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From: bostrov@prism.cs.orst.edu (Vareck Bostrom)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: MacIIci vs. NeXT station?
Message-ID: <1991Jun29.232420.21748@lynx.CS.ORST.EDU>
Date: 29 Jun 91 23:24:20 GMT
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In <296193.285E13B9@cmhgate.FIDONET.ORG> Adam.Frix@p18.f20.n226.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Adam Frix) writes:


>In message <1208@chem.ucsd.EDU> darin@chem.ucsd.edu (Darin R. Kent) writes:

>DRK> I am in a sort of dillema. I do not know if this is the appropriate 
>DRK> group to post this, but I am wearing my flame proof suit. I need 
>DRK> to upgrade from my old Mac Plus. I want a much more powerful 
>DRK> machine. I look at a MacIIci, and the 68030, 5Mb, no hard drive 
>DRK> machine costs $3555. And that is without any monitor or keyboard 
>DRK> Then, I look at a NeXT work station that has the 68040, 8Mb RAM, 
>DRK> 105Mb hard drive, a whole mess of bundled software, the ability 
>DRK> to run IBM software using the program SoftPC, and I am told, 
>DRK> soon the ability to run Mac software as well. This machine runs 
>DRK> $3524, including a 17" MegaPixel monitor an accessory kit. What 
>DRK> is wrong with this picture? I am interested in hearing why I 
>DRK> should by the MacIIci or why I should not buy the NeXT station. 

>No flames here, just some observations:

>1) That 105MB hard drive on the NeXT is going to be mighty full of system software stuff, about 80 megs of it.  That'll leave you 20-25 megs of disk space for yourself.  I think rather than looking at raw disk space, you need to determine (percentage of free disk space)/dollar for each setup.  A Mac, any Mac, with a 105MB hard drive running, say, System 7, only needs to take up maybe 5 megs of disk space for the base system, leaving you 100 megs free for yourself.  (Yeah, I know, my System 6 folder i

True. I have a NeXTcube that came with a 105 MB disk. But 105 MB is tiny
for almost any unix machine, not just the NeXT. A price you pay for a
far superior OS. I added a 660 MB, and a 330 MB drive to my machine, and am
just fine now. 

>2) Not only can the NeXT run IBM software via SoftPC, so can the Mac.  So, both the NeXT and the Mac can run any Mac or PC software you may need (at least, as soon as the software Mac emulator for the NeXT comes out).  The NeXT has the advantage of being able to run NeXT software as well.  I don't know how important that is in general right now, or how important it is to your needs right now.

>Other than that, I grok your observations.  The MegaPixel display is ultracool.

>I guess it boils down to, compare the machines in their environments.  The IIci is a higher-end machine in its environment; within the scope of Mac software, it can do some pretty powerful juju.  The base NeXTStation is just that, base.  Now, I'm not implying that you shouldn't compare the two; on an absolute scale, they're fairly equal performers.  But does the NeXTStation have the power to run with the big NeXT boys, or is it the Classic/LC of the NeXT world?  (I don't know, I'm just providing some

The "base" NeXTstation can do everything my fullblown Cube can do, with two
exceptions: (1) You can NOT put color on a base NeXTstation
(2) You cannot upgrade your base NeXTstation's CPU (so far as I know). This
will become important as the 88110 Hurricane NeXTs come out. The Hurricane
CPU should be upwards of 75 MIPS and will be very nice to upgrade an 040 to.

The Mac II series in general is REALLY slow (IIfx, IIci, IIcx, etc.) compared
to the 68040 NeXT's, though the Mac's apprear faster (Their windows move
around faster, etc.). But when you run your raytracers or physics homework,
the 17 MIPS CPU does make a difference. 

The NeXT STILL doesn't have very much software available, and I don't expect
that much will be available soon. 

Also, you need at least 16 MB RAM to get acceptable performace from the
NeXT, unless you only run three or four tasks at once. 8 MB means you 
swap all the time, even when the machine is idle, 12 MB means you swap when
you start up Mathematica, and 16 MB means you usually don't swap.

That's about it.

- Vareck
bostrov@prism.cs.orst.edu