In SX Microcontrollers, SX/B Compiler and SX-Key Tool, robotworkshop wrote:

The propeller has it's place and it is an awesome chip but there are several factors that make the SX a much better choice than the Propeller that have to do with the on-chip flash.  It is extremely important when using a micro as an intelligent peripheral.  What you may ask?  The start up time.  When I power up the chip the SX is ready to go.  The Propeller on the other hand has a latency upon power up while it reads the program code out of the external EEPROM.  That may work for some peripherals while this is troublesome for others.  One case in particular is the SC-01 to SpeakJet translator I wrote and had published in the December 2007 SERVO.  It had to be ready immediately where the Propeller would have added extra complexity at a higher cost.

It's all about selecting the right processor for the job at hand.  I can handle a small bump in price (actually it seems like it was before they dropped the price across the board) and hope the SX chips will be available for a long time.  I'd prefer consistency in a Micro do that you don't have to redesign a board and recode for the new flavor of the week in chips.  I think that is why I originally gravitated toward the SX since all the peripherals can be done on the fly in software and the programming is consistent between the chips (with minor variations).

Robert

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