Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!mp.cs.niu.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!midway!quads.uchicago.edu!jcav From: jcav@quads.uchicago.edu (john cavallino) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware Subject: Re: The LC vs. IIsi Message-ID: <1991Jun7.012907.27250@midway.uchicago.edu> Date: 7 Jun 91 01:29:07 GMT References: <1991Jun5.175401.14345@sequent.com> <284EBD2C.17749@ics.uci.edu> Sender: news@midway.uchicago.edu (NewsMistress) Organization: University of Chicago Lines: 70 In article <284EBD2C.17749@ics.uci.edu> ajauch@bonnie.ics.uci.edu (Alexander Edwin Jauch) writes: >In <1991Jun5.175401.14345@sequent.com> lff@sequent.com (Lou Fernandez) writes: >>2) Video performance > >>How do the LC and the IIsi differ in their built-in video support? Does >>using the built-in video slow down the machine? Is there a black&white >>mode which can be used to reduce this slowdown? > >This is a problem on both machines, same problem. The only extra goody you >get with the LC is VGA compatability. I don't need this, so it's wasted >on me. The LC does NOT have the same problems with video memory contention delays as the IIci/si, because its frame buffer is stored in a separate VRAM, not in the main SIMM memory. And that "extra goody" of VGA compatability means that a vast number of inexpensive 640x480 monitors are available, greatly reducing the minimum cost of a color LC system. >>3) Expansion slots > >>Both the LC and the IIsi appear to have expansion slots of some sort but >>how many and what kind? (Neither appears to be a Nubus slot.) Do you >>think the expansion slot on the LC is a dead-end? > >No, the si will take a NuBus adapter card and the LC will not. I think the >entire LC concept is a dead letter from the get-go. It is intended do >directly attack the K-6 market and to replace the Apple IIgs/IIe. While >it seems to do this just fine, it doesn't solve my problems or most users'. You shouldn't generalize your dissatisfaction to "most users". I think that the LC is a very elegant design (it's so SMALL!), and it's cheap. We have three of them here in the office, and the users love them (two were upgrading from SEs and one from a Plus). I think an LC with 4 or 6mb, the Apple 12" monochrome monitor and a 3rd-party VRAM upgrade (to get 256 grays) is an ideal entry-level machine (far superior to the unfortunate Classic). Also, don't forget that there will almost certainly appear more powerful machines using the same case design, which means there will be upgrades available someday. I also think you are wrong when you say Apple is only aiming the LC at K-12 education. The LC is also aimed squarely at 80386SX Windows boxes, and it frequently beats them on both price and performance. >>Are there other important functional differences between the LC and the >>IIsi? Which of these might prevent some software which I buy in the >>future from running on the LC? > >I have heard from many places that System 7 loves the si and hates the LC. >The si has "clean" ROMs and can really use System 7's features. While the >LC will run 7, you won't get virtual and there will be a quite noticable >speed difference. The LC's ROMs are just as "clean" as the IIsi (32-bit clean, 32-bit Quickdraw, etc). What do you mean when you say System 7 "hates" the LC? >All in all, I would reccomend against the LC, unless that extra grand is just >impossible to come up with. If money is a real problem, I would rather get >a used IIcx and wait until I could afford a new machine. The '020 is bound >to be more and more limited as more and more software is written that >will only run on an '030 and above. And what software would that be? The only major change in the 68030 from the 68020, aside from the increased speed, is the built-in MMU, which application software should never be accessing anyway. The vast gulf from the point of view of applications is between the 68000 and the 68020. -- John Cavallino | EMail: jcav@midway.uchicago.edu University of Chicago Hospitals | USMail: 5841 S. Maryland Ave, Box 145 Office of Facilities Management | Chicago, IL 60637 B0 f++ c+ g+ k s+(+) e+ h- pv (qv) | Telephone: 312-702-6900