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From: straka@ihlpf.ATT.COM (Straka)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Dataframe 30 & XP30 difference ??
Message-ID: <2739@ihlpf.ATT.COM>
Date: Tue, 10-Nov-87 11:17:49 EST
Article-I.D.: ihlpf.2739
Posted: Tue Nov 10 11:17:49 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 13-Nov-87 05:37:23 EST
References: <2863@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu>
Reply-To: straka@ihlpf.UUCP (55223-Straka,R.J.)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories - Naperville, Illinois
Lines: 43

In article <2863@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> dumesny@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (Alain Dumesny) writes:
	>My local dealer is selling the 30 for about $715 and the
	>XP30 for $915, and he is also selling the upgrade to XP for
	>about $150 ?? 
	>...
	>Now the questions: How come a XP30 (after upgrade) is
	>cheaper than a XP30  (original) ?? , are the speed going to
	>be the same or what ??

I can't speak for what disk drive is used in the 2 machines (I have no reason
to believe that they aren't the same, but you can never count on it.), but
the basic difference *appears* to be:

1) firmware on the OMTI controller board.
and
2) driver software (on the formatting program)

Yes, It seems that the cost of the 2 machines is the same, but SuperMac seems
to be pricing not on a cost basis, but on a performance basis.

	>Also, I would like to know how much XP's are really faster,
	>is it worth the difference in price ?

Yes, my XP20 does fly through DiskTimer II, but not at the rate advertised by
SuperMac.  As I recall:

                        Reads       Writes       Seeks
SuperMac claim (XP20):    52           51          69
My XP20:                 111           98          33 My measurement
SuperMac claim (DF20):   147          147          64
Typical SCSI drive:      173          175          40 My measurement
RamStart 1.3              17           17          NA My measurement

	>What does the XP upgrade do to your mac/hard disk, is it
	>changing the roms ?

No changes are made to the ROMs in the Mac.

(Normal disclaimers, ..., ...)
-- 
Rich Straka     ihnp4!ihlpf!straka

Advice for the day: "MSDOS - just say no."