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From: jeremy@math.lsa.umich.edu (Jeremy Teitelbaum)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: A3000UX vs. Sun Sparc
Message-ID: <1991Apr17.161135.16533@math.lsa.umich.edu>
Date: 17 Apr 91 16:11:35 GMT
References: <n59Gl=0q1@cs.psu.edu> <1991Apr16.030609.1746@grebyn.com> <1991Apr17.104408.6012@cc.helsinki.fi> <1991Apr17.134613.4723@grebyn.com>
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Reply-To: jeremy@math.uic.edu (Jeremy Teitelbaum)
Organization: University of Michigan, Department of Mathematics
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Thanks to the good offices of Commodore Business machines here in Chicago,
we recently had the opportunity to try out the A3000UX ("big version",
with 9M RAM, 200M HD).  Since we primarily run Sparc's (Sparcstation I
and IPC)  I had some opportunity to make comparisons.

I will repeat here what I told the Commodore representative --
to make the A3000 competitive with the Sun market, two things
must be done:
1.  The monitor must be improved (monochrome is OK, but the 1950 is
simply substandard in image quality and resolution).

	When selling a computer, the way the darn thing looks
	makes a huge difference.  I just wasn't happy with the
	screen quality on the A3000 -- and that makes me
	FEEL like the computer is just a PC, even though all
	the specs tell me it is a "real" workstation.

2.  The price must be cut so that a clear price advantage stays with
the A3000 against the SLC or monochrome IPC (we get educational
discounts, so an IPC with 200M internal drive, monochrome, is about 4.5K now.
SLC less.)

	Even though the A3000 is a good machine, why should I move away
	from the Sun's?  Comparable performance at comparable prices
	is not good enough for Commodore.  I am skeptical
	that the A3000's 68030 can really keep up with the Sparc chip;
	but even if it can, I need a powerful incentive to recommend
	an A3000 over the IPC (or for that matter the '040 NeXT, which lots
	of people here have bought recently.)  


One strong point in Commodore's favor is the on-site repair policy.
Such support for our Sun's is prohibitively expensive, and we
do lose machines from time to time -- each time this happens,
there is a bit of a crisis as we hunt up money to fix it.

By the way, although I wouldn't currently recommend the A3000UX
over the Sun Sparc, I am planning to buy a cheaper A3000 for home, where
I can run AmigaDOS.  I do see the advantages of the A3000 over
the other PC's on the market.

I am interested in balanced and reasoned criticism of the above remarks.


Jeremy Teitelbaum
Math Dept.
U. of Illinois -- Chicago
Chicago, IL 60680
312-996-2371