ss@wivax.UUCP (09/22/83)
I hear tell that there is new VAX-725 and something called a
"MicroVAX I" which is reputed to be a VAX on a desktop.
Any confirmations or denials??
--
Sid Shapiro -- {decvax,linus}!wivax!ss -- Wang Institute
ss.Wang-Inst@UDel-Relay -- (617)649-9731spear@ihopb.UUCP (Steven Spearman) (09/23/83)
Is this 'Vax on a desktop' different from the micro-J system ( the promised upgrade to the micro-pdp11) which I understood to have the vax instruction set on a chip? Steve Spearman ihnp4!ihopb!spear
diamant@cwruecmp.UUCP (John Diamant) (09/23/83)
I haven't heard anything about the VAX 725, but I too have heard the rumor of the table-top vax. I heard this from several different sources, not one of which is official. John Diamant Usenet: ...decvax!cwruecmp!diamant CSNet: diamant@Case ARPA: diamant.Case@Udel-Relay
henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (09/23/83)
Dunno about the VAX 725, but I'd heard a little bit about the
Micro-VAX. The nasty part is, the Micro-VAX is not going to be
a full VAX -- it's a VAX subset, because they just couldn't get
the revolting complexity of the VAX into a reasonable-sized
package. (Compare the VAX 730 and the 11/44. Same box. The 730
chews up most of the interior, whereas the 44 leaves most of it
free for peripherals. The 44 is built with standard parts, whereas
the 730 is loaded with custom chips. And the 44 is quite a bit
faster for anything that doesn't need the big address space. The
VAX is just too complex for easy, cheap implementations, and the
competition from things like 16-bit micros is starting to hurt DEC.)
The only new VAX (as opposed to Micro-VAX) I'd heard about is the
710, said to be about the same performance as the 730 (ugh) but
more compact, 11/05 sized. I'll believe it when I see it.
--
Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henrydee@cca.UUCP (Donald Eastlake) (09/25/83)
At the recent DECtown show at the Hynes auditorium in Boston there was an exhibit with a VAX-11/725 but I understand it was a dummy and the software was actually running on an adjacent 730. It was quite compact but not really "desk-top". Since 11,000+ DEC employees signed up to see this show it seems like it can't be very sensitive.
louie@cvl.UUCP (Louis A. Mamakos) (09/25/83)
The MICRO-J or J-11 system has the PDP-11/70 instruction set, not the VAX.
mjk@tty3b.UUCP (09/27/83)
An article in the New York Times Business section a few Sundays ago (about September 4) on DEC mentioned that three new VAX's were expected in 1984. No other details.
eric@washu.UUCP (Eric Kiebler) (09/28/83)
The poop I got from DEC is, paraphrased, as follows: The Micro-Vax I is a 6-chip implementation of the VAX architecture which is packaged as a board replacement for the 11/23 (or whatever) processor board in the Micro J/11. Performance statistics were not given. It should be announced (ie. ready for orders to be taken) sometime this quarter, with deliveries 2nd quater next year. The Micro-Vax II is a 1 chip implementation of the VAX architecture which also is a board swap. Preliminary tests show it to perform at about 80% of a 780 (nature of tests was unsepcified). Should be announced end of first quarter next year with delivery dates as yet undetermined. eric ..!ihnp4!washu!eric
eric@unm-cvax.UUCP (10/17/83)
The 725 is nothing but a non-expandable 11/730 with 1MB of memory and
a RC25 disk subsystem. The RC25 is 52MB disk with 26MB fixed, and
26MB removable. It is repackaged for the office and the UNIBUS cannot
be expanded.
The Micro vax is a VAX compatible 32 bit micro which is implemented
on the Q-bus and is expected to run Micro VMS and Ultrix (4.1bsd
Unix with enhancements). It will have no PDP-11 compatibility mode.
It contains 1MB memory and a 25MB 5 1/4 inch winnie.
The 725 is expected to cost about 25K and the micro vax around 20K.
These products were announced last week by DEC
Eric Engquist - (505) 277-6131
{ucbvax!lbl-csam,purdue,cmcl2}!lanl-a!unm-cvax!eric
Univ. of New Mexico - 2701 Campus Blvd. - Albuquerque, NM 87131thomas@utah-gr.UUCP (Spencer W. Thomas) (10/20/83)
Not really a rumor, but DEC stock dropped by 21 (that's right, twenty-one) dollars/share yesterday (Tuesday Oct 20) to 79. You sure you want to buy Vaxen? Will this company be around to service them in 5 years? (The reason for the drop was the announcement that expected profits were down 65 - 75 percent!) =Spencer
pwh@gatech.UUCP (10/22/83)
Does anyone know the suggested *prices* of these wonderful new Vaxen creatures?
Micro-Vax in particular? Also, who did 'Ultrix'? DEC? Berkeley? Others?
phil hutto
CSNET pwh@gatech INTERNET pwh.gatech@udel-relay
UUCP ...!{akgua, rlgvax, ut-sally, allegra, sb1, ut-ngp}!gatech!pwhptw@vaxine.UUCP (P. T. Withington) (10/24/83)
The MicroVax-I is a ?-board set that can be retrofitted into your Micro-PDP-11 box. As it will come from DEC it will have a 26M winnie and go for ~10k. Slated to be available in February. Ultrix is 4.2+ (i.e., with some DEC enhancements). 't` --Tucker (ptw@vaxine.UUCP) ~
leichter@yale-com.UUCP (Jerry Leichter) (10/24/83)
Spencer asks whether you want to do business with DEC because its stock dropped 21 dollars a share. The stock market and reality are weakly connected. DEC actually made money last quarter - about $.25 a share; it's just that the various gurus of the stock market have had visions of a continuing 30% rise in profits, year in and year out, no matter what the economy does. DEC is a still a profitable company, and is in better shape than most of its competitors, many of whom have been losing money outright. For another point of view on the problem: The sharply lower profits were attributed to two main factors: Problems with new disks, which made them unshippable, and "lower than expected" sales of personal computers. (They sold "only" 70,000 last year, instead of the planned 100,000.) Another factor has been sharply decreased overseas earnings - a result of the world- wide depression. With the exception of the problems with the personals, which one can argue about, these are clearly temporary problems. -- Jerry decvax!yale-comix!leichter leichter@yale
aps@decvax.UUCP (Armando P. Stettner) (11/08/83)
DEC is going to support 4.2+ (from DEC). MicroVAX 1 will have a 4.2+ available on it, also. Sorry, no prices and/or dates, yet. aps.