I think some other cheaper solutions may be available nowdays.If you know any like that, please let me know.
cheaper? I do not think (significantly) so.
Of course if you want to code the whole mess youself, you may get by for a few bucks less. I used the Vdrive for initial (pre-hardware) development and my thingy has a vinc chip in it.

Erik

PS Cypress has something similar STAY AWAY. Every time I called "come on over, I have a proto" they answered "we have changed the pinout, call when you have the next proto". After going through this 3 times I wrote them "unless i can get a letter from the president that the pinout will not change, I will not use your chip" -- never got an answer. Again, if you have the guts to code it yourself, this chip is "open".