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From: bukys@cs.rochester.edu (Liudvikas Bukys)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mips,comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Re: Workstation speed comparisons
Keywords: price, performance, MIPS
Message-ID: <1989Oct19.153249.25491@cs.rochester.edu>
Date: 19 Oct 89 15:32:49 GMT
References: <12850@boulder.Colorado.EDU>
Reply-To: bukys@stork.cs.rochester.edu (Liudvikas Bukys)
Distribution: na
Organization: University of Rochester Computer Science Department
Lines: 29

Or, try this on for size:  (list prices as of last June)

list	$/MIP	configuration
price		(specified 16MB memory, 19" mono monitor, 100MB local disk)
-----	-----
15996	1333	SUN 4/60 "12 MIPS", 16M, 19" mono, 104MB scsi disk
19291 	1135	DG AV300 "17 MIPS", 16M, 20" mono, 179MB scsi disk
21684	1549	DEC DS3100 "14 MIPS", 16M, 19" mono+swivel, 104MB scsi disk
23000 	1642	MIPS RS2030 "14 MIPS", 16M, 17" mono, 172MB scsi disk

(The above prices may or may not be true.)

DG has been advertising low cost per MIP, but that's for a machine with
a ridiculously small memory.  And you can't call up your favorite
chip merchant to populate the machine at a decent price, because they use
non-standard plug-in memory modules.  (Same with DEC, though I've read that
Clearpoint has DEC-compatible 2MB boards available now.)

Also never forget to consider the other factors in total-cost-of-ownership:
maintenance contracts, software update service, etc.  SOME vendors offer
attractive almost-flat fee software update service (at least for universities),
others still think that you're happy to pay 30 times the update contract cost
if you have 30 machines.  SOME vendors include a license to run the software
with the machine; some vendors charge EXTRA for that privilege ("steering wheel
not included").

Also never forget the wonders of competitive bidding.  Those are list prices
up there, but amazing things can happen in a free market.  Take list prices
with a grain of salt.  Some vendors have freedom to be creative.