I am thinking about getting into PIC programming and I have some experience in Basic programming but I am more comfortable with C++.

I have read in "123 PIC Microcontroller Experiments for the Evil Genius" by Myke Predko, that the when using the built in PWM function the maximum frequency is 1000Hz and also that you can't do anything else while it is running. I don't remember the model PIC he was talking about but is there any other model of PIC that doesn't have these limitations?
Can I overcome this by using an external oscillator?
Also Does anyone have any experience with the OOpic? http://oopic.com or the Rabbit?http://www.rabbitsemiconductor.com/products/kits/