Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!ames!oliveb!sun!pepper!cmcmanis
From: cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: IEE-488 hardware (was Re: Studebakers)
Message-ID: <56818@sun.uucp>
Date: 16 Jun 88 18:02:31 GMT
References: <4400@gryphon.CTS.COM> <56089@sun.uucp> <1326@sbcs.sunysb.edu> <56647@sun.uucp> <5559@utah-cs.UUCP>
Sender: news@sun.uucp
Reply-To: cmcmanis@sun.UUCP (Chuck McManis)
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mountain View
Lines: 22

In article <56647@sun.uucp> I wrote:
>>[ discussion of bare-bones bridgeboard to take advantage of IBM PC hardware ]

In article <5559@utah-cs.UUCP> (Rich Thomson) writes:
>ASDG has just announced their new board, the Twin-X, that allows you to use
>any two existing iSBX modules on a 2000 style slot.  This means that you can
>use A/D and D/A converters, digital I/O, servo controllers, stepper motor
>controllers, HPIB (IEEE-488) controllers, etc., etc.

Don't misunderstand, I think that the ASDG product is *very* good and was
an excellent idea on the part of those folks. However, iSBX is not as popular
as the PC bus is, nor do the prices compare very well. I used to work for
Intel and designed to the iSBX bus and found it a nice little bus and will
probably get one of ASDG's boards. But the people in industry who design to
it expect you are running a $30,000 MultiBus I/II system and don't mind 
paying $500 for a module. Whereas the people designing to the PC bus realize
you are a cheapskate (or you would have picked a real bus :-)) and they get
some benefit from the number of installed units and price their boards in
the $100 - $300 range. 

--Chuck McManis
uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis   BIX: cmcmanis  ARPAnet: cmcmanis@sun.com
These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you.