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From: icsu8053@ming.cs.montana.edu (Craig Pratt)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: A3000UX at UniForum?
Summary: Comparisons
Keywords: NeXT prices compare 3000UX
Message-ID: <3485@dali>
Date: 14 Feb 91 05:07:28 GMT
References: <1991Feb5.173151.12089@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> <3455@dali> <1991Feb13.044705.635@NCoast.ORG>
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Organization: Montana State University, Dept. of Computer Science, Bozeman MT 59717
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In article <1991Feb13.044705.635@NCoast.ORG> davewt@NCoast.ORG (David Wright) writes:
>In article <3455@dali> icsu8053@ming.cs.montana.edu (Craig Pratt) writes:
>>This is rediculous.  Computers are not necessarilly compared because they
>>have equivilant features but because they are targeted for the same market.
>	No disagreement. But your earlier statements are false.
>There are broad ranges within almost any "class" you might want to
>create. Are you saying that it is fair to compare a Feiro with the old 4cyl
>engine to one with a 6 cyl engine? They are in the same class but only an
>idiot wouldn't know which one performs better.

Depends on what your "idiot" considers "better performance", doesn't it?

Consumer Reports, IMHO one of the fairest rating organizations around, 
often compares a new car of a particular model to its older incarnations.
Many times this new incarnation will include an larger engine and/or more
fuel injectors.  Why?  There are also many different types of performance.
Sure, the 6-cyl Fiero accelerates faster but it probably also eats more
gas and may have less cargo space due to the increased enjine size.  There
are many facets of comparison.  A fair comparison will simply describe them
and the major consequences.  ie, "The 4-cyl Fiero lacks the torque and 
horsepower its 6-cyl counterpart which is a great advantage on the highway.
For city driving, however, the higher gas milage and shorter braking 
distance of the 4-cyl Fiero, as well as it's lower price, make it an
ecenomical choice for the commuter."

>	The NeXT is like a sports care that someone has tied on 2 tons
>of luggage (the user interface). When it only had a 4 cyl engine, it's
>performance was sluggish compared to machine with the same engine that
>lacked the overloaded bagage. By putting in a larger engine you get the
>expected performance boost. But what you are saying is that by now
>adding in a larger more powerfull engine this vehicle is "better" than the
>other car with the 4 cyl. Of course it is. But which one will be faster
>when the other car (which was faster before) also has the new engine
>installed? The fact that it is not there at the present time is moot.
>If it is available (and it is), and there are reasonable upgrade paths,
>you can assume that with the new engine the other car will once again
>outperform the overloaded one.

Sometimes you need baggage if you're going for a long trip.  The NeXT
and the 3000UX (I assume) allow you to run without the user interface.

Please try to remember that we are talking about the 3000UX which is
intended for running Unix.  To compare a NeXT running Mach and PostScript
to a 3000 running AmigaDOS and Intuition decreases the basis of comparison
since these would not really be targeted for the same market:  Unix
workstations/PCs.  Unix/Mach is much more powerful than AmigaDOS.
Any future comparisons should be made with the Next w/Unix/Mach and 
Display PostScript and the 3000UX running AT&T Unix and its windowing
system (OpenLook?).  Otherwise, the comparison means little.

>				Dave

--
  ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 | Craig Pratt                          _           icsu8053@cs.montana.edu /
 | Montana State University, Bozeman   ( )Craig.Pratt@msu3.oscs.montana.edu /
 |_____________________________________/ \__________________________________/