If you want to hack FPGA's for cool stuff (bit patterns, arithmetic, etc.) cheaply, then the PSHDL language & system might work for you. http://pshdl.org/pshdl.html Here's a YouTube video about PSHDL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2f3Vf74qAI Here's a crowd-funded project to produce the cheap FPGA hacking board: http://boards.pshdl.org/ (I have no connection with this person or organization, but I've always been intrigued by the possibilities of FPGA's.