mdf@osu-eddie.UUCP (Mark D. Freeman) (01/15/86)
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** We are looking at a large software development project coming towards us, and we need a suitable weapon with which to fight it. We have a Convergent MiniFrame available to us for about $12K, including 50M hard disk, 1M RAM, 1 Intelligent terminal, 1 graphics terminal, a bunch of software, UNIX development system (of uncertain pedigree), and at least one AC power cord. On the other hand, we can get Altos and NCR Towers at dealer cost, but this would be far more than $12K for a comparable system. Question: Should we take the cheap way out and buy the Convergent or should we dig a bit deeper and get another box? Why? Any info or feedback on the Convergent would be appreciated, especially regarding compatibility and communications (our application will involve at least 2 outgoing and 10 incoming modem lines). Also, is anyone using APPGEN from Software Express? If we get the Convergent, we get a license to this too. If we don't buy this machine, maybe someone out there in netland may want it. If you are interested, mail for details. -- <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Mark D. Freeman Guest account at The Ohio State University StrongPoint Systems, Inc. mdf@osu-eddie.UUCP 209 Olentangy Street Mdf@Ohio-State.CSNET Columbus, OH 43202-2340 Mdf%Ohio-State@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA !cbosgd!osu-eddie!mdf I disclaim even my very existance. "This must be one of those gay-arab-biker-sushi bars!" -- Protocol <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
djl@fisher.UUCP (Dan Levin) (01/21/86)
> We are looking at a large software development project coming towards us, and > we need a suitable weapon with which to fight it. For these types of applications, I like the Symmetric s350,... a lot. You get... 32000 full chip set machine, including 200,000 FLOPS fpu. 2 Mg. no wait state ram, 50 Mg. disk, 1.2 Mg. floppy, 4 serial ports that will do 38400 with n errors in k bytes where n is small and k is big enough. 1 parrellel port, EtherNet interface, and the software. What software you ask,... full 4.2bsd (paged VM of course), lisp, prolog, emacs, c, pascal, fortran, basic, spice(?). All for the low, low price of $8950 prepaid or $9950 postpaid. To boot, this thing is about 17x12x6 inches, and 20 lbs. Carry it in one hand and your briefcase in the other. For the skeptics, I have zero connection with Symmetric, other than a total infatuation with their machine. I haven't seen anything comparable for the price. Contact: Symmetric Computer Systems, 1620 Oakland Road Suite D200, San Jose, CA 95131 +1 408 279 0700 -- ***dan {allegra,astrovax,princeton}!fisher!djl The misplaced (That car sure is rusty!) Californian
wcs@ho95e.UUCP (x0705) (01/27/86)
In article <1362@fisher.UUCP> djl@fisher.UUCP writes: >> We are looking at a large software development project coming towards us, and >> we need a suitable weapon with which to fight it. > >For these types of applications, I like the Symmetric s350,... a lot. >You get... > >32000 full chip set machine, including 200,000 FLOPS fpu. 2 Mg. no >wait state ram, 50 Mg. disk, 1.2 Mg. floppy, 4 serial ports that will >do 38400 with n errors in k bytes where n is small and k is big enough. >1 parrellel port, EtherNet interface, and the software. > Well, if you really must get a 4.2BSD machine instead of buying AT&T :-) the Symmetric does look nice. You can optionally get 8 Meg instead of 2, and a 140 Meg disk instead of 50 Meg. When I last talked to them, they'd also replace the parallel port with an IEEE-488 GPIB bus > >All for the low, low price of $8950 prepaid or $9950 postpaid. To boot, >this thing is about 17x12x6 inches, and 20 lbs. Carry it in one hand >and your briefcase in the other. The designers were obviously electrical engineers - it looks more like a digital voltmeter than a computer. > -- # Bill Stewart, AT&T Bell Labs 2G-202, Holmdel NJ 1-201-949-0705 ihnp4!ho95c!wcs