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From: roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith)
Newsgroups: net.graphics
Subject: HP-9000 vs. Sun 3/160C
Message-ID: <2406@phri.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 1-Aug-86 10:50:15 EDT
Article-I.D.: phri.2406
Posted: Fri Aug  1 10:50:15 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 2-Aug-86 22:12:59 EDT
Reply-To: roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith)
Organization: Public Health Research Inst. (NY, NY)
Lines: 35


	The intent of this posting is to elicit "compare and contrast the
HP-9020C and Sun 3/160C" type of responses.  Since that is a very broad
question, let me give a bit of background.

	We've recently invested fairly heavily in Sun-3 hardware (14
workstations including a 3/160C and 2 file 3/180 servers).  A new faculty
member who will be coming this September has an old H/P workstation which
he loves but won't be able to take with him and would like to get a new
HP-9020C (I think that's the right model number) to replace it.  The
application he is most interested in is drawing perspective space-filling
molecular models.

	The HP has the (not at all insignificant) advantage of running
HP-Basic.  This fellow has a lot of software that he has written in
HP-Basic.  Since he has spent the past several years writing in that
language so that's what he knows and likes best.  HP-Basic has some very
powerful extentions for doing the kind of graphics he wants to do.  He's
afraid that having to learn C and the Sun graphics packages (GKS, etc) will
be more effort than it's worth -- he may be right.

	The Sun has the advantage that it is well integrated into the rest
of the network.  Also, since it has a standard bus (VME), you are not tied
to one particular vendor for expansion.  Also, I suspect that C or Fortran
on the Sun will be a lot faster than Basic on the HP (although, HP-Basic is
no speed slouch).  Of course, the Sun equipment is already here; the HP
system will require spending another $40k or so.

	As you see, there are strong arguments on both sides.  Any insights
which might help us decide between the two machines would be greatly
appreciated.
-- 
Roy Smith, {allegra,philabs}!phri!roy
System Administrator, Public Health Research Institute
455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016