Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!bu.edu!polygen!jerry
From: jerry@polygen.uucp (Jerry Shekhel)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: Amiga bashing
Message-ID: <1151@stewart.UUCP>
Date: 24 Jun 91 16:16:43 GMT
References: <1991Jun11.204407.16603@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> <1991Jun20.200326.16487@bmerh409.bnr.ca> <1991Jun21.002542.19989@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu>
Reply-To: jerry@stewart.UUCP (Jerry Shekhel)
Organization: Polygen Corporation, Waltham, MA
Lines: 87

rjc@wookumz.gnu.ai.mit.edu (Ray Cromwell) writes:
>
>OS/2, well,
>does the phrase, slow and bloated pig with no outstanding support
>ring a bell? 
>

Does the phrase, "ignorant goon with no clue as to what he's talking about"
ring a bell, Ray?  OS/2 today (version 1.3) is small (much smaller than UNIX),
fast, and solid.  It doesn't have as much support as DOS/Windows, or even UNIX,
but that doesn't mean that it's not a superior OS.  Why don't you quote some
benchmarks or memory usage estimates, Ray, and then maybe your post will mean
something?

>
>A $2000 386 system probably doesn't have decicated DMA-I/O
>(most likely it is using polled I/O which incurs a major performance
>hit on a multitasking multithreaded file system).
>

Wrong.  Every PC has DMA I/O.  I run UNIX on the cheapest 386 possible,
and intense disk I/O going on in the background does not slow down the
machine significantly at all.  It's not the most efficient system in the
world, but it sure isn't polled I/O.

>
>How come everytime someone mentions this card they quote a lower
>price? First it was quoted as $300, then $200, then $150, and now
>$100?
>

Maybe that's because there have been so many improvements in VGA cards
recently, that prices have been going down?  Today (6/24/91) a $200 VGA
card can display 1Kx768x8.  A $300 VGA card can do all that and display
15-bit direct color graphics (32,768 colors) at 640x480 and 800x600.

>
>Since this board obviously doesn't have a co-processor can you
>imagine the refresh rate of something like X on a 1024x768x8 bit
>display? Some of these cheap 386 systems being sold are actually
>386's with a braindamaged re-packaging that makes the chip 16 bit.
>

Ray, instead of imagining refresh rates, why don't you give it a try?
It's obvious you never have, so all your bashing is completely off base.
I run exactly the system you suggest, and I've never had to wait for the
screen to redraw; again, it's not the fastest system, but it's perfectly
usable.

>
>[Lots of hype about the A3000 and upcoming Amiga products]
>

The 3000 is really a fantastic machine with superfast I/O and terrific
animation capabilities; I'd love to have one.  However, it all depends
on what you want.  If you're like me, and you don't care about sound or
video output, but you want a cheap UNIX system with lots of color at a
reasonable GUI resolution, then 386 systems with SuperVGA really make a
lot of sense.

>
>[Devil's Advocate mode]
>18 bit palette is not adequate for displaying fleshtones or
>grey-scale data! You only have 64 grey levels (6 bits) compared to the
>miracle of CD-I which has 256! VGA is not adequate, it's a hack!
>Fix the problem at the source, trash MS-DOS computers!
>[Devil's Advocate mode off]
>

Well, well, I was waiting for the Real Ray to burst out.  VGA is not adequate
for displaying fleshtones?  Oh, and I bet you think the Amiga's 4096-color
video is?  Why don't you fix the REAL problem at the REAL source -- switch
to DECAF!

>--
>/ INET:rjc@gnu.ai.mit.edu     *   // The opinions expressed here do not      \
>| INET:r_cromwe@upr2.clu.net  | \X/  in any way reflect the views of my self.|
>\ UUCP:uunet!tnc!m0023        *                                              /
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