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From: DLV101@psuvm.psu.edu (Dwaine VanBibber)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: WANTED: objective info. on NeXT vs. Amiga
Message-ID: <90313.054820DLV101@psuvm.psu.edu>
Date: 9 Nov 90 10:48:20 GMT
Organization: Penn State University
Lines: 38

I am planning to get rid of my clunky DOS box. I am considering purchasing
one of the following:

--NeXTstation 040 version
--Amiga 3000UX when it arrives
--Sun Sparcstation

I'd like some objective opinions one the merits of these machines. I realize
the 3000UX is not available yet, so this will be difficult. Here are my
requirements:

---UNIX, Mathematica, TeX 3.0, C++ (AT&T 2.0), GNU stuff, lex, yacc, f2c, p2c
---Some GUI (no preference). If its big and clunky, a graphics processor
---Considerable raw processing power (the NeXT cube 030 is simply out of the
   question)
---Price is a big factor. I'm a student. $4000 ballpark
---MS-DOS emulation (hardware or software) is a MUST
---Standard UNIX tape drive + 3.5"
---Bus mastering architecture (if possible)
---I refuse to pay a lot for software
---The machine will primarily be used for software development (testing of
   data structures and algorithms and graphics work) and document preparation
   via FrameMaker and TeX. Color would be a plus since I do a lot of fractal
   programming.
---Monitor (800x600) 16" diagonal minimum
---I'm also a musician/composer, so MIDI would be a plus
---Need is not immediate, more like mid-January

I could go for AmigaDOS if someone can convince me that the software
development environment can be made very UNIX-like. Also, I don't want any
problems getting UNIX apps to compile and run. I have enough problems with
Mess-DOS and this stupid segmented architecture. I failed to mention that
I'd like to have a postscript printer that (hopefully) can be run parallel
rather than serial. Any good, objective opinions would be appreciated. This
is not to be another stupid flame war.  Any comments would be greatly
appreciated, especially from those of you who have used more than one of the
above machines. Thank you.
--Dwaine