I have worked with TI boards in the past and agree they have great documentation also. One pitfall I did run into however was that the development boards are so

I have worked with TI boards in the past and agree they have great documentation also. One pitfall I did run into however was that the development boards are sold at a very low price but when you get into production quantities, I found the prices were higher. Sort of a loss leader business model. But yes if you want something to hack around with and are looking for great documentation and tool chains TI is definitely worth considering.