Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!think!ames!amdahl!pyramid!prls!philabs!sbcs!root
From: root@sbcs.sunysb.edu (SBCS Systems Staff)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: AMIX?
Message-ID: <1250@sbcs.sunysb.edu>
Date: 5 May 88 13:28:20 GMT
References: <466@mailrus.cc.umich.edu> <863@gethen.UUCP> <391@brambo.UUCP> <926@elmgate.UUCP>
Organization: State University of New York at Stony Brook
Lines: 71
Summary: It is all a matter of perspective

In article <926@elmgate.UUCP>, jdg@elmgate.UUCP (Jeff Gortatowsky) writes:
> In article <1207@sbcs.sunysb.edu> root@sbcs.sunysb.edu (SBCS Systems Staff) writes:
> 
> I humbly suggest Sir that you are spoiled.  I'd K.I.L.L for a 2/120 at home.

	Jeff, I think you would want to K.I.L.L. the 2/120 once you had
	X windows, 3.5 SunOS, dbxtool, a shell or two, etc all running at
	once.  On the 2/XXX series we have here (even with 3 mBytes) the 
	system is almost unusably slow once you a just a few Suntools 
	windows, etc going.

> Don't *always* listen to Chuck.  Sun charges what it does not only to cover
> their considerabe technology and research, but to keep workstations out
> of the "consumer" realm.  Further it appears that Sun would give away

	Oh oh.  This sounds like the start of another Sun "the evil empire"
	thing.  Commdore doesn't spend money doing "considerabe technology
	and research" :-) ?  Ahem.

> CPU's as long as you buy a disk sub-system from them.  Check out the price
> sheet some time.  The disk prices are horrible when you look at the cost
> of an SCSI bare drive and a SCSI->ST506 adaptor.  ESDI I'm not so sure of.

	I have a home 3/50.  It cost me $5K.  The drive I use is a CDC Wren
	155 mByte; cost $1700.  For both I paid list price, though I've
	seen used 3/50's for $2500 or so.  Anways, compare what you get for
	$7.1K (adding $150 for Unix+$250 for manuals):

		disk					not applicable
		1152x900 BW non interlaced monitor
		15 mHz 68020
		4 mBytes 32 bit ram, parity checked
		Ethernet/cheapernet controller
		DMA SCSI controller
		fast MMU
		2 serial ports
		*real* Unix (think I'll trademark that)
							---
							$5.2K

	Commodore, will field something that looks like this:

		disk					not applicable
		1008x800 BW non interlaced monitor	~$750
		14.318 mHz 68020			$1500
		1 mByte 32 bit ram
		DMA ST506/SCSI controller		$350
		68851 MMU (1 wait state)
		B2000/1 serial port, 1 parallel port	~$1500
		SysV Unix (yuck)			$800
							------
							$4900

	Of course, to get apples to apples you would have to add
	another 3 mBytes 32 bit ram, and Ethernet controller to the
	B2000 or a floppy drive, sound, parallel port, blitter, etc to the Sun.
	
	Neither Sun or Commodore manufacture disk drives, so they both
	pay the same amount of $$ for a drive.  No sense in comparing those.

	Anyways, I am not bashing Commodore's efforts to produce and sell
	Unix workstations.  It just seems to me that they have a long road
	ahead of them before they can off goliaths like Sun, Apollo, etc
	on their own turf.  

> -- 
> Jeff Gortatowsky        .....allegra!rochester!kodak!elmgate!jdg
> Eastman Kodak Company  

						Rick Spanbauer
						SUNY/Stony Brook