Hi there,
I'm Arron, 14, new to the forum. Please excuse me if this question has already been answered.

Has anyone used the silicon labs '51 core?
It looks good, but I've never used anything other than the original vanilla Intel 8051. Can these new ones be used with a simple old-school bus interface?
How different would this chip be to interface?
Most importantly, how easy are they to get (preferably free) assemblers, C compilers for?

I'm making a simple PDA for my science fair. Just has a Hitachi-based LCD and a keypad and a max232. (which ive used before).
I especially want to know how to use the built in flash memory for storage of preferences, very small files etc.

Or is there another inexpensive device i could use that is nearly identical to the original 8051?

Any advice would be appreciated

Thanks,

Arron