Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!decwrl!hplabs!hpda!hpcupt1!ckw From: ckw@hpcupt1.HP.COM (Chick Webb) Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp Subject: Re: hp9000 ser. 500 hpux Message-ID: <7410008@hpcupt1.HP.COM> Date: 25 Feb 88 18:40:22 GMT References: <987@maccs.UUCP> Organization: Hewlett Packard, Cupertino Lines: 86 >> HP has just announced the "discontinuance" of the 500 series, and >> that under the standard N year support on hardware, the o/s will be frozen >> at HP-UX Rev 5.2 (SYS V release 2). >Contrast this to other computer manufacturers. DEC still supports >PDP 11's, and is still comming out with new products for it! Gould >still supports their old SEL's; Concurrent (Perkin Elmer) still >supports their PE3200's. HP has *not* stopped supporting the S500, we've just stopped *selling* them. As with all of our computing products, we remain committed to *supporting* them for 5 years following obsolesence. >Now the question is whether to upgrade to an 800. How do we know if >HP will continue the 800 or will it be phased out in 3 or 4 years? >HP will probably say no way, but there was no indication of that >when we bought the 500s. I think HP's reputation will be damaged >badly in the eyes of their current customers. HP's committment to the S800 product line should be obvious by now. In the span of barely two years we have introduced three *distinct* members of this family, with performance ranging from 3-7 (VAX) MIPS. (Contrast this to the S500, which was a single point product.) You can bet that more offerings, on both ends of the performance scale, are in the works. As our venerable CEO has stated publicly, the HPPA Architecture is the future of HP computing. >HP seems to have a good products, even in the 500. The prices are >competitive, and the maintenance costs are great. But if you have >to replace your machine every 3 or 4 years, it is just not worth it. You don't *have* to replace it! In fact, I'd be willing to bet that that thing will be running long after you *want* (or *need*) to replace it! >It is about 4 years from the introduction that HP stopped porting >software to the 500. You can't get NFS or TCP/IP (Except for an >outrageous price you can buy TCP/IP from Wolongong) unless you >upgrade to the 800 or 300. How do we get domain based mail for the >500? The S500 was first introduce in 1982. This is 1988. That's more like 6 years by my (HP) calculator. The issue of bundled TCP/IP was a much debated subject, and certainly the end result is one that everyone doesn't agree with. :-( >I had a quote done for an upgrade from my 500 to an 800. HP gave an >upgrade trade in of $9,196 for the 500, bringing the 800 price (with >the boards I need to have the equivalent of what I have now) to >$40,000. That hardware retails for about $60,000! >A large fraction of the upgrade price is for software! >The upgrades are so poor there is little incentive. Why do you say this? For your money you'll be getting: - Faster hardware - More memory - Better reliability - Bundled networking (saves you $10K on Wolongong) - Source-code compatiblity with future products - much, much more! If you look at our price/performance, and especially cost of ownership, I think you'll find that HP is still a good buy! As for most of the cost being for software, that is debatable, but even if it weren't, do you think that software grows on trees? >So I can't decide whether to upgrade to an 825, buy 350's (including >a few diskless workstations) or forget HP and try for another vendor >(of course any purchase would be by competition). Many of the >people I work with are buying Suns. Porting between HP and Sun is >not always easy. I have a strong incentive for going with Sun. Weigh your options carefully, especially in the area of cost of ownership. >Roger N. Clark ---------- Chick Webb HP-UX Technical Support Hewlett-Packard Company {ucbvax, etc.}!hpda!ckw P.S. Support my bad habits, buy HP!