Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!cica!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!decwrl!amdcad!pepsi!phil
From: phil@pepsi.amd.com (Phil Ngai)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Brain-dead 286 - summary
Message-ID: <29474@amdcad.AMD.COM>
Date: 12 Mar 90 21:55:59 GMT
References: <8681@rosevax.Rosemount.COM> <29405@amdcad.AMD.COM> <25F7F56B.11734@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca>
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Reply-To: phil@pepsi.AMD.COM (Phil Ngai)
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Organization: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Sunnyvale CA
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In article <25F7F56B.11734@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca> cs4g6ag@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Stephen M. Dunn) writes:
|   Maybe you don't ... have you ever tried using a program like 1-2-3 R3
|on a 286?  Even on a 12 MHz 286, the program is a pig.  From what I've
|heard, Word for Windows is also a pig.  There are two distinct machine

But that doesn't have anything to do with 286 or 386. WfW doesn't (I
believe) do anything special on a 386. I don't think 123 R3 does either.
So getting a 386 for these programs is pointless.

|$With Windows 3.0, which does run in protected mode on a 286, due to
|$come out early this summer, you should consider exactly what the
|$extra cost of a 386 will buy you.
|
|   Hold on a minute here ... what's the extra cost of a 386?  For a
|386SX system, we're talking a couple of hundred dollars difference between
|a 12 MHz 286 and a 16 MHz 386SX (more if you don't have a clue where to
|buy your system).  For this you get the ability to run 386 software
|(which will become more prevalent in the future) and about 20-25% more
|speed.  Not bad for the price.

A SX tends to be a little slower than a 286 running at the same speed.
You can buy 286s running at 20 MHz now and they will be running at
25 MHz soon. A 386DX does run faster but then you have to pay a
rather hefty premium for the speed.

386 software will be more prevalent in the future but so will 286
software in the form of Windows 3.0 and all the associated
applications.

|   Well, you're perfectly entitled to voice your opinions on what
|operating system you want to use, what applications you want to use,
|and whether you want character-based or graphical interfaces.  Just
|don't delude yourself into believing that everyone else has the same
|needs or desires that you do.

I do think there is a place for 386s, I just think a lot of people
are selling the 286 short for some vague benefit in the indefinite
future and are forgetting that an investment in microprocessors is a
lousy investment.

--
Phil Ngai, phil@amd.com		{uunet,decwrl,ucbvax}!amdcad!phil
The Microsoft Mouse is the only mouse worth having on a PC.