Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!lll-winken!quintro!bpdsun1!rmf From: rmf@bpdsun1.uucp (Rob Finley) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc Subject: Re: Low cost Mac's ? Message-ID: <1990Aug25.084417.18928@bpdsun1.uucp> Date: 25 Aug 90 08:44:17 GMT References: <3965@crash.cts.com> <5111.26cfe834@vax5.cit.cornell.edu> <1990Aug21.193917.9641@Neon.Stanford.EDU> Reply-To: rmf@bpdsun1.UUCP (Rob Finley) Distribution: comp Organization: Harris Broadcast Div., Quincy, IL Lines: 52 In article <1990Aug21.193917.9641@Neon.Stanford.EDU> philip@pescadero.stanford.edu writes: >In article <1990Aug20.215727.4296@portia.Stanford.EDU>, >aaron@jessica.stanford.edu (Aaron Wallace) writes: >> Herc resolution: 720x348 = 251,000 pixels, and this is terrible... >> VGA/Mac II resolution: 640x480 = 307,000 pixels, which is generally >> agreed to be good. >> Mac +/SE resolution: 512x348 = 176,000 pixels, and this isn't??? >> >> I agree that the +/SE resolution is barely usable for text processing (the >> most recent InfoWorld claims that even a 10 pt font on a Mac is barely >> readable; I agree). > >I don't want to get into this little war - just a correction. I don't believe >it is correct to equate number of pixels with resolution. Number of pixels >per inch (per cm or whatever if you prefer), maybe. To compare a 9" screen >with a 13 inch screen by counting the pixels is meaningless. God. I thought the Amiga enforcers (er. users.) were bad... One feature of the Mac video system IMHO is that you can choose your resolution. Do you want 1024 by 1024 with SUPER FAST rendering? Run, get the new Apple display board (don't remember what it was called...) with the AMD display coprocessor built in. Want it in monochrome? Wan't a nice 19" Sony that instantly doubles the cost of your system? Get a Mac and be quiet about it. In my case, the standard MacII resolution is fine for now. I know that Truevision makes a display coprocessor for the MacII family that puts out NTSC compatible video with 32 bits per pixel! It still uses the (supports) the Mac desktop. Do that with your IBM or Amiga. Now, if I got a high resolution board for my IBM that I am writing this on now, I can EXPECT that my software (Workview Viewlogic) WON'T use my extended modes. They have no plans for them either. Eventually, we could get this functionality on the other machines as well. All to often it is cheaper just to get a completely separate machine. (Do I want an Amiga that can run IBM PC software? Hell no!) I don't yet own a Mac but I rest easy that I have a mind boggling big choice of display adapters and with very few exceptions (unusual in this industry. Isn't it?) they will work with my software collection. Amiga users don't have this problem either. Someday, after the mac, I might get an Amiga also.... Maybe... P.S. Are all ComputerLand's demented? Just wondering. ----- "Lets go kick some Earthling butt!" -- Spaced Invaders quintro!bpdsun1!rmf@lll-winken.llnl.gov uunet!tiamat!quintro!bpdsun1!rmf