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From: oster@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Suns, support, less money
Message-ID: <20548@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Tue, 8-Sep-87 00:44:08 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.20548
Posted: Tue Sep  8 00:44:08 1987
Date-Received: Wed, 9-Sep-87 01:04:11 EDT
References: <7177@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP> <3894@well.UUCP> <668@uokmax.UUCP>
Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: oster@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu.UUCP (David Phillip Oster)
Organization: School of Education, UC-Berkeley
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In article <668@uokmax.UUCP> rob@uokmax.UUCP (Robert K. Shull) writes:
>Tsk, tsk. NEVER mention "Sun", "support", and "less money" all in the same
>breath. You're just asking for it.

In case you are curious, here is a posting that appeared recently in the Sun
newsgroup:
Article 553 of comp.periphs:
Path: ucbvax!ucbcad!ames!elroy!jplopto!earle
From: earle@jplopto.uucp (Greg Earle)
Newsgroups: comp.periphs
Subject: 3rd party SCSI disks/tape for Sun-3/60?
Keywords: SCSI  ESDI
Message-ID: <4372@elroy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov>
Date: 31 Aug 87 10:00:42 GMT
Sender: news@elroy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov
Reply-To: earle@mahendo.JPL.NASA.GOV (Greg Earle)
Followup-To: poster
Distribution: na
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
Lines: 25

This is a rehashed topic, but with the base price of a 16" color Sun-3/60C
being under $10K ($9900), which translates to $6930 for those places lucky
enough to have 30% discounts, it's really time to start looking seriously
at this machine.  The problem of course is that Sun is Not In The Disk Business.
Thus, to get the minimum level of functionality out of the machine as a
standalone, you have to get the 141 Mbyte SCSI/ESDI disk & 60 Mbyte 1/4" tape.
This lists for $6500 (/$4550 @ 30%); in other words, almost 65-70% of the cost
of the machine itself.  Ouch.

(---- end included material ---)
so at $6500+$9900=$16,400.00 (list) or 
$6930+$4550=$11,480.00 (university discount) for a usable bottom of the
line color sun, versus the Mac II prices, I know which I'd rather buy.

So please, if you think the Sun is in the same price range as the Mac II,
think again before you post. They are two very different machines.

*** Opinion follows ***

I've got an old multi-bus 68000 unix box (similar to a Sun-1) sitting
in my closet, a gift from a friend who had no use for it. I have never even
turned it on.  I spent the years 1978-1983 as a Unix guru, and I haven't
found even one piece of Unix software that is worth powering up that machine
for, when I've got a mac right here. (If I ever loose my current net account,
I suppose I'll bring up uucp and rn on it, but for the moment it is more
convenient to have the machine room I log into not be in _my_ house.)

*** End Opinion ***

Those with conflicting views, please E-mail me. I am always ready to learn.

--- David Phillip Oster            --My Good News: "I'm a perfectionist."
Arpa: oster@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu --My Bad News: "I don't charge by the hour."
Uucp: {seismo,decvax,ihnp4}!ucbvax!oster%dewey.soe.berkeley.edu