Andrew,
The MSC1210EVM is a full EVM with external memory, 2 UART connections, and full access to all ports of the MSC1210, and includes a connector for the emulator. It also has a small prototyping area on the board as well. The DAQ version is a stripped down version and is powered via a RS232 connection. Analog inputs are the only connections available outside of the RS232 connection. It is about the size of a USB memory stick. In either case you will have to manufacturer your own boards as neither are in production by TI. The user guides and schematics are on the ftp site for you to see the differences.
As far as the emulators, I really haven't used either the BICEPS or the Hitex. One of my colleagues tested out the BICEPS, but that is a number of years ago and he really doesn't recall much about it. It sounds like your colleague knows more about the emulators than I do. I have one of the BICEPS, but have never used it. As it is a third party product we do not support it, and as I mentioned earlier, we have very limited resources to support the MSC devices themselves. The only information I have on the BICEPS is found on the ftp site:
ftp://ftp.ti.com/pub/data_acquisition/MSC_CD-ROM/BicWin/
I have no idea if the software/dll will work on anything other than Windows XP.
Best regards,
Bob B