I've designed a project using the Basic Stamp 2 myself. It's easy to use and the Basic language is easier to program in then machine assembly language.
Edit: The project was to control a high intensity LED array. It interfaced to a keyboard for command inputs, performed a successive-approximation A/D conversion to measure battery voltage, interfaced to an LCD display for status display, regulated the LED intensity with the PWM output, and controlled the LED on-duration. It was much easier to do the programming for all that in Basic then it would have been in Assembly language. It did take about 70ms to go through the program loop (I believe it averages about 2,000 Basic instructions per second) but that was more than fast enough for the project requirements.