to get on with programming the chips...not learning to do something that I can do without effort in the CCS C or PIC18 environment and it has frustrated me for a while now that I have to scroll past 380 lines of data to get from the defines to the main loop every minute or so. I can't even move it to the end of the file because the compiler complains... 
Now that I have 2 chips on the go I will have a data array which is double the size and I don't want to wear out my middle mouse button or waste more of my precious time scrolling up and down like an idiot.
I will continue to learn the Arduino way...but at the moment I want to get on with my 24x11 LED matrix....