I bought an arduino mini a few months ago and have been very happy playing with it, but recently I've found some places online selling atmega chips pre-burned with the arduino bootloader for under $10. I'm now wondering what the benefits of the arduino mini are over a pre-loaded chip (other than an extra AD port)?
If I decide to use the pre-loaded chips, do I need anything extra to load my programs? Is my USB mini serial converter sufficient? I know I need a 16mhz crystal and a power source. Anything else?
the chrystal (plus condensators) is all you need to get the preburned atmega running. to upload a programm you can use your mini's usb/serial adapter. there should be no difference except for the 2 extra analog ins that the mini offers (as you mentioned).