Thanks for the replies,
I am starting to realise just how little I know about computer science, its shocking!!!, second only to my grammer!
Please excuse all the noob-ish-ness
For a kick off I am talking about a 32Bit DSP device but I want to discuss this, the bit part especially now I have studied a couple of modules on computer science at Uni but we only scrape the surface power electronics and maths is my thing
I use the term DSP because the way I thought was a proper DSP chip is geared towards doing mathematical operations like invers trigonometry FFT transforms etc can anyone elaborate on what makes a device a DSP chip?, I have been using an Uno which is an 16MHz 8 Bit device, the MHz speed of the processor is easy to understand for a layman like me the faster the clock the more instructions can be processed and the processor speed relates to how quick things happen which is dead easy
Regarding the bits the way I thought of it was that that the bits relates to the values the processor can handle the more bits the bigger the number and greater the accuracy, take the ADC/DAC with the Uno for instance my 10Bit ADC with the uno has a resolution of about 5mV/increment double the bits and double the resolution but after looking around it seems that theres more to it than this if I had an imaginary Uno with a 16Bit processor (instead of 8Bit) but still 16MHz, would the increased bits only increase the values I could use and not actually increase the speed of operation? I would need to increase the clock speed to decrease execution time thats the way I thought of it I have no issues with the values I am using being to large I am no where near 8bit values even if I was I could just divide by a factor use ms scales instead of us and the numbers smaller!!!!, I have just read some pretty confusing stuff on it all which has left me wondering if I can even spell my own name right! I dont have a clue!!!
I want faster operation faster calculations and would love the ability to calculate inverse sin on the fly in the less than 10us range it took the Uno (with my programming) about 160us to do a truncated version of Maclaurin series which is just taking the pee IMO
You can learn C in your computer at home... if the plan is to learn C, I'd go with a computer program first
I could do that but, if I am honest, I think it would be a bit boring I learn best by doing real things in the real world and I have read a fair bit on C through places like the MIT (OCW), books etc and I am ready to actualy do some real controlling in the real world I feel that way would be better for me start simple like blink LED and hello world etc and work up to interrupt vectors etc, in fact its stuff I had to do in my last project some pretty hardcore stuff (IMO!) so I am not totally new to C language
I have looked into the recommended boards here, first of all the chipkitUno 32 seems attractive to me it basically looks like microchip have totally ripped off Arduino with the name I mean an UNO 32 is just total cheek by microchip couldnt they think up there own name? it seems from what I have read that its a 3.3V output device which like I said I could really use 5V outputs and I took it for granted that the majority of boards would be 5V outputs to be used directly with TTL devices however it seems this is not the case, I could use devices to up the voltage, transistors or even opto couplers but it will mean another power supply to do this not the end of the world but more hassle, 5V output would be great as I dont introduce any further delays into the project as every us really does count! but it seems like I might just have to put up and shut up, is the arduino the only board with 5V outputs????? I cant find any other!!!!
the Beagle seems like a very powerful piece of kit when you say programme in an operationg system I take it you dont mean windoze??? (What do you mean?), I just dont get what the benefit of plugging a monitor and keyboard directly into a micro controller is??, fair enough if you dont have a PC then yeah great but in this day and age with laptops its just no hardship to me as I have a laptop why waste it??? its lighter than a monitor and the keyboards already plugged in, in fact I want to program from my laptop just like I program my UNO, I really like the look of the beagle I will pay the money if its something I can pick up and learn the speed and resources are very attractive to me as I would love to develop a space vector modulation motor drive or a FOC drive I love hardcore maths it seems like it would be good to do high end math in minimum time???, I would love to hear more about the Beagle the pros and the cons etc etc.
The Maple also looks good but after a little read it seems very similar to the ChipkitUno? 72MHz Arm vs 80MHz Pic does the ARM do things better than the PIC 32 I really am lost when it comes to this as being noob I would just impulse buy the fast chip an extra 8MHz clock speed but I just know theres more to it than that!!!
Thanks for the replies, I am more confused than ever!, the more I learn the less I know if you follow me please anyone else whos read this far please join in the discussion as there has got to be other noobs out there feeling confused like me! and I for one want to hear your opinions and experiences no matter how small
Can I ask how the PIC32 is better than an ARM device of same speed
I could wait for the Due but will it happen anytime soon? I think it was back in September when I heard about it!!! they certainly got the name right I will give them that! 
(Bit of a long post, I hope I responded to all the points!)