Thought this was of interest, thanks to PCHardware for the email on this new chip that threatens to take the place as the number 3 (if it can cope with the Intel/AMD price wars!)
They took a look to C3 internal architecture (may be an interesting read because C3 it"s not a typical x86), technology, stability, compatibility and performance. They tested it on a Shuttle FlexATX motherboard and the results were interesting.
Performance may be an issue with VIA C3 so they compared it with a Celeron 700Mhz and discussed performance on various applications. The final point of view about this CPU may be different for every user based on his needs, but ... to take a quote:
"Transmeta targets to mobile market and may be a concurrent to VIA C3, but from the technological point of view C3 is somehow between any other x86 CPU from AMD or Intel and a Transmeta Crusoe. When a instruction translation occurs, the CPU looses time so the performance may not be as high as the performance of a traditional CPU running at the same frequency. However, there is one big advantage, the use of a relatively low number of transistors. Practically VIA C3 wants to provide a good performance while keeping the heat level very low. "