Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bu.edu!bu-cs!dartvax!eleazar.dartmouth.edu!stevel
From: stevel@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Steve Ligett)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Low-Cost Macintosh
Message-ID: <19411@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU>
Date: 14 Feb 90 14:36:33 GMT
References: <126900165@p.cs.uiuc.edu> <126900171@p.cs.uiuc.edu>
Sender: news@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Lines: 39

In article <126900171@p.cs.uiuc.edu> gillies@p.cs.uiuc.edu writes:
...
>Someone said that Motorola doesn't make 8Mhz 68030's.  That's bunk.
...

If an '030 works at all, it's quite likely to work at 16 Mhz.  Try
going to your Ferrari (sp?) dealer and asking for a cheap Ferrari that
only goes 50 MPH.

Here's specs of one version of the low-cost mac that's being tested:

CPU -- 68008, at 11.75 Mhz
ROM -- 128KB, expandable to 256KB
RAM -- 768KB, expandable to 3MB
I/O -- SCC, SCSI, ADB
       one floppy, either 800KB, or 1.4MB
       mono sound
VIDEO -- external monochorome monitor up to 640 x 400 resolution

The 68008 is the 68000 with an 8-bit external bus.  It therefore has a
lower memory bandwidth than a 68000 of the same speed.  However, the
video subsystem has a 64 byte fifo that is filled using page mode of
the ram, so it uses much less of the memory bandwidth than on the
Plus.  The resulting system is about the same speed as the Plus.

The low cost of the system is due to the 8-bit bus -- there is only
one ROM chip, and three SIMM sockets, which (obviously) don't have to
be filled in pairs.  There probably won't be a Processor Direct Slot.

Packaging -- the box is about 4" x 10" x 8", and may be used upright as
a "micro-tower", or may be placed under a monitor.  The monitor, which
can be a TV, or something like the Multisync GS for high-resolution, is
external.  There is room for the one floppy drive and one 1" high
3.5" hard drive in the box.  There is no external floppy port, but
there is an external SCSI port.  There is one ADB port, in the front,
which can use any of the ADB keyboards and mice.  A keyboard/trackball
combination, like that in the portable, will be sold.
--
steve.ligett@dartmouth.edu or ...!dartvax!steve.ligett