Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!bu.edu!dartvax!news
From: Jim.Matthews@dartmouth.edu (Jim Matthews)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: New Macintosh Information...
Message-ID: <25149@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU>
Date: 16 Oct 90 14:15:38 GMT
References: <45674@apple.Apple.COM> <1990Oct16.035308.15999@d.cs.okstate.edu> <5733@nisca.ircc.ohio-state.edu>
Sender: news@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU
Reply-To: Jim.Matthews@dartmouth.edu (Jim Matthews)
Organization: Dartmouth Software Development
Lines: 29

In article <5733@nisca.ircc.ohio-state.edu>, gaynor@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu
(Jim Gaynor) writes:
> 	BTW, has anyone but me noticed that the LC can't display 8-bit
> color on the 13" RGB monitor without 512k additional VRAM?  But it -can-
> display 8-bit color on the new 12" RGB (smaller screen).  What do you
> want to bet this is the heritage of Apple's original intent to release
> the LC as a 4-bit color machine?

It may also be a concession to the LC's limited performance.  It appears
that the LC has a 16-bit data path, so its performance will be roughly
equivalent to the Mac Portable.  It's the slowest machine to run Color
QuickDraw, and 640x480x8 is a lot of bits to move around.  But at least
there is a slot for VRAM -- I assumed they would leave that out in order
to cut costs.  They did leave out the Apple Sound Chip, so the LC won't have
stereo sound.

The LC will sell by the truck-load, but it's made me appreciate the SE/30.
The SE/30 is the oldest Mac still sold, and it is smaller than all but the
Classic, faster than all but the IIci and IIfx (it beats the IIsi if you
count floating point), and it has stereo sound.  An SE/30 with an external
color monitor is price-competitive with the IIsi, plus you get floating
point and transportability.  It used to be that Apple made cheap machines
by making expensive machines and letting them age.  Now they're trying to
design low-end machines, but the SE/30 is proof that the old way sometimes
worked.

Jim Matthews
Dartmouth Software Development
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