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From: evil@arcturus.uucp (Wade Guthrie)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Subject: Re: Buying a 386, please HELP!?!
Message-ID: <1990Aug21.172626.25626@arcturus.uucp>
Date: 21 Aug 90 17:26:26 GMT
Organization: Rockwell International
Lines: 64

CUMMINGS@S55: says
> 
> 386:  I would recomend a 386SX, 

Shudder.  I hated the 8088 for the same reason I hate the SX.  If you
want 32 bits (or 16, in the case of the '88), get 32 bits (including
the bus).

> If you need a full 32 bit 386, then go with either a memory cache 

Yup!  Cache makes your computer look like an un-cached machine one
notch higher (20MHz looks like 25, 25MHz looks like 33).

> (32K or 64K, you probably won't notice the difference) 

That's what I've heard.

> video:  Go with VGA or SuperVGA.  [...] Go with
> SuperVGA right away if you will be using a windowing package
> (MS-WINDOWS, X-Windows, Deskview, etc.).  

Well. . .There isn't a standard yet for SVGA (of course, maybe there
won't be one).  Besides, you have to make sure that your board 
manufacturer has drivers for the software you want to run.

> HD:  I personally think that 40MB is small by todays standards.  

Yup.  I bought an 80 MB drive and installed Windows, Word for Windows,
Turbo C++, and MKS Toolkit -- about 25 MBytes have been sucked up
by just those!  I was dumbfounded.

> run a UNIX on it, 

Well, if you want UNIX, that puts you in a different class of user
(although, I didn't see anything in the original posting about that).
You'd want a FAST disk (like a SCSI or ESDI) since UNIX is disk-based,
and you'd want 8 Mbytes of memory (4 at a minimum).

> Be sure you have room for expansion drives (HD, Tape Backup,
> etc).  I would recommend a Tower case with 4 or 5 HH slots in the front
> (2 or 3 for floppies, one for Tape Backup).  

This is for the power user.  But, then again, it's what I got too!

> KB:  Go with whatever feels good to you.  [...] Don't underestimate 
> the importance of feeling good about the keyboard!

I've worked on too many funky keyboards not to believe in this!
Spend an extra $50 and get the Northgate Omnikey keyboards.  They're
solid, have good tactile feedback, and if you don't like 'em you can
send 'em back (I think it's 30 days unconditional).

> PRN:  I'd go with a REAL postscript printer instead of a postscript 
> addon,

If you have your heart set on postscript.  I think a laserjet (mine
is a IIP) with a fonts cartridge and lotsa memory is much better
at a fraction of the cost.
-- 
Wade Guthrie (evil@arcturus.UUCP)    | "He gasped in terror at what sounded
Rockwell International; Anaheim, CA  | like a man trying to gargle while
My opinions, not my employer's.      | fighting off a pack of wolves"
                                     |                Hitchhiker's Guide